Suzanne Chadwick
Welcome to the brand builders lab podcast. I'm your host Chadwick, creator of brand builders Academy and the amplify accelerator right here on this podcast will inspire you to become a bold and powerful voice in the world and claim your space with confidence. Yes, you can be bold and go against the grain to become the creative. Rebel you want to be. Forget average, it's time to level up. Hello, my lovelies, welcome back to the podcast. It is awesome to have you here today. Now, I have been spending most of my week well, not most of my big week, but some of my week preparing for a speaking gig that I've got this coming weekend. And I am running three different sessions. And so I'm running a session on becoming a confident speaker. I'm running a session on building courage. I'm also running a social media sessions. So there's a lot that I've been working on. And one of the things that I really think about when I am speaking and when I'm going to be running a workshop or anything along these lines is what are the stories that I'm going to be telling. And the reason that it's so important is because stories are what people remember. Yeah, so often even I think about I was at this event once I can't remember who was telling the story. But this was the story they told. And so obviously, we want our stories to be remembered as the stories we told. But also, just remember that stories have a lot of power. So we can teach people different things. And obviously, if it's useful for them, they're going to remember that, but stories just live longer in our minds. And so I really wanted to talk this week about the power of storytelling, I wanted to give you a few different strategies that you can use when it comes to telling stories and how you can potentially just be more memorable, when it comes to the stories that you share why you share them and how you share them as well. So that's what we're going to be going through today. So I feel like it's relevant for everybody. Because whether you're posting on social media, whether you're a speaker like me, whether you're just having conversations with people, thinking about what stories you can share, that help to bring what you're talking about to life is just a skill that I think in today's digital communication age, we all kind of need. Yeah. And even when I used to work with corporates and leadership teams, this was something that we used to spend a lot of time on. were what were the stories within the organization that we could tell when I was working in employer branding, that could really attract the audience that we wanted, what were the things that people loved to hear about, or things that were just a little bit different that made the company stand out? What were the stories that the leaders could share, that really humanize them, that showed maybe the experiences that they'd had, both personally and professionally, the experiences within the organization lessons that they had learned, all of those sorts of things. So I feel like I've been talking about stories for a very long time now. So I am looking forward to sharing it on the podcast with you. But listen, I just wanted to let you know, I ran a live masterclass just about a week ago on how to become a brand leader. And I take you through the brand leaders authority framework, which is a five part framework that I teach and if you want to go and check that out, you can because I edited it so that you can watch the replay without too much chitchat. And if you want to go and grab that, all you have to do is go to Suzanne chadwick.com forward slash brand leader all one word. So Suzanne chadwick.com forward slash a brand leader, and you can go and sign up and check out that masterclass or if you go to my Instagram at CS Chadwick and go to the link in bio, you can see all my freebies and master classes there and that one is there as well. So super excited to share that with you. I just love talking about it. I could talk about it all day long. But listen, without further ado, let's dive into this week's episode.

So there's a couple of things I'm going to take you through today. The first thing I'm going to take you through are the eight types of stories that are generally spoken about this is in business. This is literature, this is in life. So these eight stories I'm really Just prompts for you to think about whether there is a way for you to use that story within your own business. The second thing that I'm going to take you through are compelling story blocks as well. So I basically use the story blocks that I'm going to tell you about. And I rearrange them, or reuse them, throughout my speaking throughout my presentations, whether it's a keynote training, etc. So those are the two main things that we're going to go through. And I really feel like you can use the story blocks, which I'm going to talk to you about, within the different types of stories. It'll All Make Sense in a minute. Okay, so let's talk about the eight types of stories that people use. So the first one is overcoming the monster. Yeah, so this is where somebody has to overcome the monster, the first thing that I've thought about was Stranger Things. So I don't know if you watch that show on Netflix, but there is a monster it takes over the town, it preys on the kids, and they have to overcome it and the little girl, she's not a little girl anymore, the little girl is the powerful being that overcomes the monster. So that's the first type of story. We'll go into some of these in a bit more details. The next one is rags to riches. Yes, obviously started with nothing, I think of Tony Robbins when he's, you know, single mom home where they had food stamps, obviously one of the wealthiest men now, the quest, which is somebody who goes on the journey. So I think Lord of the Rings is a really good example of that, that they have to go. And they have to drop the ring into Mordor in order for, you know, Salomon to be defeated. And so the quest is going on a journey. You've got the voyage and the return. And so something like Moby Dick is a really good example of that, where they're going on a voyage, and then the return and what life is like, now that they've returned, you've got the comedy, don't need to explain that. The tragedy, I don't feel like I need to explain that where the where the movie doesn't end? Well. It'll is a tragedy, and the rebirth. Yeah, so somebody who has gone through something, and now has become a new person. So the rebirth could be an example of that. So what I want you to really start to think about is, when it comes to those different story plots, or types of stories, how could you relate them to your business? So really starting to think about things like overcoming the monster? Has there been a pain point in your business? Has there been something where you feel like it was insurmountable at the time, it was something that you couldn't figure out how you were going to overcome it, you were going to defeat it, you were going to make it happen. And then the process that you went through, when it came to overcoming the monster, and this could be something like doubt, it could be depression, it could be something that's happened to you personally, the monster could be an emotional situation. Or it could be something that was really holding you back in your business, you decide what that monster is, but really thinking about what were some things that I really struggled with, that I needed to overcome when it comes from rags to riches. But if you think about maybe where you started, and it doesn't have to be a monetary thing, yeah, it might be where you started, and you were terrified of speaking, you would have anxiety attacks, you would cry, you would just do anything you needed to do in order to not get up on the stage to not be seen, to not be heard to not be acknowledged. But now you're a confident speaker who's taking to the stage getting paid lots of money to do it. And it's one of your most loved and amazing things. So your rags to riches could be from being in a really low place to then being like at the top of the mountain doing an amazing thing. So think about what have been some of those transformations for you. The quest obviously you could take a look at where you have journey to so maybe for me my quest might be I started my business with a three and a five year old. I was working a four day a week senior corporate role, and I was wanting desperately to do my own thing. I knew that I was made for more I knew that there was an option Unity. For me, I was watching all of these people around me, who were creating the life that they wanted and doing the work that they wanted and making the money that they wanted. But I felt stuck, I felt stuck in my job, I felt stuck in the financial responsibilities that we had created for ourselves. And all I wanted was the freedom to create the business and the life that I wanted to. And then I take people on the journey of how I ended up where I am now. So that can be the quiz that you're using in your business. So think about where were you how were you feeling? What was the emotions, etc. And then how did you get to where you were going to be now, the voyage and the return is a really interesting one. Because there's a number of different ways that you could tell this story. But the voyage and the return could be something like you were going on a journey, you were going overseas, you were going to do something specific. And you had all of these expectations of what it was going to be and how amazing it was going to be and what it was going to do for you. And then when you got there, it may not have been everything that you expected. Maybe there was some hardships when you got there, maybe there was some realizations that actually, this wasn't the fix that you were looking for, after all of the anticipation. And then when you returned, what life was like when you returned, and realizing that the return was actually a really great thing, it was an opportunity for maybe something new and something exciting. And so you thought that the amazing thing was going to be at the end of that journey, or that voyage. But really the return was what was the amazing and miraculous opportunity and thing. Comedy, something weird and funny that's happened to you that you can share. tragedy is a really interesting one, because I obviously don't think everybody can use it. And I think that with tragedy, you've got to really think about how you're sharing it, why you're sharing it, and the context in which you're sharing it as well. I remember on clubhouse, there used to be

Nidhi, she was a psychologist, and she used to do these rooms on trauma dumping. And it's where people come in. And they share their story in a really real and raw way. But they do it in a way that kind of takes the audience by surprise, doesn't prepare them for what's coming. And it can negatively impact the listener. And I always I never had thought about it. And I just thought it was a really interesting conversation. And so when you share tragic stories, I think it's important to think about the context in which you share them, and preparing your audience for the story as well. So for example, sometimes when I say and I think this is a really important thing to do is that sometimes I'll see at the beginning of a post, or somebody sharing their story, where it might have at the beginning trigger warning, infant loss. And so that's letting the audience know that this is a story that they're going to share about their personal experience with that particular thing. And so I think that when we talk about tragedies, I think that it's totally fine to talk about them, you've just got to prepare your audience for it. Otherwise, you might be trauma dumping. So that is something that you can absolutely use, I think it's just something you've got to think a little bit more about. And then the rebirth. Obviously, if you have been through anything where you feel like it's a new, so maybe you went on a retreat, and you came away as a totally new person with new beliefs and thoughts and a new lease on life and a totally different way of looking at the world. Like what is that rebirth story as well. So those are just some ones that I think are really worth thinking about. I think it can help you be more creative in your business. So we're not just talking about speaking, obviously, we're talking about how you tell great stories as well through your emails, through your social media posts. When you're speaking at events or doing training, then you can think about how can I incorporate a number of these different stories or one or two of them, because just remember, they will always be more memorable. Now once you've decided that you want to tell a story. There are some compelling story blocks that you can use. And I kind of use these in different orders at different times. And, and so the first one is relevance. So what is the relevance to the audience when it comes to what you're going to speak about. And I always say, you know, in this day in this month in this year, how is what you're talking about relevant. So for example, when I did the podcast on forget confidence do this instead, one of the things that obviously I talked about is just deciding that you want to be courageous instead of constantly looking to be confident or waiting for confidence to come. Now, the relevance is that, that is something that I see all the time. That's something I hear all the time from my clients, from women in the industry, that they don't feel confident, they don't feel confident enough to do something, they don't feel confident enough to do something. And now, I love that so many of my clients are like, Suze, I don't feel confident, confident, but I'm willing to be courageous. And so the relevance is that this, I feel, is a massive issue that holds so many women in business back is that we're waiting for that confidence. And so I can really start to talk about different stories of clients who have used that within their own business. So for example, the story that I could tell is one of my clients, Gemma, who is amazing and got asked to be a speaker. And her first thought was, I don't feel very confident to do that. But she decided to step into courage. And she said yes to it. And then she came back. And she was like, I shared that as well. So as I told them, that I stepped into courage instead of competence. And, and, you know, it was a message that was really well received. So think about when you are sharing a story, what is the relevance to the audience? And how can you always bring that relevance in so that they understand why you're telling them the story, they understand why you're talking about what you're talking about. And also, you may see things that they don't see on a regular basis. So it's almost bringing their attention to something that they may not be aware of. The second thing around your compelling story blocks are the life stories and experiences that you have. So this could be from your childhood. This could be from high school, from university, from traveling the world, from your job, from your family, all of those sorts of things, you could take a look at what stories you can potentially talk about when it comes to different topics. So I've shared this in a previous podcast on speaking before, but I like to have a notes page in my Google notes, where if a story comes up that I think is relevant to something that I talk about, then I'll make a note of that story. So that I've got a library of stories that are relevant to competence. They're relevant to product profitability, they're relevant to building a business, they're relevant to be being a mom in business, like there's all these stories that we have, that maybe we just haven't spent the time to really think about how we use them, and how we tell them. So what I'd really love you to do is think about if you talk about a particular topic, what are what's the childhood story, you could tell? What's a parent story, you could tell what's a friend story you could tell? Like, just think about the different dimensions and aspects of your life? Is there a story that you have that maybe you've never told before, from your life and experiences, that could be part of your stories and how you share and communicate them with your audience. The next story block is obviously to teach so you can teach somebody something. So in this episode, I am teaching you the eight types of stories that you can talk about, as well as the step seven compelling story blocks. So teaching specific things and outcomes is obviously what I feel like most of us are used to doing. We give tips and tricks on copywriting and SEO and web design and building a business. And so teaching is obviously you can slot that in in different ways. The next one are your beliefs. And I talk about this a lot with Thought Leadership. Because what you believe and why you believe it, I think makes it really unique to you. Because the belief that I have and why I believe it is going to be different even if you believe that same thing, why you believe it might be very different to why I believe it. And so really thinking about what do I believe when it comes to women being more profitable in business? What do I believe when it comes to women becoming bold and powerful voices in their industry and in the world? What do I believe? And so really sitting down and making a note of your beliefs I think is so worthwhile because it really helps you to start to articulate what it is that you want to communicate with people. And I think that our beliefs really drive us to. So for example, I have a belief that if more women were in power, we would not be in the current situation that we're in. I said that on a webinar the other day. And when I talk about supporting women to become bold and powerful voices in the world, and claim their space, with courage and confidence, that's what I wish, I wish we had more female leaders of countries. Because I really think that our compassion, and our ability to not be power hungry, and our ability to think about the greater good, instead of going to war, and just being idiots, being idiots, but we're watching the leaders in the world be right now. I believe that if more women were courageous, and became powerful voices, I feel like the world would be in a better place as well. I believe that women can be incredibly savvy with money, and build highly profitable businesses. I believe that when you step into courage, you will do like 100 times more than if you're waiting to become confident. I believe that we can be great mothers, wives, friends, and incredible business owners as well. So really ask yourself, what do you believe? Like? What are your beliefs when it comes to what you do? When it comes to your audience, your clients? What do you believe, and really think about how you share the stories of your beliefs, how you embody your beliefs, and how you communicate your beliefs as well.

The next one, once again, that I talk about when it comes to thought leadership, but also sits within story blocks, is the collective research. And so when it comes to collective research, obviously, it is what other people think. And it could be for or against. And I think that having both of those opinions is actually a really well rounded, interesting conversation. And it brings a lot of, I guess, depth to what you talk about. And so one of the things I'm going to be talking about at this event that I'm going to be speaking about is thought management. So talked about it, I think it was in the second episode of this year, which was around belief ladders, and thought management, I talk about thought management a lot. I got it from Brooke Castillo always want to credit where I get the things that, you know, I learn as well. And so she talks about the fact that we can manage our minds and that we can manage our thoughts and that when we are more deliberate with the way that we think, then we can be more in control of the things that we do. And it was really interesting, I wanted to kind of find some stats on it and collective research on it. And so I found that this was a stat that I found on the internet, that the average person has 60,000 thoughts per day, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and have those thoughts 95% repeat each day. And on average, wait for it. 80% of repeated thoughts are negative. So when I talk about thought management, and I talk about belief ladders, which is something that I thought about and created this stat which is from collective research of other people doing it blows my mind. And is such a powerful statistic, when it comes to me teaching how you can be more deliberate with the thoughts that you have 80% of repeated thoughts of the 60,000 thoughts per day that we have a negative. How crazy is that? But when I saw that stuff, I was like that is gold I love so good. I want to tell you about it. And so now I'm just like what else can I learn? What else can I learn about our mind and what we think and how we think and negative thoughts and positive thoughts and, you know, thoughts on repeat and how that impacts the things that we do when the way that we feel and our emotions and our achievements and all the rest of us so you can kind of fall down a rabbit hole with that but I just think really understand what you're talking about. Really take a look and see what other people have said and use that when you're telling your stories. Like use that so that you've got more depth more dimension to what you're sharing as well. The next story block is to engage. And so how you can engage is to ask questions is to if you're speaking in front of people to get them to show of hands, to get them to acknowledge something. So always be thinking about in your stories. How are you engaging your audience, and even when it comes to engaging, and I'm thinking about physically speaking in front of people, and one of the things that I teach as well, is around. tonality, pace, volume, those things can be really engaging when you're telling a story to like, if you think about how you might read a story to a child, you're not going to just read it monotone the whole time without any inflections or any you know, when that's really boring. So when you are wanting to be engaging with your story, think about the ebbs and flows of it. Think about how you're drawing them in. And one of the things that is so worth doing as well is that when you are wanting to share a story, actually practicing the story, thinking about how you tell it, and working on that, too. So for example, we're visual creatures. So when I talk about the very first time that I debated when I was 16 years old, I sometimes tell the story of you know, the very first time that I ever debated, I was terrified. I knew what I was doing. But it didn't make it any less scary. And it was a cold, rainy, dark night in Ormond in Melbourne. I was in my blue school uniform. And I walked into the very cold classroom, where we were going to have our first debate, and the room was filled with people, which just made me even more nervous. And the opposition was sitting in their seats, across from where I was going to be sitting. And the chairperson, and the adjudicators and all the parents as I walked up to my seat, and I sat down, I could feel their eyes on me. And I just thought Sue's don't stuff this up. Whatever you do, don't stop this up. But as we started the debate and the energy rose in the room, I could feel the excitement and in the scene. So think about how you tell your story, draw them in go low, go high bring energy. Yeah, think about how you're sharing your story. And you can do this in writing as well. Obviously, there are so many books that are just captivating and engaging because of the way that they write their tonality, their pace. And so when you're telling a story, really think about how you're describing it, what details could you give? How much more in depth? Could you go? You know, I do I remember that night, it was a really rainy, dark, cold night, it was like a winter's night in Melbourne. And our classrooms had the fluorescent lights, and it was just, you know, I can picture it all now. And so what else? What other details? Could I tell? How are they feeling? What did people look like? How many people were in the room? You know, how am i How are the other speakers on my team, like, just think about the details so that when you tell a story you can really draw people in. And you can really share it so that it's either exciting or scary or amazing or, you know, sad whatever it is that you want it to be. So think about how are you engaging, when it comes to the stories that you tell. And the thing is, is that you can use this when you teach you can use it when you're sharing your beliefs, you can use it when you're telling the collective research, when you're talking about the relevance like that engaging that tonality, that pace, that emotion you can bring into any of these story blocks. And that's where you can kind of weave them and decide how you use them and how you intertwine them as well. And the last story block is the call to action. And so you can have a call to action at the very end, you can have a call to action throughout. So sometimes when I'm teaching and I get to the end of the first section, I'll say the action that I really want you to take the one thing I want you to remember from this is X Yeah. And sometimes even though I might have different calls to actions, something that I might also say when I'm speaking is if you remember nothing else from our session today. This is the one thing I want To take away, you can obviously also get them to download something to save something, to click on something to go somewhere to tell you something, to answer a question, to share an idea. So play with that as well and really think about when it comes to the stories that you're telling, why are you telling them? Like, what is the purpose of you telling the story? What do you want the person to do? How do you want them to feel? And I think that sometimes we don't think very much about these things. But can I tell you once again, the reason that I love Brene Brown the reason that I love Elizabeth Gilbert, is because they tell great stories. I'm currently watching on Netflix was inventing Anna, which is about the so called Russian slash German socialite who took New York and fooled them and ended up owing a lot of money. And I was like, Oh, this is interesting. But then when I saw who it was by, which was Shonda Rhimes, might one of my favorite books is the year of Yes, by Shonda Rhimes. If you haven't read it, go and read it, it's fantastic or even better listen to it on Audible because she's an incredible storyteller. And so I knew like once I saw that it was a Shonda land media production. Show, I was like, This is gonna be amazing. And so what stories allow you to do is that it allows you to be remembered, people will forget what you tell them, but they won't forget how you made them feel. And I was laughing because the event that I'm gonna go speak at the organizers that I've spoken to this group before, and the organizers sent a message to them and said, What Is there anything in particular you

want us to cover on these topics such as covering, and somebody sent a message back saying anything, Sue's could speak French to me, and I would like to wrap it up so excited. And like, that's one of the best speaker testimonials. But the point is, is that when you bring yourself when you bring engagement and great story, and great teaching and collective research and strong beliefs and life experiences, then people remember that. That's what makes great content. That's what makes your content, whether it's written verbal, makes it memorable. So spending time working out your stories, how to tell powerful stories, is only going to benefit you. So I really want you to think about that. I really want you to think about how you can use it in your business. Yeah, and really understand what stories can I tell? And then what do I want to get out of it? What do I want to share? How do I want them to feel? What do I want them to take away from this? So hopefully, that is something that has made you think a little bit late. Do you think a little bit deeper about the type of content that you share? Why you share it and how you share it. The great stories are always unforgettable. And that's what you want to be you want to be unforgettable. Well, that's it for another week. It has been amazing to have you here as always, and remember to follow me on all socials at Suzanne Chadwick. But thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, then I would love you to leave a review so that others can find the podcast and come and hang out with us every week for music to this podcast was created by axon on SoundCloud. Until next time, have an awesome week and make sure you keep playing big and branding bold. Hey, lovely. If you're ready to work together, then I want to invite you to come and join me in brandbuilders Academy will work together to help you create the right structure systems and strategies to grow your business and scale. If you want more time back in your day, you want to attract more of the cream clients you want to work with. You want to nail your message your marketing and your money. Plus you want ongoing month on month support to keep growing then BBA is the place for you. All you have to do is head to CS chadwick.com forward slash BBA. And come and join us and get started today. I can't wait to see you on the inside.

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