Member Article

Book Extract: Passion Into Profit by Andy Harrington

Proving credibility with a credible story

Of all the mediums of persuasion, a story is the most eloquent and subtle. You’ll need to persuade people that you are someone they can trust as a source of hope, help and information to solve a situation that they are facing in their personal or business lives.

As humans, we have been listening to stories since the dawn of communication. When it comes to positioning yourself as the ‘go to’ guru for your industry, you must design, develop and deliver a personal story.

No one likes being told what to do, or being lectured. In the beginning your audience are naturally sceptical and still guarding the doors of their mind to see if they can trust you before allowing themselves to be influenced. The beauty of a story is that it captivates the mind and allows for influence to occur unconsciously and indirectly.

Your story should do two things:

1 Position you as an expert

Your story absolutely must prove why you have become knowledgeable in your subject. But – crucially – remember that you need to demonstrate your knowhow comes not just because of some certificate or qualification, but also or instead because of your experiences. Your story must reveal how you have come to know what you now know about your subject. Typically, your knowledge will have been motivated by either inspiration or desperation (or maybe both). Your job when designing your story is to look at your life experiences and pull from them that initial spark of desire to overcome or achieve, followed by your journey to get to where you are today,

2 Provide a valuable lesson along the way

A common mistake I see here from mentors, authors, coaches, consultants and speakers is to tell a story that sounds like a CV. A chronological series of events is not a story – it’s just plain boring. Plus, a story is for an audience. Yes, it must position you as an authority, but if that’s all it does, you are going to come across like some conceited, self-absorbed narcissist. This means that the focus of your story should be the audience and therefore it must be a story that also provides a valuable lesson. Just remember that the goal here is to allow the audience to extract the message from the story themselves rather than have you tell them ‘The moral of the story is …’

Vulnerability is a strength

For many people, the idea of telling a personal story can be somewhat daunting. However, if you want to build rapport and a genuine feeling of trust with your audience, a story is the way to go. Does this mean you may have to become vulnerable when you tell your story? Yes; but I’m not talking about the kind of vulnerability that comes from being broken or open to being hurt. I’m talking about the kind of vulnerability that comes from being honest, genuine and real.

By opening yourself up and telling a real story, where you disclose to the audience a struggle you went through, or a conflict you were wrestling with, you begin to engender trust. We only normally reveal ourselves to people we know well like our family and closest friends. So when we tell a personal story, in effect we trust the audience with this information. We are laying down the foundations of friendship. Now here’s what’s interesting: trust is a two-way street. By being trusting, we are also seen as trustworthy.

Passion Into Profit: How to Make Big Money From Who You Are and What You Know is out now, published by Wiley (Capstone imprint), priced £10.99 in paperback. It is also available in eBook formats, including Kindle.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andy Harrington .