As a professional speaker and training consultant, I am always looking for new ideas or wanting to confirm old ones. I have always known that I can easily remember seven numbers but struggle after that without chunking or writing them down. It seems there is something to the number seven.

In ‘Hardwired Humans’, a book on using human instincts as a leader, Andrew O’keefe presents a compelling case for making sure your first seven words are carefully chosen. This can be in person or on the telephone. People can tune out quickly if your first words don’t interest or benefit them. This also applies to your first seven seconds when speaking although people may tune out after only two or three seconds.

If you want to improve your presentation skills or your influencing skills significantly, remember that first impressions are critical and that you only have seven words or seven seconds. Choose what you say very, very carefully.

Have you noticed how you can get bored when a speaker presents a factual presentation? I know I do. I know that the person is not speaking to me and I drift off. It’s like listening to a conversation between two people where you have no opportunity to contribute or participate. The content is not personal and the person is not just speaking to me. If the person were speaking to just me, I would make more of an effort to understand. If the content was entirely based on facts, I would eventually drift off and hopefully not get caught.

Have you also noticed that this doesn’t happen when someone is telling a story. it feels like I am involved and it feels personal. It is much easier to pay attention and is very similar to a personal conversation. I have heard skilled story tellers spin their magic and felt that they were talking to me. Sometimes I feel like announcing ‘ That’s exactly what happened to me..’. So how about using narrative or story telling to get your message across in a business context? Everyone is over powerpoint or pie charts. Think about telling a story to convey your message. Here are some tips for story telling….

A good story usually has the following elements.

The plot
The hero
The hook
The sequence of events.

The hook is what the story means for the listener. It’s the point of the story.

This is the sequence of events.

Set the scene with rich detail. ‘It was a cold, wet, windy, miserable winter day’
Introduce the characters. ‘A tall, lean man called Les approached me…’
The journey. ‘ We hurried to station together under the meagre protection of the swaying trees.
Obstacle. Suddenly I felt uncomfortable. He seemed too friendly.
Overcome. I realised he reminded me of another person and was just being helpful.
Resolve.Some weeks later we met again and I remembered his wonderful advice.
The point. He had told me that the best way to be selfish was to help others.
The question. Are we being selfish enough. Are we building close relationships so that others will help us when we are in need?

So next time you speak to a group of any size, include a story to make you message more personal, memorable and compelling. Narrative reduces resistance and increases attention. It includes emotion which make your message more sticky and easier to remember..

Just try it. ‘Once upon a time….’

If you have a career then there is a time when you don’t have it. Same for a future. If you have anything, then it’s yours. Your career isn’t yours nor is the future. You are just doing something at the moment.

You are just nowing. If you can just accept what you are doing at work rather than look to what comes next you have more chance of enjoying what you are doing instead of running away from something unpleasant or moving towards something considered more acceptable.

Can you accept your career/job at the moment? Can you accept your present without wanting  to move away? Careers don’t come to an end. What you are doing might end and then you do something else. If you focus on the present moment your career will last as long as you do. You might even create a longer now if you enjoy yourself.

I meet so few people who enjoy their jobs/careers/lives. They seem to be hurrying to something else and missing what is happening now. If you want to have something. You do. You have now. Everything else is past or future.