Episode 180

How the Price of Admission in Storytelling Creates Deeper Audience Connection

I’m coaching multiple speakers for an upcoming TEDx event. During the kickoff meeting with one particular speaker, I ask him, “Okay, what’s your idea worth spreading?” He replies, “Kymberlee, that’s easy. I’m going to talk about the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.”

I think, “Wait, what? If this is what you’re focusing on for your TEDx Talk, we definitely need to make 30-year fixed-rate mortgages interesting and shift the audience’s perspective because this isn’t a very sexy topic.”

So I ask him, “All right. What’s your earliest memory related to money?” He tells me, “Well, when I was little, I used to go door-to-door selling acacia flowers. That’s when I first realized that people would exchange dollars for something they value.”

I stop him right there and say, “That’s the story we need to tell. It’s how the audience will connect with you.” Once an audience cares about you, you’ve earned the right to teach them about what you care about.

So he delivers his TEDx Talk and opens with his acacia flower story. Last week, his Talk hit one million views! And perhaps many of those viewers’ perspectives on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have changed as a result.

Speaking of which, my guest Josh Lowman changes the public’s point of view often and affects change with every organization and brand he works with. In this episode of the Storytelling School Podcast, you’ll learn about the power of multiple story viewpoints, the price of admission in storytelling to create a deeper connection with your audience, and more. Josh will also answer questions such as:

How can you think about point-of-view in story in a different way? What effect does authentic vulnerability in storytelling have on a platform where that’s not typically expressed (like LinkedIn)? And why is change an essential element for stories?

What you will learn in this episode:

Why switching point-of-view is a powerful tool in capturing your audience’s attention
What admission price in storytelling is necessary to grow and resonate with an audience
How you can become a much better writer and improve your storytelling sentence-by-sentence

Who is Josh Lowman?

Josh Lowman is the founder and CEO of Gold Front, a category design studio based in San Francisco, California. He believes that category design and creation provide the path for business owners and CEOs to cut through the noise and reach their audience.