Phrases To Avoid When Telling Stories

Phrases to Avoid When Telling Stories: How often do you tell stories in your business?

For many people, storytelling is a key skill in the art of effective selling. Learning how and when to tell stories has been instrumental in my success over the years. It's a skill that I now encourage and work on with my clients. There's a storytelling assignment given to each of my VIP clients, my group coaching clients, and a class on storytelling taught in Savvy Selling 2. It's absolutely a core skill.

A well-told story can open doors and minds that were previously closed to you. For those not yet versed in the art of storytelling, please consider adding this skill to assist in growing your business. There are so many great resources available to learn how to tell stories. Read a book on this topic, take a class, work with a storyteller to hone your skill.

Phrases To Avoid When Telling Stories Continued…

As a lover of well-told stories, I pay close attention when someone begins a new story. This focused attention has brought to light a common, and what I consider a “bad habit,” when telling stories. It's telling people ahead of time or even at the end of a story how to respond/feel about what they just heard.

It's the equivalent of someone telling a joke and then saying, “GET IT, the punch line means …” It tends to take the funny out of a joke, and it certainly diminishes the effect of a story.

Your Savvy Sales Tip this week: Phrases To Avoid

Avoid these common phrases when telling a story:

Phrases to avoid at the start of a story:

• “Interesting story…”
• “Funny story…”
• “Here's a story you're going to like…”
• “Let me tell you a story that will make my point…”
• “Here's a story to help you understand…”

Phrases to avoid at the end of a story:

• “Isn't that interesting…”
• “Wasn't that a funny story…”
• “I knew you'd like that story…”
• “The moral of the story is…”
• “Now you understand…”

When telling a story, just tell the story. Leave off the extra commentary, it's distracting, annoying, and can trigger someone's polarity response (learn about polarity response). Your stories should demonstrate your point on their own. Allow the listener to have their own interpretation of what the story means.

Wishing you continued success in all you're doing.

Agree? Disagree? Have additional comments or thoughts on this article? Please share.