The low point of a good business story is the most important part.
Do you want more high-paying clients? It pays to spin a good yarn.
Discoveries in neuroscience prove people make decisions based on emotion, not logic. These are emotional times, and if you want to attract more high-paying clients you need to become a better business storyteller who reaches the emotion part of the brain.
Start by focusing on the worst part of the story.
“It’s a surprise of sorts.” says award-winning author Dave Lieber. “The best part of any story is the worst part. Don’t skip through it.”
Lieber, a certified professional speaker, is an expert at teaching storytelling in business. He shows individuals, businesses and industries how to use stories to meet their goals.
“The low point of a good business story is the most important part. So why do you keep rushing through it?” asks Lieber.
Stories about clients you have helped solve a problem can establish your credibility in under two minutes.
“Every good story has a beginning, middle and end,” says Lieber. “Every good story has a hero and a villain. And most good stories have a happy ending that symbolizes accomplishment and offers an important lesson.”
Lieber has honed his craft as the national-award-winning “Watchdog” columnist for The Dallas Morning News. (His fish-out-of-water stories about moving from the East Coast to Texas are solid gold.) We met when he spoke at a conference I hosted for new authors.
“But I’ve noticed that most business storytellers ignore the most important part of the story,” says Lieber. “They fail to emphasize the low point, the worst part of the story for the hero—the problem that needs to be solved.”
The author of nine books, Lieber is also a playwright with two plays on stage in Dallas-Fort Worth.
If the story shows it was easy for the hero, that is boring. Some business storytellers like to skip the middle struggle part of the story.
“Here’s why that’s a big mistake: we learn more from our failures and struggles than we do from our successes,” says Lieber. “When the hero decides to take a giant step out of the low point and beat back the villain, we learn a tremendous amount of helpful information.”
According to Lieber, when the low point is slighted and quickly passed over to get to the climactic ending, we lose learning opportunities.
“That’s why as a writer, keynote speaker and trainer I teach clients to dwell in the low point,” says Lieber. “Live there in the story long enough for the audience to feel the discomfort. Put the audience in the middle of the story. Make them feel some of the confusion, the difficulties and the challenge of the low point.”
When this is done properly, the journey out of the low point to the climax is more emotional and memorable.
“By the ending, lessons are learned and not forgotten,” says Lieber.
