Feel, Know, & Do: Crafting Stories That Connect and Inspire

In this episode, Mary shares expert advice and actionable tips to create powerful stories that inspire hearts and minds. 

She discusses the StorySpire™ process, emphasizing the importance of understanding your audience and their needs. Mary breaks down the three crucial components of impactful storytelling: what you want your audience to feel, know, and do. 

 From handling various audience types to creating compelling calls to action, Mary provides practical frameworks and examples. 

Subscribe, join her email list, and let your stories change the world.

00:00 Introduction to StorySpire™ Podcast

00:20 Join the Story Spire Newsletter

00:57 Understanding Your Audience

01:48 Crafting the Right Story

03:29 The Importance of Emotions in Storytelling

05:35 Incorporating Facts and Figures

07:35 The Call to Action

12:25 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the Storiespire podcast. I'm Mary R. Snyder. I am your host and storytelling strategist. I'm here with expert advice, actionable tips, and frameworks to create the stories that will inspire hearts and minds because stories change the world. Let's get into it. Hey, before we get started, I want to remind you of something. Have you said yes to my email, my newsletter, the Story Spire News? It is a weekly newsletter with a link to one of the episodes, the episode of the week, along with a storytelling tip, maybe something fun, a resource I found, or an inspirational story just to brighten up your email box. And you can do that simply by going to storyspire. com and clicking on Join Mary. I'd love for you to join me there. Let's get into it. Hi there. Let's talk about the story spire process. We start at the end I want you to think of these three things after you've been on a stage. Maybe you sat across from someone at a table or you've shared in a small room or in front of thousands. What do you want? The people who just heard you to feel? What do you want them to know and what do you want them to do? Now, I know you're thinking, I don't even know what my story is yet. That's okay, because this is how you build the most effective and the most impactful story. For the right audience. And this is what I always say. It's telling the right story to the right people at the right time. Think about this. Would you stand in front of a bunch of brand new parents? They just brought those precious darling babies home in the last few months. And would you tell them about the joys of the empty nests? Well, no, because it has absolutely no bearing on these people's lives right now. They're not interested in that. They're not remotely caring about an empty nest. They are so excited about this new journey they're on. Now you could tell that same story to a group of people who just sent their kids off to college. They might lean in a little and go, oh, okay, so I'm not always going to be sad, right? You see the difference in the way that story hits? The same thing is you would not stand in front of a group of people who just lost their homes in a tornado and tell them how much you need their help to do a project for a new library three towns over. That doesn't even make sense. But I've seen it happen. I know it sounds nuts. Understanding your audience, understanding what you want them to feel, understanding what you want them to know and understanding what you want them to do. That informs the story that you will tell them. It informs the way you will build what you will share the way in which you will formulate the message you have for them. So let's talk about the very first thing. What do you want someone to feel after you step off the stage? Now, the last thing I want someone to feel is manipulated. I also don't want them to feel mad that they showed up to hear me talk. I want people to feel inspired and know they can do what they are setting out to do. And for me, when you finish this podcast today, I want you to feel like. You know what? I can do this. I can be a great storyteller. That's what I want you to feel. What do you want your person to feel with your story? Maybe you're a speaker and you want them to feel empowered. You know what? If she can do it, I can do it. If she overcame all of that, I can overcome this little thing. If she made it through that diagnosis, I can make it through this struggle at work. Maybe you want them to know that they are valued. Maybe you're speaking to a group of employees. Maybe you're speaking to your team and you want them to feel valued and important. So you're going to develop the story to make sure that's what they walk away with. What do you want them to know? I want you to know as a storyteller that you can build the skills to tell powerful stories. And I want you to know one of the ways you can learn is by listening to this podcast. That's what I want you to know. Now, if I'm a speaker, I might want you to know that the journey that I went on with this diagnosis I got wasn't easy. But I persevered. If I'm telling a story and I'm encouraging you to join my work at a non profit, I want you to know that every dollar you give, that 85 percent of that goes directly to the recipient. So this is where when you are telling a story, you want to get into a little bit of the facts. Now, you know, I always talk about stories. They need to be a story and we don't want a bunch of facts and figures, facts and figures. Data and information. That is a supporting role to your story. Think of it as the second banana, not the first. They are the person that is the second actor. They're not the lead in the show, but they're back there. They're singing harmony. They're doing that second part. So they do have a role because they want to give you a little head knowledge and for a speaker, it may be scripture that, Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. And that is, I know that to be true. Because I want that out, it's knowing, it's the knowledge part of your message, so we've got the feeling part, we've talked about how we want people to feel, we want them to feel valued, and you do that by telling them how important you, they are to you, and you do that by showing them that they are important, you tell a story about them, you talk about how Joe shows up every morning before anyone gets there and makes everyone coffee, And no one ever knows it's Joe, but you do because you're the leader and you're here when Joe shows up we've talked about how you want them to feel what you want them to know. Now, here's. The big part, what do you want your one person to do with this knowledge? What is the action you want them to take You can actually give them the steps and we're going to talk about that in an upcoming episode. How we land the plane. But, let's talk about it right here today in the doing part. The doing is the action step. This typically comes at the very end of your story. You've opened, you've told this great story, you've walked them through some informational pieces so they understand how you work. Now, let's get into the doing part. Now, this is where I love if I am working with a nonprofit. This is the call to action. This is the appeal. This is the part where manipulation can come in, but we won't let it. I might say something like, for 45 a month, you can change the life of a child just like Susanna. See for 45 a month you bring her medical attention. Wow. That's something we just take for granted. If you're sick, you go to the doctor. Not where she lives. Number two she gets an education. An education is something we take for granted here in the states. It's something you have to pay for where Susanna lives. And I go through every single thing that 45 will do. And then I say, there are thousands of children, but today I'm looking for 100 people To say yes to a child just like Susanna and all you have to do, and this is where I give them the steps. It could be raise your hand and I'll hand you a packet. It could be fill out this card. It could be on your table. There is a donation, a pledge card. I could say something like for 400. You can build a house just like the one we built for Susanna's family. 400. And you can do that today. You can fill out that pledge card. You can hit that QR code. You can do either one of those. Or it could be something like for 400, you can build a house just like the one we built for Susanna's family. 400. That's all it takes. I don't know about you, but we built our house for our an outside house for our dogs. And it was more than that. Whatever the steps are, you are giving them. This is where you give it to them. This is the doing part. Now, if you are bringing in an inspirational message or a workshop message, and you want them to maybe join your email list, or maybe even buy a course or join a group, then you give them the steps. I like to give them something in return for their email. I would love to give you my five steps to being a better storyteller. All you have to do is click that QR code. I want to help you today. Now, if you want to, Have them do something. I love a challenge. I love to challenge my audience and I love to give them something for the challenge. So I want to give you five steps to being a better storyteller and then I need a commitment from you before you get this. I want you to promise me That you will spend one hour next week working on your story. Can I get that promise? All right. All you have to do is scan this QR code right here. It will put you on my email list. I don't send much out, just an email once a week with a link to a podcast episode and a fun story that I like to share. We all need to brighten up our email boxes a little bit. I told them what I wanted them to do, and then I gave them something for doing it. Now, if you're an inspirational speaker, it could be, I want to challenge you to spend the next five days reciting these prayers that I will be happy to give you in a download or they're back at my book table. The doing is the call to action and every story has a call to action. It has an ending. It has something you want me to do. Because if you don't tell me what to do next. I won't do anything now. That's a sad truth, but I want you to think about that. Think about somebody you heard speak recently. We're right in the midst of a political time and there are campaigning going on left and right. And what is the last thing that a candidate says? I want you to go to the polls and vote for me. That's the doing. The feeling is they are going to touch your feels with however they stand. The knowing is they're going to give you some statistics on maybe how they voted or how their party stands. And the doing is they tell you what to do. Go to the polls. So what is your feeling, knowing, and doing? Because those three things are the keys to creating great stories. Now, for a long time, I created stories and told stories with really, without really thinking about those things. And the stories fell apart. I would create a podcast and I didn't know what I wanted you to feel or know or do with the story I was sharing. I just was creating it. And I would stop and think about it and think that doesn't bring any value. When I shifted and began to look at everything under the story spire framework, then it changed Before I create any story, I think about you. What do I want you to feel? What do I want you to know? And what do I want you to do? And today, I want you to feel that you can be a great storyteller. I want you to know, That you need to practice. You need to get more assets, more resources. You need to continue to listen to this podcast. Maybe we even need to work together. And what I want you to do is I want you to sign up for my email list. I want you to subscribe to this podcast and I want you to continue to show up here because you know what I know your story will change the world. I hope you have a great week. I'll see you around. And don't forget, I would love a five star rating. If you're going to give me anything other than a five star, can we get on the phone and chat? I would love to get it up to a five star. I'll see you around. Have a great rest of your day. Bye now.