3 Keys To Hook Your Audience Into Your Story

Tap, Tease, and Transport

Most speakers start their stories and hope their audiences will come along on those journeys. That's average. World Class Speakers don't do that. Instead, they make their audiences curious so that they want to come along. So here is the secret: it's what you do before your story that really matters.

 

Example

For example, before one of my stories, I say the following:

"What do you think is the number one thing that stands between most people living their dreams?" The audience yells out various responses. Then, in a friendly/humorous way I say, "Those are all great answers and if you listen closely they all have the same thing in common. They're all wrong." The audience laughs. Then I say, "No, they're not wrong. They're just not the number one thing in my opinion that gets in the way. The number one thing is not what you think."

What do you think the audience is thinking at that point? Right, they are thinking, "Okay, what is the number one thing?" And that is the key to curiosity. You have to get them to ask themselves a question and let them know the answer is coming up in the story.

 

Tap, Tease, and Transport

This is what I call the Tap, Tease, and Transport method. It is a three step process which includes:

1.   Tapping into your audiences' mind with a question

2.   Teasing them to want to know more

3.   Transporting them into your story

 

The Method in Action

Tap: I tapped into their mind by asking, "What do you think is the number one thing that stands between most people living their dreams?" That was the tap. I got them thinking about themselves!

Tease: Then, I told them, "Your answers are wrong. The number one thing is not what you think." That’s the tease. Now they know they'll find the number one thing inside my story so they are amped up to come along. Why? It is because they know they are going to be given a point that will help them reach their goals.

Transport: Finally, I transport them into my story in stealth fashion. What I mean by that is you should never say, "Well, listen to my story" or "Now I'm going to tell you a story" or anything like that. Instead, sneak into your story. Get them into your story before they realize you're going to tell a story. Once you say something like, "I'm going to tell you a story," many audience members put down their pens and let their minds wander elsewhere. Instead, sneak them into it.

For your next story, try this 3-step method out. When you use the tap, tease, and transport method, you'll look up and see you have everyone's undivided attention as they join you on your journey. Tap, Tease, and Transport.

Comments

[Yudi]

Absolutely brilliant stuff, as always, Craig.

The whole tease idea (which copywriters refer to as the Ziegarnik effect) is useful in just about every situation where you want to capture the audience's attention and get them hanging on to your every word.

As long as they know that you're going to reveal that little secret later on, they won't be able to stop listening until they hear it.

Thanks so much for showing how to use that tool to transition into a captivating story.

P.S. I'm actually a member of the same Toastmasters club as you (Randallstown) and would love to meet you in person...when are you coming to a meeting next? :-)

Take care,
Yudi

[Craig Valentine]

Thanks Yudi! I look forward to coming to a meeting soon after I get off the road for a bit. So hopefully we will meet in the near future.

[Jayashri V]

This really is a very nice and good way to put it. Thanks a bunch.

[Simon Raybould]

Nicely put! Like you, I find the transition into the story part the most challenging - typically I'll move into it via words like "A friend of mine..." or "I don't know if you remember when...". The key, in my experience, is to keep it personal.

Nice tip

I have a similar technic called "Define, Discuss, Decide" which does a similar thing over the whole of the presentation, rather than being a short-term tactic like yours is.

Many thanks for posting it.

Simon

[Tony C]

The Tap, Tease, and Transport process makes a huge difference in the speaker's ability to connect with the audience. Even though these tips benefit the audience, there is another benefit that often goes unstated--the immediate boost to a speaker's confidence that occurs when a speaker implements a tip and sees how effective it has been. It's like afterburners kicking in on your confidence in mid-flight. It made me think, "Yeah, I belong up here after all. I can do this."

That confidence boost pushes the speaker's performance ability to a new level.

[Yudi]

Fantastic, Craig. I'm really looking forward to meeting you!

Regards
Yudi

[Public Speaking Course]

Great stuff - as always.

Cheers

Darren Fleming
Australia's Corporate Speech Coach