Don't Gamble On Your Stories, Test Them Instead

Quick reference

• 00:04 Now we get to the least enjoyable, the least glamorous, but in many ways the most important part of becoming a great storyteller, and that is testing.
• 00:15 Now, some of you, if you've ever been to a comedy club, have seen people testing their material.
• 00:20 For the most part, all great comedians test every single joke they have numerous times.
• 00:27 If you go to any comedy club for very long, you'll see some comedians actually put their phone or recording device.
• 00:34 They want to record.
• 00:36 Not how they said it necessarily, although that's a part of it.
• 00:40 They are recording the audience's reaction.
• 00:43 So they try out 100 new jokes and three get laughs.
• 00:47 They may throw away 97 of those jokes that didn't work.
• 00:52 They keep those three.
• 00:53 They use those three the next night.
• 00:57 Jerry Seinfeld does this.
• 00:58 All the best comedians do it.
• 00:59 Even if they're not recording, they're making mental notes.
• 01:02 What is resonating with the audience and what isn't?
• 01:06 Now, as a storyteller in a business presentation situation, you're not necessarily out to get laughs, but you are trying to figure out, does this work?
• 01:18 Does this resonate?
• 01:20 I'm going to give you some more tips on how you can really test your presentation.
• 01:26 The first big test, we've already talked about some briefly, and that is does it pass your test?
• 01:32 Can you watch a video of yourself giving your presentation and like it?
• 01:38 Do you like your story or does this sound cheap or cheesy or stupid?
• 01:42 If so, get rid of it.
• 01:44 So that's the first big test is you've got to practice your story again and again until you personally like it, until you find it interesting, until you like every aspect of your style and substance.
• 02:01 So that's the first really big test for any story, for your presentation.
• 02:07 The next big test for your story, after you've recorded that video and you like it, what I'd recommend is you e-mail it to colleagues.
• 02:18 Anyone who is similar to the audience you'll ultimately be speaking to and sharing this story with.
• 02:24 I would e-mail it to colleagues, maybe even post it on Facebook, post it on YouTube.
• 02:30 But here's the thing, You don't want to ask people what do you think they're going to tell you?
• 02:33 Oh, you're great, you're wonderful, you're fantastic.
• 02:36 Completely worthless information.
• 02:40 You want to ask people, what do you remember?
• 02:45 That's the next big question.
• 02:48 What do you remember?
• 02:50 If they just say, well, you know, you were compelling and comfortable and confident, that means they didn't remember anything.
• 02:57 People can lie to you and tell you they think they were you were great, even if they didn't.
• 03:02 But they can't lie to you and tell you they remember the actual content of your presentation or your story.
• 03:08 If they didn't remember it, it's not possible for them to do that.
• 03:12 So that's the next thing you want to do when you're testing is ask people what do they remember?
• 03:20 Now what you want to figure out is not only do they remember your story, but did they remember the exact message you were hoping that they would take away from this story.
• 03:32 Sometimes people will remember your message or there that you'll remember your story, but they won't remember your message.
• 03:39 Well, that's no good.
• 03:41 We don't want them to simply remember our story.
• 03:43 We want them to remember the message that was embedded in that story.
• 03:47 So that's the next test.
• 03:50 When you're emailing it to friends, colleagues, business associates, perhaps even family members, are they remembering the story and the message?
• 04:00 That's the next big test.
• 04:02 OK, You've tested your own story on yourself, it passed.
• 04:06 You've tested on others, colleagues, friends, family members.
• 04:09 It passed.
• 04:10 Now we're going to try it on the actual audience, a real audience.
• 04:15 So you'll give your presentation, you'll have the stories embedded in your presentation for all your key points, and then your presentation is done.
• 04:24 Now, if you're speaking to more than five people or so, typically someone will come up and say, oh, good job today, good presentation.
• 04:34 Most the time, what do we do?
• 04:37 Thanks.
• 04:37 Thanks a lot.
• 04:39 Guess what you just threw away valuable focus group research.
• 04:45 My recommendation and what I do personally is say thanks.
• 04:49 Thanks a lot.
• 04:50 Tell me, what do you remember from the presentation?
• 04:54 How would you describe this to a colleague who wasn't here today?
• 04:57 This is gold, the information that comes out.
• 05:02 Now, if you told a story and you told it an interesting, compelling way, typically that's what they'll remember first.
• 05:10 So ask and really listen.
• 05:12 What do you remember?
• 05:13 What do you take away?
• 05:15 What stood out?
• 05:17 Any examples?
• 05:17 Case study stories.
• 05:19 And then listen to what they say.
• 05:22 If they tell you the story and they throwback in your face the very same elements, you know that that story was successful as far as making an impression on your audience.
• 05:33 And that's a huge success right there because so much of what people say leaves no impression.
• 05:39 Then you want to follow up and ask, what'd you take away from that story?
• 05:46 What was the message of that?
• 05:47 How did that help you really listen?
• 05:50 Because sometimes they'll get exactly what you want, but other times they may take away a completely different message that was not what you intended.
• 06:01 Guess what?
• 06:02 It's never the audience's fault.
• 06:04 It's your fault if they don't remember your message or if they remember the wrong message.
• 06:10 So you've got to really use this.
• 06:11 It may be that you have to tweak your story or change it or emphasize certain things so that they really get the message, or you got to nail down certain points.
• 06:22 Reemphasize them.
• 06:24 Sometimes there's simply something in your story that is too confusing or too inflammatory, too scary, and it just turns the audience in a completely different way.
• 06:36 They may think they like your story, but it's confusing them and it's not getting the message you care about stuck in their brains.
• 06:45 In that case, you may have to completely throw away the story and use others.
• 06:51 So that's how you test stories, just like the best comedians in the world often test dozens of times, sometimes hundreds of times, sometimes thousands of times before they're so confident that they use a joke and ATV special or on a high profile TV interview.
• 07:13 Great storytellers will test, refine stories again and again and again in different speeches, so that each time they make it just a tiny little bit better for the next audience.

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