Why Your Mindset Matters in Storytelling and Speaking

I’m backstage at a TEDx event and we are three speakers into our lineup. 

The fourth speaker, who we’ll call Stuart, is mic’d up and ready to take the stage next. I notice he has his script in his hand and is... visibly shaking and close to hyperventilating.

As I see this, I beeline over to him and ask, “What are you thinking about right this moment?” 

“What if I fail?”, he blurts out.

“What if your story changes just one person’s life?”, I propose. “Your Talk is for that one person… and the thousand others just like him.”

Stuart gave his Talk that day and as a result, this helped to launch a whole new career in speaking that he was not even planning on doing at the time.

How did he pull through?

He was willing to reframe his mindset.

Regardless of your age or profession, your mindset matters. And as a storyteller, you need to have control over it too.

In this special episode, I talk about one of my favorite topics of all time. You’ll hear seven bite-sized approaches to managing your own mindset so that you can up-level your speaking and storytelling game in a significant way. 

I’ll cover why we must care about commitment, how fear can be an opportunity to play, how rituals can help you become unforgettable, why there are gifts in your grit, why real change requires us to take risks, how to focus wisely, and why confidence is a choice. 

Every single one of the seven lessons is a mini training in itself so grab your pen and get ready to put these into action.

• How to deal with fear
• Why there are gifts in your grit
• How to focus on one core idea (not 3 or 30)

As a Speaking Strategist and founder of Storytelling School, I’ve had the pleasure of working with over 300 speakers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs worldwide for over a decade. No matter if those folks were getting ready to take the TED or TEDx stage or preparing for a high-stakes presentation with everything on the line, my specialty is High Stakes Short Form Communication. I’ve seen what works when influencing change and what doesn’t. It turns out storytelling is one of the most powerful tools you can have in your arsenal. That’s why I’m building a movement of master storytellers to affect change in the world on a global scale to help people tell real stories that have influence and impact. With effective storytelling, you change people’s lives.

Since competition for potential client attention is fierce, a story can make the difference between being memorable or irrelevant. You’ll find me sharing my matcha tea mishap to discuss perfectionism, my quest for Bruce Lee and Hello Kitty art to explore kindness, or the six months of live blade training I underwent to illustrate presence. I spend my days showing the power of using stories to help cement ideas and bring lessons to life and teaching my clients to do the same.

If you think business owners can’t tell stories or don’t have stories to share with their clients, staff, donors, followers, or investors, I invite you to reconsider your perspective. There’s no better place than in business to tell your stories so audiences, no matter how big or small, can understand how you think and what you value.

Now it’s your turn... If you’re ready to become a master storyteller and affect change in our world, you’ve come to the right place.

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