Just Ask Ollie: Ya Gotta Tell A Story

When you're trying to get your message across, you can provide information. You can explain things. You can make suggestions. These are necessary but they also need support. Nothing quite grabs people's attention, engages and involves them, creates understanding, and bolsters identification like stories or anecdotes.

Let me give you a personal example. People who have self-presentation anxiety or marketing reluctance often feel they are the only ones who suffer from fear of being negatively evaluated, found wanting, and rejected by those with whom they interact. Furthermore, they're convinced there's no hope of recovery. As a result, I share with them how I responded before I recovered:

The jarring, jangling, heart-pumping sound of the office phone ringing filled me with dread, nearly making my hair stand on end. Every nerve ending was firing as I wrung my sweating hands. The malevolent instrument was demanding that I pick it up, but I just couldn't. I didn't know what was awaiting me on the other end of the line.

But after a moment of frozen panic, I'd check the caller ID. If I knew the person and why they were likely calling, I could prepare myself at least a little. But when it read "Out of Area" or "Unavailable," a heavy weight dropped into my legs and my mouth became parched. It was indecision time: To answer or not to answer.

Answering without knowing who was calling left me certain I'd babble, humiliate myself, and look totally incompetent. But if I let it go to the answering machine, I'd have to call back ... which was worse. And ... heaven help me if I got their answering machine! Suddenly I'd have 30 seconds to as quickly as possible say all the "right" things in the right order. I'd rather have eaten worms. Fortunately, I found a way to avoid that delicacy.

Ollie North talked about numbers of things wherein he painted a picture. He spoke about Abu Nidal and a specific brutal killing. He talked about wanting to go mano y mano with this terrorist. He talked about why he accepted a security fence to protect his family after receiving death threats. In every instance he reached his listeners where they live. He strongly put a face on the facts that his listeners could see in their minds.

Stories or anecdotes you relate don't have to be brilliant or witty. But they do have to resonate with your audience. They have to leave them with the vivid picture and accompanying emotion you desire ... a portrait you want them to remember, think about, and continue to ruminate upon.