News & Updates:

Like the website?
Recommend Us To a Friend

Once upon a Time - Part 1

In the days of vaudeville the monologist started with, "On my way over from the hotel. . . ." Today the radio comedian varies that to, "On my way to the studio tonight. . . ." Why? Because by telling a story he is catching and holding your interest. Few of us can resist the appeal of a story.

Any expert speaker uses stories to catch and hold your interest. They are his main stock in trade. Listen to any good speaker and, no matter what his subject, sooner or later he bobs up with an anecdote. He uses the story to make a point, to build up an idea, to bring back your lagging interest, and to do scores of other speaking jobs.

The story makes ordinary material more interesting. Not long ago I was helping a speaker with a speech. At one point he planned to describe a gadget that would help retail salespeople sell electric roasters. In his written talk he had this line, "This particular gadget will help you sell electric roasters."

There was nothing wrong with that line. What he said was true. The gadget had been used and it had helped make sales. But that statement—just nine words—didn't sound very impressive to me.

"How do you know that gadget will help them make sales?" I asked.

"Because a little redhead in the Newark store told me it sold three roasters for her last week.

"Why not tell it that way?" I asked. He did, and he increased interest in his gadget and also improved his chances of holding the attention of his audience. Both of those methods—the statement and the story—expressed the same thought, but how differently! And it's such differences that make one speech dull and another interesting.

How did he put his gadget into an anecdote? Well, here's how it could be done:

The other day I was over in the Newark store. They told me that one of the salespeople had sold two roasters per day for the last two weeks. Now that was something—two per day for two weeks—and so I thought I'd look up this superman and see how the job was done. Well, my superman turned out to be a super-lady—a little redhead named Betsy. When I asked her how come, she showed me this little gadget. Now look at that (hold up gadget). Doesn't look like much, does it? But she told me that this gadget was the reason for her success. With it she had made that sales record. Here's how she used it. ...

With that, the speaker demonstrates the gadget. Note how the anecdote plays up the gadget. It doesn't get sidetracked on the saleslady or her sales methods—it sticks to its point and focuses interest on the gadget.

That's what the anecdote should do. It should help you towards some objective. In opening an after-dinner talk I always try to start in a humorous vein. I talk to a lot of sales-executive clubs and usually a member of the club will take me aside before the dinner and explain how good the preceding speakers have been. And so I have a number of anecdotes about how the various clubs have needled me to try to get a good talk out of me. I start with one story about arriving in a town at six forty-five in the morning and being met by six members of the club. As each shook my hand, he said, "Ed, we're glad to have you down here. The last speaker we had was good."

I tell three such stories, then I tell what the member of the local club did to me. With those four stories I establish the fact that I am a regular fellow and that I am going to make a good speech. Since they like the stories I am telling, they feel they will like the speech too.

Related terms include political speechwriting and help writing a speech.