— hearing, touch, smell and taste.
Examples: “Hearing”
I heard a squeeking sound.
We listened to the song “With Or Without You" by U2.
The deep growl of an accelerating Harley-Davidson woke me up.
Examples: “Touch”
The skin of the great white shark felt like sandpaper.
I touched the hot iron.
The fine white sand of the Seychelles beach slipped softly through my fingers.
Examples: “Smell”
My neighbor’s freshly baked Streusel cake reminded me of happy days in my childhood.
It smelled like conference coffee.
A choking black cloud of diesel smoke enveloped us.
Examples: “Taste”
It tasted like crispy Oktoberfest chicken.
I will never forget the fruitfully acid taste of that 2004 Numantia red wine.
The peach was so ripe it tasted like innocence.
The senses of hearing and smell offer the most pregnant possibilities for distinguishing yourself from other speakers. Songs, sounds, and smells, blended and seasoned, make a fantastic rhetorical dish.
Boost your content even more by touching all five senses of your audience.
“I”, NOT “ONE”
Storytelling needs to be personal. When we talk about difficult times in life, weaknesses, failures, or other topics that make us uneasy, we tend to switch from the personal “I” form to the impersonal “you” or “one” form.
Example: “Subway ticket”
When you become an entrepreneur and face economic thunderstorms, it could happen that you find yourself standing in front of the ticket machine at a subway station, and suddenly you realize — you cannot even pay for a ticket.
But — you connect much better with your audience when you use the “I” form:
My symbolic moment of perseverance arrived as I was standing at the Rosenthaler Platz subway station in Berlin. All my credit cards were blocked, and I had 1.27 € left in my pocket. I couldn’t afford a simple subway ticket. I felt humiliated.
Take all your impersonal statements and make them personal:
From: One feels badly when being bullied. To: I felt badly when they bullied me.
From: One should never give up. To: I never gave up.
From: One must believe. To: I needed to believe.
Boost your content even more by personalizing what you say.
THEY HAVE A NAME
Another area that improves our storytelling involves the way we use names. In my seminars, most speakers talk about a client, about their children, about their spouses, bosses, neighbors, or colleagues.
But — they almost never give these people names.
You make your stories more personal when you use people’s names:
My ex-boss, mentor, and friend Ralf Beunker..
My son Álvaro...
Daniel Braun, a client-friend of mine...
It’s easy to fix this. Use names throughout your entire speech. You’ll sound much more personable, and you’ll sound like you’re more grounded in the real world.
Boost your content even more by giving people names.
AND THEN MY DAD SAID
I’m a great fan of dialogs in public speeches. When it comes to drama, however, most people are reluctant. I’m not an actor, they say. The reality is, they’re shy and self-conscious — so they need some encouragement!
The truth is: you don’t have to be an actor. As my friend, professional speaker Olivia Schofield says, An actor is an expert at being someone else, while, as a public speaker, you’re an expert at being yourself.
You can still add some significant, effective drama to your speeches — easily. You can spice up your content by using dialogs.
And then my dad said: Son, you know what makes me the happiest man on earth? When I’m out on the street and see a group of my alumni after 30 years, and the first thing I see on their faces when they see me is a smile. That makes me the happiest man on earth.
When we use dialogs, we change our facial expression, we vary our voice, we use dramatic acting techniques — and we’re not even aware we’re doing it.
When I speak about the power of a smile, I always recall this conversation with my dad. I remember him; I see him; I feel him. This is why that dialog comes across as authentic — because it was real.
Dialogs with moms and dads are always great, because almost all of us have them. Almost everyone can identify.
Many other conversations are easy to remember and use as dialogs — with other family members, friends, partners, teachers, bosses, colleagues, suppliers, clients, shopkeepers, bartenders — the list is endless.
If your audience speaks a certain type of jargon, and you want to connect with them on a more casual level, dialogs can also serve as a smart carrier of what might otherwise be inappropriate expressions:
Then my friend Thomas replied, “This is crap!"
You didn’t say it — your friend Thomas did!
Dialogs bring life into your speeches, and bring your speeches to life. Use them often!
Boost your content even more by adding dialogs.
A GREAT CONNECTOR
A special form of dialog is the internal dialog, also known as “soliloquy”.
I always wondered, Can I really do this?
I asked myself, Am I doing the right thing?
For years I looked for an answer to this question: Shouldn’t I go for a big change in my life?
This pattern has popped up
