Let me tell you a story about NOT starting your story with that sentence.

We’re excited. We’re rehearsed. We’re confident. It’s time to shine.

You step on stage and the first sentence out of your mouth is “I’m going to tell you a story about…”

::CRINGE::

That’s exactly what your audience is feeling. They cringe. They judge. They suddenly feel forced they HAVE to now listen.

When we start our story by telling our audience that we’re going to tell them a story - first off, duh! That’s why you’re there. But secondly, we rob ourselves of our audience’s attention from the start. And we rob our audience of making their own decisions.

Stories are not meant to tell people what to feel or think.

They are told to provide clarity. To simplify things. To allow audiences to come to their OWN conclusions.

Instead - start with the first sentence of your story. And if you’re not sure what that should be, try this to have a strong & interesting start:

• A fact about yourself

• An emotion you felt

• A strong opinion you have

Now our audiences get to have fun. They get to guess what’s going to happen. They get to be excited. They get to be surprised they could relate. They get to commiserate. They get to feel hopeful. Thankful. Amazed. Shocked. Appalled.

They get to wonder…maybe I can too.

And that’s the beauty of story.