Storytelling Tips, #5
Welcome to Storytelling Tips, edition 5.
Actionable ways to level up your storytelling, with me, Maryam Pasha.
1.
Nail your opening.
A question, a mini story, a puzzle, a sensory description – here's some story structures for to open your speech strong.
Your opening has one role: to grab your audience's attention. 😯
The beginning of your speech is a way for you to start building a rapport and a connection with your audience.
Do not start with - “um can you hear me in the back”.
And if you can help it try to avoid “hi my name is”.
A good opening can be a question, a mini story, a puzzle, a sensory description of a key moment, or even in medias res - where you get dropped into the action.
One of my favourite ways of opening is amplification. Which is about changing perspective for the audience - take something big and show it is small, that something is complex and show it is simple.
Whichever method you choose, you have to start strong.
I cover this and much more in my new online course containing ten modules, where I coach you to prep you for your upcoming speaking opportunity.
In the sixth module, called story construction, I take you through:
1️⃣ storytelling structures
2️⃣ tips on how to open
3️⃣ tips on how to close your talks with impact
👁️ Read more.
2.
Level up how you practice.
Practice really, really, really does make perfect.
“Do I really need to practise?”😑
Well the bad news is, that practising is essential. There is no way around it. But the good news is there are some ways to make it more fun, and more effective. 🎉
Some people like to use a script, some want to use an outline with bullet points. Regardless of which method you like, you always need to know the route of your talk – it’s never about speaking ‘off the cuff’.
When asking for feedback, be specific:
1️⃣ Did I grab your attention from the get-go?
2️⃣ How was my tone of voice? Did it sound conversational?
3️⃣ Where there moments you got distracted?
You can access an entire module where I coach you one-to-one through these strategies – in my new online #storytelling and #publicspeaking course – Speak, So Others Listen.
This might be the course for you, if:
🗣 You want to build your public speaking skills.
💢 You’ve got a speaking opportunity coming up.
Recommended by LinkedIn
👏 You want a guided, step-by-step approach to help you prep.
👁️ Read more.
3.
Follow the money.
Climate and cash: how we can maximise the impact of climate funding.
Where does all the climate funding go? Working across the spectrum of funders, philanthropists and NGOs myself, I was super excited to speak with data ecologist, TED fellow and CEO of Vibrant Data Labs who is following the flow of philanthropic money and funding into climate, Eric Berlow. And he did not disappoint.
Tracking how 350 billion dollars of private #philanthropy and investments to #climate relevant organisations in the U.S. is being spent, Eric joined me on the TEDxLondon #ClimateCuriousPod at #TED2024 to chat climate and cash; sharing insights on how to maximise the impact of #climatefunding.
In this conversation, Eric shares:
💰 How he’s following the climate money
🤔 Which solutions the climate money is going towards
🌴 Which climate solutions are most in need of philanthropic dollars
Some memorable quotes from Eric:
💬 ”They say it’s an all hands on deck problem. Yet none of the hands knows what the others are doing.”
💬 ”You can't approach it as an investor or as a funder piecemeal, because the success of one thing depends on the success of another.”
💬 “There's a huge gap in funding for nature So like less than 3 percent of funding is going to nature related things .”
👁️ Read more.
About me
I believe in the power of storytelling: 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫.
But not everybody knows how to 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧.
That’s where I can help you.
I'm Maryam Pasha, and I help take some of the world's biggest, most challenging, complex and important ideas and transform them into high-impact stories.
I work with billionaire philanthropists, award-winning academics, business leaders, activists, and students: anyone who wants to tell better stories, and tell stories better.
I’m passionate about supporting a new wave of leaders to communicate new ideas with the impact required to bring about systemic change – within organisations – and the world.
Enjoyed this month's edition of #StorytellingTips?
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👉 Take my online course, Speak, So Others Listen.
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4mo"Great insights, Maryam! Your storytelling tips are truly valuable for enhancing communication skills. Looking forward to more practical advice from you. Keep inspiring! 🌟"