If you bring forth a brilliant answer to the question, “What do you do?” or “Tell me about your work,” you’ll be well on your way to having a steady stream of clientele and better results from your referral partners. Using the ‘right words,’ telling the ‘right story’ about yourself, attracts the clients you’ve been looking for .
The phrase ‘going viral’ entered our collective lexicon in the past decade, demonstrating graphically what it looks like when a story spreads.
Stories that go viral are those that inspire massive levels of interest. They come in many forms. Some are stories told in a largely visual form – a super-cute photo of a baby dancing or a hilarious cat video. They may be brief accounts, in words, of events we find intrinsically irresistible: a Facebook post about a good deed performed, a life saved or the unlikely athletic victory of an underdog.
We may not all have a story to tell that will go viral, but we do certainly all have stories to tell that can reach out to our communities and prospective clients.
Telling these stories with imagination and an intention to engage others is a key to building prosperous businesses. What’s more, it can be a lot of fun!
When you meet someone new and they ask “What do you do?” or “Tell me about your work,” I’m sure you hope to easily, simply, naturally, and clearly answer the question without hesitating — while being sensitive to the person who asked the question!
There are 3 important qualities of your story that must be present for your conversation to continue, to get past the first few sentences!
Be MEMORABLE
Creating a memorable answer is the fun part of your storytelling!
You can answer the question in a way that’s unexpected, that’s humorous, that’s obviously more creative than the predictable “I’m a massage therapist” or “I’m an acupuncturist” or “I’m a health coach” or “I’m a dance therapist” answers. In fact, it’s imperative that you do so!
Be RELEVANT
The stories you craft and spread must be relevant to your Ideal Client.
For this reason, it’s necessary to invest time in learning about the needs, preferences, desires, and inner workings of your Ideal Client.
One of the common mistakes is focusing too much on talking about the trainings you’ve completed, your particular approach to the work – and NOT telling stories about the pain and discomfort you relieve, the problems and challenges you solve.
Talking to your potential clients ABOUT THEIR STORY is how you remain relevant.
Be GENUINE
Being genuine is necessary for anyone whose work is a “livelihood of the heart.”
Because so many of us don’t really like selling ourselves (because it feels like bragging), the current trend of Storytelling is just right for us.
Partly under the influence of the Millennial generation, many people are now less interested in hype, formality, and insincerity. Our potential clients are probably more interested in things that appear REAL, undressed up, sincere.
This means that you can be yourself and speak from the heart, tell the truth, be genuine about the beauty of what you do.
We’ve put together a Free Tip Sheet with 7 concrete suggestions for improving the Story you tell when someone expresses interest in you or your work. Receive your free copy below.
