A Story Can Change Your Life: Discover These 3 Powerful Storytelling Tools with Joel Weldon - Genius Network Episode #184

Give the point of the story before you tell it. So point number one of this story is an ordinary experience can become extraordinary. A story can drive home a point with greater impact, even though the audience already knows the fact or the concept. If you'd like to join world renowned entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network event or want to learn more about Genius network, go to geniusnetwork.com you have been.

Hearing and telling stories since you were a kid. They're a powerful tool when you use them in your marketing, in your sales, and in your speaking. How often when you hear a speaker tell a story, have you thought to yourself, what does this have to do with me? Or what's this all about? Or where is the story going that won't happen to you or to your stories when you use the three storytelling techniques Joel Weldon is going to share with you today. Joel's been using stories for over 46 years as a Hall of fame professional speaker who's been paid to speak at over 3,000 events and personally coach well over 10,000 speakers. Plus, he's been our go to speaker skills coach at Genius Network. Joel has personally coached over 170 of our genius Network members using his ultimate speaking system. Joe's also our oldest member, but also one of the most enthusiastic and high energy members.

Well, thank you, Joe. We will start with our theme, which is a story can change your life. You're going to know how you can tell your stories even better. You're going to have three powerful speaking tools to help you and hopefully you're going to be feeling inspired to break an unproductive habit. And then number two, to feel even more excited about sharing your stories using these three tools. And hopefully you will want to have your own epiphany. And an epiphany is a moment of sudden revelation. And I'm sure at some time in your life you have had that epiphany. So now would you just think, since we've had so much discussion about your own life and your beliefs, is there a behavior that you'd like to eliminate? Are you drinking too much? Are you still smoking? Even though we know that's not happening much anymore, are you eating too much of the wrong things or do you just lack energy? Now the question is, how long will it take you to eliminate some of these bad behaviors? My premise for our talk today is instantly once you have an epiphany, see when you see it, when you believe it, when you know it. And two weeks ago I gave you this example. You will never think that two plus two is five. Nobody could tempt you to think it's five. You couldn't be coaxed or tricked because you know in your heart of hearts that two plus two is four. And because you know it, there is no willpower involved. You don't need self discipline to know that two plus two is four. You know. You know. And that's the premise. That massive personal improvement can be instant once you know the truth. And the proof of that premise is in this personal story. So now, one of the keys to help you in your stories is give the point of the story before you tell it. So point number one of this story is an ordinary experience can become extraordinary. A story can drive home a point with greater impact, even though the audience already knows the fact or the concept. And number three, someone else's story can change your life forever. So this story begins March 16, 1981. And will you come as my invisible partner? As we board an American Airlines flight in Miami heading to Dallas, connecting on another flight to Phoenix, you and I are sitting in seat 1A. And 1B is occupied by a man that we don't even know. And as we get up to altitude, about 37,000ft, the flight attendant brings the dinner, which in those days, in 1981, was served on linen tablecloths with. With sharp knives. And just as that magnificent dinner is placed in front of me, I casually mention turning a little bit to the side to my seatmate, boy, that smoke is terrible. Now, for some of you young members, you might not know that in 1981, smoking was allowed on planes. And it wasn't until February 25, 1990, that smoking was eliminated on airplanes. So now the story. So there is this plate of food in front of me. I casually mentioned to this guy, boy, that smoke is bad. And then he says, in these exact words and this tone, not as bad as that crap you're about to eat. Now, you and I are sitting there because you're my invisible partner and you're thinking, what was that about? So I said to him, what do you mean? He said, do you really want to know? In that tone of voice, I said, well, yeah. What are you talking about? He said, you're eating crap. I said, well, it looks like a beautiful plate of food to me. He said, do you like rolls? I said, yeah, I love rolls. He picked up the roll, he held it in front of me and he squeezed it. He said, it's made out of white flour. Rats don't even eat white flour. He threw it on the floor. He Picks up the butter. He said, you like butter on your roll? There's no butter in here. It's chemicals. Threw it on the floor. Picked up the salad dressing. He said, you put salad dressing on your salad? I said, yeah. He said, chemicals. Threw it on the floor. You're eating crap. And I said, who are you? He said, my name is Alvin Cassuto. I'm just a guy. I'm 51 years old. I'm in great shape. And you're not now. I had just finished a meeting for IBM. I spoke for two hours and I was exhausted. Now, I wasn't overweight. I weighed pretty much the same as I weigh today, almost 40 years later. But I was tired. After speaking, he said, why do you look so tired? What do you do? I said, I'm a professional speaker. He said, how long did you speak? I said, two hours. He said, how do you get tired speaking for two hours? You know the reason you're eating crap. And I said, well, all right. What else on the plate? He said, that steak? You can eat that. Oh, I love steak. He said, it's your mother's fault. Now he's bringing my mother into it. I said, what do you mean? He said, you, mother wanted you to be big and strong, so she told you to eat meat. What's the biggest, strongest animal you know? And I told him my name was Joel Weldon. He said, joel, what's the biggest, strongest animal you know? I said, I don't know. An elephant. He said, you ever seen an elephant eat a steak? He said, no. He said, it's crap. You don't need steak, chicken, fish, vegetables, fruit, healthy things. That's what you need. I see a Pepsi on your table. Do you drink Pepsi? I said, I drink Pepsi all day. And how about that piece of chocolate cake? Oh, I said, I love chocolate cake. He said, you're eating crap. Put your hand on my stomach. Now, if you were sitting in the seat, what would you be thinking? I said, what are you doing? He said, just put your hand on my stomach. So I kind of reached over. It was like a steel plate. He said, I'm in magnificent physical shape. I know I'm older than you and I'm going to be playing tennis with 20 year olds and running them off the court for two weeks. But I used to be like you. I was tired, I was eating the wrong stuff, and I was drinking terrible poison. I said, what would you suggest? He said, drink water. I got my food underneath this seat, and I'm going to eat some fish and some vegetables and I've got fresh food. I said, what would you suggest, Alvin? He said, why don't you try it for a week? Just drink water, get rid of all the sugar and eat fruit, vegetables, chicken and fish and occasionally a little lean meat. Within two days, I felt the difference. Within a week, I knew I was never going back again. And that was the day I had an epiphany. And as you hear this story, if you would think about what are you eating and what are you drinking? Because my life was filled with things that weren't that good, like seven layered chocolate cake Pepsi. I carried a big semi sweet bar of chocolate with me as I got out of Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. I could go to Baskins and Robbins, get a double scoop of burgundy cherry. Every Sunday before church, I took my daughters to Baskins and Robbins and loaded up on donuts and loved apple pie with ice cream. Not once since 1981, on March 16, have I ever been tempted, thought of, or even missed any of that. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and fish and chicken and lean meat. And since March 16, 1981, only water. What are you eating and what are you drinking? You can change your life forever. When you know that, you know. So let me give you a speaking tip. Start with the point of your story. The audience knows, needs to know. Where is it going? Speaking number two. Tip number two, put your audience in your story. I asked you to be my invisible partner. I added in that little message to you. What would you be thinking? What would you have done? Put your audience in your message. And speaking tip number three, use a date, time and place. Because when I told you. March 16, 1981, American Airlines, Miami. Miami, Dallas, the Phoenix, seat 1A. That establishes your credibility. You need credible stories. And your stories can change your audience's life forever. So what do you do now? Tell your story. Tell your story. Don't miss another episode of Genius Network. Subscribe today@gieniusnetwork.com subscribe if you'd like access to the show, notes or resources, please visit geniusnetwork.com184. Sam.