The 2.5-Minute Storytelling Secret (Most Replayed Personal Development Wisdom Snippets) | #545

What if the secret to powerful storytelling was just two and a half minutes long?

Snippet of wisdom 88.

In this series, I select my favourite, most insightful moments from previous episodes of the podcast.

Today, speaking coach Pat Quinn talks about how to tell any story in just two and a half minutes using a simple three-part framework.

Press play to learn how to make your stories shorter, sharper, and more impactful.

˚

VALUABLE RESOURCES:

Listen to the full conversation with Pat Quinn in episode #120:

https://personaldevelopmentmasterypodcast.com/120

˚

Coaching with Agi: https://personaldevelopmentmasterypodcast.com/mentor

˚

🎙️ Want to be a guest on the podcast?

Message Agi on PodMatch: https://www.podmatch.com/member/personaldevelopmentmastery

˚

Personal development interviews exploring key principles of personal development, self improvement, self mastery, personal growth, self-discipline, and personal improvement—all supporting a life of purpose and fulfilment.

˚

Transcript

Agi Keramidas: 0:03

Welcome to Personal Development mastery podcast, and this is another snippet of wisdom where I select my most insightful moments from previous episodes. Today's snippet comes from the speaking coach Pat Quinn, who talks about how to tell any story in just two and a half minutes using a simple three part framework. Keep listening to learn how to make your stories shorter, sharper and more impactful. Let's dive right in.

Pat Quinn: 0:38

Well, I'm a believer that great stories are short. I don't think any story should take more than two and a half minutes to tell. And so I have a model of how to tell any story in two and a half minutes that I can teach you right now. It takes about two and a half minutes for me to teach it, as you might expect. And so a great story comes in three parts. Every story you should think about is having three parts. The first part of the story is what we call the before, what was your life like before, what was happening before. And you get 60 seconds to tell us what your life was like before. And in the best stories, you kind of break it down to three distinct things that were happening before, three distinct characteristics of what your life was like before, and so you spend 60 seconds talking to us about that, then the second section is the pivot. The pivot is when the story changes. The pivot is when something happens that changes the direction of the story. And you get 30 seconds to describe to us what happened, what changed, what was the event? What did you learn? What did you discover? What did you invent? What happened? What was the pivot? Which brings us to the third and final part of the story. The first part's the before, then there's a pivot, and the third part is the after, or the now. What's your life like now? What? What? What you know? What is it your life like after the pivot. And in the best stories, there would be three characteristics of what your life is like now. And in the very best stories, those three characters would match up, but be the opposite of the characteristics that you talked about before. And so let me show you an example of what this might look like. You know, for years I struggled with my weight, and I kept gaining weight, and I tried everything I could to lose it, but I just snacked so much every afternoon, I would just be so hungry between three o'clock and four o'clock in the afternoon, I can consume about 2000 calories just walking through the kitchen, grabbing different snacks, and I'd have no energy in the afternoon. I don't just want to take a nap, I wouldn't want to move around or do anything. That's how my life was for years. So that's a great before. It's a great before, because in 60 seconds, I painted a picture of what my life looks like. I was struggling with my weight, I was snacking too much, and I was low on energy, three characteristics. Then my sister introduced me to overnight oats. I don't know if you know what overnight oats are. They're oatmeal that you just kind of make in the refrigerator, and you don't have to cook it. I grew up eating oatmeal, and I didn't like it. It was mushy and warm and I didn't like it, but, and I said that to my sister, I said, I don't like oatmeal. She said, This isn't like oatmeal. This is overnight oats. It's totally different, and it will change everything. Well, I didn't believe her, but I tried it anyway, and for the last three months, I've been having overnight oats for breakfast and for lunch and then just eating a reasonable dinner. And it has changed everything now, instead of struggling with my weight. Now, so that's the pivot 30 seconds. Now we're into the after. Now watch how I match up the three characteristics in the after with the three characteristics in the before. Now, instead of struggling with my weight in the last three months, I've lost two and a half pounds. Now, instead of snacking every afternoon, I'm full from lunch all the way through to dinner, and sometimes I'm not even hungry enough to eat a big dinner, and my energy level. Woo, solid throughout the whole day. I have good energy all afternoon. And there it is in two and a half minutes, a 60" before, a 30" pivot, and then a 60" after. And by the way, look at that, after that, after isn't an extraordinary after. I didn't say I've lost 55 pounds in three months. So I lost two and a half pounds. It's like less than a pound a month. I'm not breaking any records here. I didn't say that, you know, I never snack. I'd say I don't snack in the afternoon anymore. And I didn't say that I ran a Boston marathon or anything. I just said, I have some energy. I'm not you don't have to have the back end of your story be this monster. Now. I'm the greatest in the world. I made some incremental product progress on some things that I was struggling with. And here's the deal in two and a half minutes. That's the story. And if the first part of the story looks like the person you're speaking. to if, when I'm talking about struggling with weight, snacking too much, low energy, if that's connecting with the audience, and you'll know right away if it's connecting with the audience, because the audience will be nodding and leaning in. It's a simple, simple sign when you're connecting on the language with the audience, when you're saying things that the audience was thinking, they will unconsciously nod and lean into you. It works online as well as it works in the same room with someone, by the way. So if you're on Zoom or you're on a webinar, and you can see the people look to see if they're nodding and leaning in. If you're at the Starbucks with somebody, or you're at a conference speaking to 100 people look to see if the audience is nodding and leaning in. That's how you know you got the before part of the story right. The after part of the story, losing weight, not snacking, having more energy, that if that is what the audience wants, they will smile. If they don't smile, they don't want it. And so you should watch for smiles in that part of the story. It shows that it's the aspiration of the audience. So if you connect on those two things, my before sounds like your life, my after sounds like what you want. I'm telling you, you'll do anything to get the pivot. Price will not be a factor. You'll overcome all obstacles. If I don't tell you what I do, you'll hunt me down, you'll reach out, you'll find me on Facebook, you'll do something, and you will find me and ask me for my pivot. And so this is a simple way to tell any story. All stories work like this. I had an unsuccessful business, then I signed up for this, and now I have a successful business. I was not in a good relationship, then I tried this. Now I'm in a good relationship. It really doesn't matter what you're talking about. The Three, three part storytelling that I'm talking about in two and a half minutes is a better way to tell your story, because it's straightforward, it's concise, it goes in one direction, it has a clear turning point, and it connects with the audience of both the before and the after. And so if it's taking you a long time to tell your story, if people tell you that you're a great storyteller, but sometimes they're kind of meandering, you want a very simple storyline. You want it to be two and a half minutes, and that is the way to tell a story that will change people's lives. It's also a way to tell a story that will change your life, because it helps when you when you force yourself into that storytelling model, it helps you recognise what actually changed. You know, there was a time in my life where I felt like I didn't have a purpose and I didn't have a direction, and there's a time in my life where I feel like I'm on fire for a singular purpose and I'm moving in a straightforward direction. And if I don't tell that story in two and a half minutes, like I just taught you, I might think that was just chance or circumstance, or I got another year older. But when I forced myself into that two and a half minute storytelling model, I forced myself to think about what was the pivot, what changed, and I might look back and identify, you know, what changed? What changed as I changed my morning routine. I read Elrod book, The Miracle Morning, and I changed my morning routine. That was the turning point. I may never have realised that if I if I have 10 minutes to tell that story, I might tell you that, you know, I moved I moved to a new house, I switched jobs, I read a few books, I went to a couple conferences. If I have all day to tell you that story, I might lose the power of that story. But the power of that story is when I actually look back and say, in 30 seconds what changed, and get it down to one thing, and that's the one thing that maybe changed. And so I think telling a story in two and a half minutes isn't only the best way to help other people and impact the lives of other people, I think it's the best way for you to recognise what the turning points in your story were, so that you can focus on keeping those turning points in place and don't miss the big lesson of the story. And so from both helping other people, and using stories to help yourself. A two and a half minute storytelling model is the best way to go.

Agi Keramidas: 9:08

Thank you for listening. You will find the full conversation with Pat Quinn in Episode 120 The link is in the show notes. If you found value in this episode, consider supporting the show by visiting personal development mastery podcast.com/support you will also find the link in the episode description, until next time stand out don't fit in