Speaker A leads a workshop on turning business struggles into compelling stories using the Story Builder framework: title, description, struggle, search, and solution. Participants add sensory details to make their narratives vivid, then learn to write customer-focused email subject lines like "Do I stay or do I go?" that anticipate what the audience actually wants.
Chapters
So I need to create an anchor today for story building. So the anchor is, and you are all going to smile at this because you've heard this question before, but I want you to take like 30 seconds and write down the notes about, tell me about a time you faced an insurmountable barrier in your business. Tell me about a time you faced an insurmountable barrier in your business. And take 30 seconds and write down some notes about it. Don't do the story yet. You're just taking notes. What's the context? What did you do? What was your role? What was the result? So here we go. Did you all get the, the tool that I sent out? The story building checklist that I sent out? Okay, cool. Paul's going, no. Um, all right, I'll send it. I'll send it. No, I think it was in that email that bounced back at you, probably. Ah, okay. So I'll, I'll send it. I'll send it to you. But I have a Story Builder toolkit, a tool. And so we're gonna do the front page today, but you know, I'm gonna walk through this anyway. So, um, you can follow along and then you can use the tool when we get there. So here's the deal. The Story Builder framework, there's 5 components on this. There's 5 pieces to this, and there's the story title, the story description, and then there's 3 components for this story that you just created was struggle, search, and solution. So the 5 components: story title, story description, struggle, search, and solution. So what you just took notes on would be, would go into the story description part. Right? So here's the description. Here's the things, here's the elements that I want to include in this story. Does it make sense? Okay, so I would put that there's a thing that's the story purpose here too. So think about that, the purpose and the context. So now you've written all these notes about this thing. I'd like you to share what they are. So we, you know, this is your anchor for today's conversation. So I'd like to, understand your anchors. So a lot of people with stories tend to go conceptual with them, and the stories become a lot more impactful if you get more specific about a moment in time. Okay, so that's, that's, that's great that you put here. So, so let's do a little bit sticking with the notes you just took. Um, let's call this what you just took notes on as a story description. And if it's a moment in time, provide a few more details in your notes right there. Who was there? What were the surroundings? In another sense, put people in your shoes so that they know how you were feeling. Do things around that moment in time where it's sensorial. What did you see? Who was in the room? What are you hearing? What are you smelling? What do you taste or feel? So make it a sensorial thing too, if it's appropriate. So take some more notes about the details about— so, so let's go here and park that for a little bit. I'm going to ask a different question related to— not related to your story. So, uh, and I'm not going to ask you exactly what this is, but what challenge are you facing right now? What's what, you know, in business, what's your business biggest business challenge you're facing right now? And take 30 seconds because this shouldn't— this should just be, you know, off the top of your head. Oh yeah, this is the biggest thing in my world today. Yep. This, this very moment. Okay. Got it. Amber, are you willing to share? Yeah.
Mine is, do I stay or do I go? Yeah, that's, yeah. And if I do stay, how do I keep myself as motivated to, and as I'm used to, you know, like I, I'm all an all-in kind of person and I'm kind of feeling like I might be not all in.
Okay. So, so if you saw an email from, you know, uh, Brendan Burchard, Patrick Mosher, you know, somebody like that. And the, and the subject line was, do I stay or do I go? Would you open the email? Right. Okay. So, so that's a story title. So that's on the list. That's on the checklist, right? That's a great story title for Amber right now. Do I stay or do I go? Okay. That's what I'm trying to get at here. Okay. Okay, good. So, so if you got an email from a somewhat trusted source And it had what in the subject line? What would it need to read that you'd go like, oh my God, this is right where I, I need to open this. What would that say right now? How to, how to secure your next 4 clients for EDC. Oh, oh, oh, securing your next 4 clients. Paul, would you open that email? Right, right. So, so, yeah, love it. Right. So that's, that's securing, you know, and I'd want to put a qualifier in there. So, so here's the thing about this. It's easy to think about your challenge and then your story title. It's harder to take your story You know, that you just brainstormed a little bit ago, like, tell me about a time and coming up with a title for that. Because what happens with that, we get me-centered on my story because it's, I'm in the context rather than getting in the customer's head and what they wanna do and, and what would solve a problem for them. Does this make sense?
