Set yourself ambitious goals. Goals that are much greater than your normal goals. Goals that are big enough to inspire you and hold your attention.

Connection stories are short, personal accounts of recent experiences that reveal more about who you are.

A pattern interrupt leads your listener in one direction (aka the setup), then it breaks that expectation (aka unusual activity).

speeches they’d listened to only a few minutes before. Only 5% of them recalled any numbers or statistics. And that was in a class full of some of the smartest people on the planet. On the other hand, 63% of the class remembered a story they had heard during the speeches. Often, when we talk about our company, we say something like “We are the

One simple way to start your story with an element of surprise is to use an anticipation hook. An anticipation hook is a sentence you say before your story to get your listeners excited about the story.

To have your story land, pick a character, challenge, or emotion that your listeners can relate to

Industry stories delve into the challenges or trends that you’ve observed in your buyer’s industry or business landscape The goal of industry stories is to position yourself as your buyer’s trusted advisor You can share an industry story early on when you have a rough understanding of your buyer’s business and some of the problems they are

Top-performing sales reps spend much more time listening than the bottom ones Listening to understand means listening with your undivided attention Great listening helps to build rapport, but also to pick a story that is relevant to your buyer’s struggles

Why does it matter to state the time, location, and main character? Because these three points give your story instant credibility.