Transcript
I had a conversation with one of my, group members.
This was actually, I mean, 2 years ago, and and that conversation turned into some really useful notes that he shared with me and he posted in a group.
And I think it's it's okay to share that with everybody because we can all relate to what if we are need to be vulnerable in our storytelling.
How does that translate to building credibility?
Right?
It's an important question because if I'm telling a story about for example, I'm a business coach.
If I tell a story about a business failure, might that make my audience think less of me and go, well, I'm not gonna hire you as business coach because you have this failure.
Well, how can you transform a vulnerable story into a credibility building story?
So some notes I've given you below, take a look at them.
Think about how you would do it yourself because some of your stories are also ones about your failures so called failures or traumas or, yeah, your weaknesses or whatever it might be, because there's some important insight for your audience.
Well, how are you shaping that into also a because because we don't you know, there's the danger there's a risk of what's called bleeding on your audience.
You have an open wound, and you're just flinging that everywhere, and the blood's getting over your that's not good either.
So the the the there's a well known quote, and I forget who's saying this, but it's a it's a I I can picture it.
It's a female speaker who's saying this, but you could probably look it up.
Teach from your scars, not your wounds is one way of looking at it.
There are some additional notes below.
So sit with this.
Feel free to comment below, maybe in video format, if you like to share with us how you're going to maybe there are already one of your stories that can be reframed or somehow reshaped so that it's more credibility building for your for your business as well.
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Building credibility even as we tell vulnerable stories
Updated Oct 15, 2024
A few years ago I talked with Masterheart member Eric Klein about how we can develop credibility authentically and he wrote these helpful notes:
One: When wanting to use self-as-example in talking about “vulnerable” experiences like sense-of-credibility etc etc I find it useful to remember a true/example from my childhood. Using childhood stories is powerful because:
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You (as the teller) are not (as) identified with that event/age and so can have a sense of care/carefree-ness in the telling. You can have both empathy for your younger self and a loving sense of humor (which makes the audience relax, too).
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They (as listeners) can project their emotions into the story because it’s more of a metaphor than a “real life” adult-business-example of doing social media marketing (which may already be overwhelming to hear about).
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The part of them that is fearful/doubtful/reactive resides at an earlier age/stage - like the “you” in the story. So, there's a natural (though unconscious) connection.
Two: The focus/reframe on shifting from "feeling credible" towards "cultivating/enjoying connection" is beautiful and it includes (at least) two dimensions:
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Connecting with the audience: Specifically their aspirations, needs, “problems”, and innate wisdom/spirit.
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Connecting with yourself: Specifically your aspirations, needs, “problems”, and innate wisdom/spirit.
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Combining these, we can curate the right focus, information, empathy, and stories.
Three: Our sense of credibility is built on:
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Loving our subject.
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Caring for our audience.
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Caring for the parts in us that are feeling less-than-fully-credible.
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Making lots of videos while doing the above.
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Responding to the feedback/questions we get as key source of new material (which allows us to recycle through each of these bullet points).
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