Michel Neray

We’ve all been there. You’ve got a high-stakes presentation or conversation, and the people in front of you are nodding politely, but all the while, the little voice in the back of their minds is telling them all the reasons why they just. won’t. agree.

Congratulations, you’ve experienced ‘Crossed-Arm Syndrome’!

Your listeners have a brick wall of belief about something — and that belief is the biggest driver for their decisions and behavior. It could be based on actual fact, or fiction, a hunch, a fear, a stereotype, or a skepticism, but whatever it is, no amount of data is going to convince them otherwise.

Neuroscience to the rescue.

You see, neuroscience teaches us that we build up beliefs and views of the world through a process called Bayesian learning. The end result is like a brick wall of strongly held beliefs. There’s no use fighting it, but neuroscience also teaches us that our brains are wired to place greater emphasis on emotion… and there’s no better way to combine facts and emotion than in a story.

If you’re in sales trying to convince a prospect that your product or service is superior… Or.. if you’re a start-up trying to persuade investors to invest in your next great idea… Or.. if you’re a business leader espousing the company values to your team… telling a brief but strategically crafted story to overcome Crossed-Arm Syndrome may be the most valuable new skill you can get this year.

How leaders lead, coaches coach, salespeople sell, teachers teach and influencers influence.

It is well-established that stories are more memorable and powerful than facts and statistics. Stories are the basis of leadership, coaching, influence, teaching, sales and team culture. From the beginning of time, stories are how we have passed on our values, made sense of the world and effected change. Today, it’s how we build our businesses and strengthen our communities.

But you don’t have to be a storytelling ‘expert’ to tell powerful stories… because we are already born storytellers. In this keynote, Michel Neray shows you how to use your natural storytelling ability to lead better and motivate others. What’s more, you might just leave inspired by the value of your own story and how it contributes to your unique strengths and success.

This is a fun and engaging presentation that will open your eyes to new ways to tell and perform stories to sell more, lead more powerfully and, yes, change the world.

This session is part of an ongoing programme that combines exercises in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), classic storytelling, stand-up comedy, improv, acting and professional speaking. It helps participants strategically develop signature and turning-point stories to motivate/inspire/influence team members, customers and audiences in the most engaging and powerful way.

If you want to sell without ‘selling’, attract customers who want what you have to offer… differentiate your product or service from ALL the competition… gain the kind of confidence that only comes from knowing the true value of what you offer… you need stories.

Specifically, you need THESE stories…

• Your case stories tell your audience that the results are real.
• Your ‘human’ stories shows you’re relatable, and what it’s like to work with you.
• Your ‘origin’ story defines the problem you solve and positions you as the natural solution; it’s the backstory that explains ‘why we do how we do what we do’.
• Your ‘secret sauce’ story is strongly linked to the origin story. This is the most strongly differentiating of all the stories.

You should be able to tell these stories clearly and confidently… and so naturally that they don’t even feel like ‘stories’. You share them in conversation, on stage, or on your website – anywhere you meet potential customers – to help them get to know, like, and trust you.