Episode 68: How to Captivate and Connect with Anyone Through Story with Jude Charles
Everyone loves a good story.
Well-told stories help you captivate people's attention and connect you with anyone.
This is why successful businesses use stories.
The reason is simple—stories sell.
Nothing appeals to human emotions better than tales that relate to the customer experience.
That's just one of the many reasons why you should strive to consider storytelling as a core activity of all your PR efforts.
When people begin to care for your story, they understand why you exist as the solution to their problems. Sooner or later, your story will make them confidently say 'Yes' to you!
All that sounds promising. But truth be told, not all business founders know what story to tell and how to tell that story.
In some cases, some stories by founders create the opposite effects and turn people away instead. Worse, some just narrate a story for the sake of telling one but not really to connect with more people.
So, what is it then that you have to do so your story can help you achieve your business goals?
There are plenty of answers out there for sure, but you can focus on this one critical activity at first—establish your story.
Assemble the details and elements of your story. Then, nail down why people should listen to you and why your business exists.
With such compelling force behind your business, it's most likely that people won't resist listening to you because you have genuinely connected with them.
In this episode, we discuss how entrepreneurs can become more confident and make an impact through storytelling. Our guest, Jude Charles, is the perfect person to inspire you in finally putting out your story to the world.
"Storytelling is the one thing that actually gets embedded in different parts of your business. When people are thinking about buying from you, whether it's a product or service, they're thinking, why should I do business with you? The answer to 'Why you?' most of the time is going to be your story."
-Jude Charles
For over 15 years, Jude Charles has been producing documentaries for entrepreneurs. He has produced stories for Google, Steve Harvey, and dozens of visionary CEOs. Jude is the author of Dramatic Demonstration. This book is a roadmap that teaches you how to dig deep to find compelling stories that no one else knows and then leverage those stories to grow your business. Jude's mission is to lead and empower entrepreneurs to have relentless, unwavering courage.
Captivate and connect with anyone through storytelling. Join us in this episode as we have a conversation that can inspire you to create and tell a story that gets you seen, heard, and valued for the impact you make in this world.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
A storyteller's unique take on storytelling
Why storytelling is the new marketing
The problems with abusing and complicating storytelling
How vulnerability in storytelling leads to customer trust
Making stories as valuable tools for your business
Improving your storytelling prowess through proven techniques
If you want to land your first feature for free without any connections, I want to invite you to watch my PR Secrets Masterclass where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought-after industry expert. Register now at www.gloriachou.com/masterclass.
Resources Mentioned:
Join Gloria Chou's PR Community: Small Biz Pros: By Gloria Chou
Follow Jude Charles on Twitter: Jude Charles
Visit Jude Charles' website: https://judecharles.co
Subscribe to Jude Charles' newsletter: The Dramatic Leverage Newsletter
Additional Resources:
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Here’s a glance at this episode…
[2:09] What I tried to do is simplify what a story is. I think it's the most important thing: A story is a recounting of a very specific moment in time.
[7:05] Nail down your story. Nail down why people should care that you're starting this business. Give them a reason to care.
[11:30] It isn't always bad moments that happen. Sometimes it's good moments, funny moments. But again, you share the behind-the-scenes, and that way you're able to connect with your audience and get more engagement.
[15:10] We are all naturally storytellers. Now, what matters is how you use that story towards your end goal, with your end goal.
[24:01] When you're looking to take what you're doing, that you're really passionate about, that you care about, and you want someone else to care about it, tell them a story. The story makes it more valuable. It makes people lean in and want to pay attention to it.
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Jude Charles 0:00
When you are thinking to yourself how can I become more relatable? How do I get people to care about something as simple as candles? It is telling the story that matters to the candle. Make meaning, of that's the way that I often like to say, you make meaning of and when you make meaning of this, what builds the connection we talked about earlier, that bridge, that's what builds the bridge to get people to understand. Oh, yeah, even if it's candles, something as simple as candles, it will make them want to buy it because of the story behind it.
Gloria Chou 0:34
Hey, friends, I'm Gloria Chou, small business PR expert, award winning pitch writer and your unofficial hype woman. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people get the recognition they deserve. And that starts with feeling more confident to go bigger with your message. So on this podcast, I will share with you the untraditional, yet proven strategies for PR, marketing, and creating more opportunity in your business. If you are ready to take control of your narrative and be your most unapologetic and confident self, you're in the right place. This is the Small Business PR Podcast. What's up small business heroes, I am so delighted for today's very special guest. We have a storytelling master. I actually met you Charles at an Accelerator retreat with my coach Rick Mulready. And he captivated me with not only his story, but how he's able to help other entrepreneurs get confident and make an impact by storytelling. So Judes Charles is an author, he is an entrepreneur, he has been over 15 years producing stories and documentaries for some of our leading entrepreneurs that you might have heard of, such as Steve Harvey and other visionary CEOs. So we're gonna get into it. But first of all, I want to give a really big welcome to Jude. Welcome to the show.
Jude Charles 1:43
Gloria, thank you for having me. I'm pretty excited. I've been looking forward to this, especially after meeting you at The Mastermind. I'm definitely looking forward to having a conversation around storytelling.
Gloria Chou 1:54
So I know the word story gets. I don't want to say like overused, but you, there's so many people were like use stories, storytelling. Humans are stories, but what is your unique take on storytelling?
Jude Charles 2:05
Now you could definitely say it's been overused because it has, a hey, I think what I tried to do is simplify what a story is. And I think it's the most important thing is story is a recounting of a very specific moment in time. That's it. When you get home from work, or you're going to meet a friend, and they ask you how was your day, you don't just say fine, you walk them through, if something had happened that day, maybe somebody did something that was really sweet. Or maybe someone pissed you off, you go into the very specific moment in time, and you describe what happened, how it happened. But that's all the story is. It is a very specific moment in time. I can tell you about a very specific moment in time that I got started in video production. 17 years old sitting in a TV production classroom. And my teacher, Mrs. Donnelly looked over at me. She said, Jude, you're really really talented at video production, I think you should start a business. Now I'm the youngest of 10 children, my father worked as a construction worker, my mom worked at a cheer factory, there were no entrepreneurs in my family. But the following day, May 5 2006, Mrs. Donnelly comes into the classroom, hands me a yellow envelope. And I'm like, what's this? And she said, open it up. And so I looked inside. And inside were my very first set of business cards. And so that's the specific date and I can even for those watching the video, I can even show you that because I still have it on my desk, the very first business card that Mrs. Donnelly ever gave me. That is how you tell a story. That is a very specific moment in time. And if you focus on that, and then tie it into the lesson that you want to teach, that is how you tell stories.
Gloria Chou 3:51
I love that. First things first, that card will go into the storytelling Hall of Fame. I know it. We're looking at a historical item there, okay. So storytelling is is you know, you broke it down for us for what it is. But what about people who have different types of businesses? Or what if they're very early in their career? Why should they focus on storytelling when they have 50 different other things to do for their business, that you know, people say you need to get good at selling or marketing. How do you, how does story kind of relate to all the things that a business owner should be paying attention to?
Jude Charles 4:25
Storytelling is the one thing that actually gets embedded in different parts of your business. So whether, let's look at internal first, you're building out the business. Maybe you're building a product that you want to sell, what is the story behind it? Why does this thing that you have to sell? Why is it so different than anything else on the market? When people are thinking about buying from you, whether it's a product or service, they're thinking, why should I do business with you, versus any and every other option available? But if we shorten that, they're really asking why you. And the answer to why you oftentimes, most of the time is going to be your story. So you can use it in marketing. But you could also use it in sales, you can use it when you're leading a group. When I came to San Diego to the workshop to The Mastermind with Rick Mulready. I told various stories that helped guide you along, understanding what it is that I wanted to teach, that specifically was a workshop. So it wasn't just me speaking in front of the room. But depending on the answers that I got, it triggered stories in my mind, that helped me share along. So yeah, even though you're starting out in the beginning stages of your business, I think it's important for other people to understand what makes you different, with so much noise that's out there. What is it that that makes you worth it listening to. And oftentimes, that story that you have, whether it's the story of how you got started in the business, whether it's the story of how you're making a pivot from another career, maybe it's the story that you understand why you're doing what you're doing. That's what helps to connect you with other people in a way that goes beyond what you're selling. But even in the early stages, I think that was the biggest mistake I made. My first five years of business I struggled to make $20,000. Today, I'm 16 years in business. But first five years, I struggled to make $20,000 a year. And I know that a big part of that was because I never shared the story. This story of Mrs. Donnelly, like it's gonna go in the Hall of Fame. I never shared it. I hid from it. Because I just didn't think of no one wants to hear that, oh, that's not important. When in fact, when I began to share that story, just like you did, you leaned in and you were like, oh my gosh, it's so special. Other people begin to react that way. And now the introduction that you have to me, even though I do video production, or I consult on storytelling, the introduction that you have, is so so much different. Because now you know, I started this business is 17 years old, you know, parts of my story, you know who I am. And I think that's why it's important to although yes, there's a lot that you could be doing in the beginning of your business. But nail down your story nail down why people should care that you're starting this business. Give them a reason to care.
Gloria Chou 7:14
Yeah, and people don't buy unless they care. When you were telling me about how all the different parts of your business go into story. I had a visual of kind of like a vehicle or a car, would you say that it's kind of like a story is kind of the container that takes you through the journey. And you might have so many things you stuff in the car. But the story is really the thing, the packaging, the wrapping, the vehicle. Would you say that's kind of a metaphor?
Jude Charles 7:38
That's a great metaphor, I think the story is the vehicle that helps you to grow or helps you to get to where you're looking to go. Right? Now, there's different pieces within the story that make up the car, like the engine, and all these other things that make up the car, just like there's details on a car, there's details and storytelling. But yeah, if you're, if you think of it as like a car like a vehicle, the story is the vehicle that helps to get you where you're looking to go. It needs maintenance too, right? It needs, it needs a for you to care for it, which we'll talk about in a few. But like, I think a story in the same way, like it's hard to travel anywhere without a car. It's hard to travel to where you're going without getting paying attention to your story. And not just your story like the origin or why, but sometimes there's just small moments that happened in between. Telling those stories, the behind the scenes stories of what's happening in your business, and how it relates back to maybe it's your core values that relates back to, I think that's important. When you are, again, looking to build your business in a way that gets your name out there that gets your brand out there. You start with your story. You lead with story.
Gloria Chou 8:49
Yeah. And if you look at, you know, people social media and the content, the one that resonates the most, that has the most engagement is not like, here are our values with like three bullet points. It's a story about something completely, seemingly unrelated. And then and then it ties back into the value. And those are the posts that really get people connecting.
Jude Charles 9:09
Yeah.
Gloria Chou 9:10
Right.
Jude Charles 9:10
Yeah. So I told this story once of, this happened recently. In May of 2022. I went to film an event with a client, three day event. And it was a part of a documentary series that we were filming with a client and we're doing this interview with a client. It's me and my team, four of us there. We do the interview in the lobby area of this conference room. After doing the interview. My team goes back into the main conference center. I don't know what I ended up doing but I did something else and I walked in later. My Head of Production, Jason, as soon as I walked into this conference room or conference area where they were having the event. My Head of Production Jason says to me, he looks at me he says to me, dude, we just got robbed. Now, Jason likes to play jokes every now and then. So I'm thinking okay, maybe this is a joke. I look at his face but his facial expression is like, this is serious. Someone had walked into the conference center while we were filming with my client, and stole two cameras, eight lenses. We had walked into the event with four cameras, 10 lenses, right. And so, in this moment, I've got to figure out quite a lot of things when I have to figure out what we're going to do if we're going to continue to film the event, I gotta make sure my team feels safe. I got to make sure the client knows what is going on. Right? On top of filling out a police report, there's all these things going on. I told that story. I believe it was in a recap video. So every month I'll do a recap video of what happened that month. And I happen to tell that story in the caption. I did the recap video, but then I tell the story. And then I end the story. And this is the most critical piece in the story with that person may have robbed us of our equipment, but he couldn't rob me of my purpose. Right? So yes, when you're looking at social media, when people share behind the scenes of what's going on in their lives. Again, I do video production. I didn't go and tell you oh, we did a great video, we had fun filming with his client. I brought you into unfortunately a bad a bad moment. A bad thing that happened. But I also tied it to a lesson in that tells you more about me or tells you more about my work than just simply saying, oh hey cool, we're filming with a client, come check us out. It's no, I've brought you into the experience. Now just oh, it isn't always bad moments that happen. Sometimes it's good moments, funny moments. But again, you share the behind the scenes and that way you're able to connect with your audience and get more engagement. Because now people are really understanding who you are and building a deeper relationship with you online.
Gloria Chou 11:47
Yeah, I really see it. As you were telling me about bringing people into your world, I almost see it as a bridge, right? People aren't going to take that big leap and jump into the water. But if you can build a little bridge with a moment in time, it's more digestible, right, when you say.
Jude Charles 12:02
Yeah, this is more digestible, and social media gives you the opportunity to be more digestible. Digest too, because there's small moments, right? There's small pictures that you could share or videos that you can share of what's going on in your life. But yeah, it's a bridge that invites people to care. How do you invite someone into your world? When I'm speaking, just like this, I'm coming on a podcast to speak or I am speaking on stage, I'm thinking of what's the story I can open with them that makes this person pay attention to me. And now they want to listen to the rest. The first story is really just to get you to want to listen to the rest. Because if you've been to conferences, you've been to events, it's a lot of content. Sometimes, by the time I come on stage, you might get tired, how do I make sure you're actually paying attention? Social media is the same thing. It's a stage, it's a platform for you. This is your stage to tell other people about what you have to sell, what you have to offer, but also about who you are and why they should pay attention the next time you get ready to post. The next time you post and they see your name come across the stream, why should they not keep scrolling by? You give them a reason to like oh, no, she told a good story last time, let me let me actually stop and read what she has to say this time. I think that's the same thing you create that bridge that you build brick by brick online. It is built brick by brick in the same way. I know you're in New York. And they've they've built bridges, a lot of bridges, brick by brick layer by layer. And that is how you connect in New York, how you connect the five boroughs but also online, how you connect people to your world, invite them into your world brick by brick.
Gloria Chou 13:44
I love the metaphors and another one just came up to. It's just like blooming with ideas now that we're on the topic is you know, about content. And I think we live in a world where we're overloaded with content, what we're really starved for is connection. So I really do think that we don't need more content, you know, but the story is what allows us to build connection. So I think a lot of people put the content out there first, almost like the cart before the horse. So why do you think it's not, it takes skill, like we we've been doing this for nearly two decades, and you've worked with the industry. So as why do you think this is not something that everyone just gets right away? It's like, oh, I know how to tell a story. I know how to invite people. And what is it about it that like it's not so natural for us?
Jude Charles 14:27
It is the abuse of storytelling, I think that makes it. So there are people out there who try to make it complicated as to how to tell the story. So the moment, like let's say I came on this podcast, and I told you there's these five steps of storytelling and I list them out. It begins to make you feel like oh, I can't do that. Right? Whereas I just started with simple. The story is a very specific moment in time. We all have very specific moments in time that have happened. And so I think people get intimidated by the fact that I gotta tell this the right way. We are all naturally storytellers, you Gloria is a great storyteller. I am a great storyteller. Now, what matters is how you use that story towards your end goal with your end goal. Maybe you're putting out an email, newsletter, and you want to make sure people read it. Your goal may be to get engagement, you want to get likes and comments from a post that you make online. That's what becomes the get intimidated because it and on top of it, you have to be vulnerable. When I talk about the robbery that happened in Delaware, while I was working. Again, that's not an easy story to share. So traumatic moment, I've never been robbed before, I've never had I've never even lost so much as a microphone when filming for a client. So you have to be vulnerable. And that's the other piece, I think that's intimidating for some people is you put when you're putting yourself out there. It's a level of vulnerability. That is like, oh, people will really know me, or they really get to see me. And my experience, it was only when people began to see me that they really wanted to do business with me. Right? Bbecause they finally understood, oh, this is what Jude is about. We want to build trust. And the one way to build that trust, is to be vulnerable, is to invite someone to be open with you. And so I think that's why it can be intimidating and one side of it is just, you know, people are worried about telling it the right way, when we already do that. Maybe sometimes we give too much details, we tell too much, too long of a story. But we already are good storytellers. The other part is being vulnerable and being comfortable with being vulnerable. Because I'll admit, social media online is not the best place all the time. It's an ugly, it can be an ugly place. But I also think when you're looking to attract the right people to your tribe, attract the right people to work with you. It is through your story that they're like, I don't just want to work with you. I need to work with you. When you heard my story, Gloria, and you could talk about this experience. I don't want to speak for you. But if I remember the first thing you said to me was I need to have you on the podcast. And it wasn't. Did I lead a great workshop? I'm sure I did. But I also shared stories that helped you understand who I was, and in my opinion, but also I think it's true, like it was because of the stories that made you feel like you need to. When you create desire and demand, you do that through connection through captivating an audience. But to me, I want people to feel like I'm the only option. And in order to do that is through your story. The one thing no one else can duplicate. They can duplicate the service that you do. They can duplicate the product. But the one thing they can't duplicate, Gloria, is your story.
Gloria Chou 14:33
Ooh, say that again. That is so good.
Jude Charles 17:54
I was just gonna say it again, because you said it. But yeah, the one thing they can't duplicate is your story. It's the one thing that's unique to you, no matter what you do, how you do it. Your story is what's unique.
Gloria Chou 18:06
Now on the level of unique, I'm, you know, with me, I help people pitch to media, right? And a lot of that is about finding that uniqueness. But it's for so many founders, you know, from the outside, I think they're doing incredible things. But they always say, well, I'm not doing anything unique, or I'm not going to be able to compete with this person, I just make candles. So how can we get ourselves out of that? And remember that we are worthy that we are unique. And yeah, our service and product is not unique, right? We're not discovering a new planet here. But how can we get ourselves to feel confident to tell our story?
Jude Charles 18:41
Yeah, you said you're not discovering the planet. There's a client ahead of him says we're not curing cancer, which is why I left but it it's intimidating to want to tell you a story. Because again, I know from experience ,Mrs. Donnelly's story, I didn't share because I was just like, nobody wants to hear that. But the moment I started sharing it, people leaned in and they they went they asked more questions. And now it creates a different kind of conversation. Even if you're making candles, there's a story behind why you're making candles that people will care about. Again, it doesn't have to be I don't have a rags to riches story. I didn't, that wasn't homeless, and then, you know, made millions of dollars. I didn't, I wasn't down to my last $1,000 started the business and then again made million dollars. What I did was I just had a passion for storytelling. I had a teacher who believed in me, who gave me business cards, and then I ran with it. I think it's important like yeah, it's intimidating. And you may think you may discount what a discount your story. But I'd say try it anyway. Often, I'll get people to tell me, oh, I don't think I have a story to share. And then I'll ask some very, very simple question. When's the last time you've had a challenge? The last time we've had a challenge, it could be simple. It could be my car broke down, it could be the water pipe burst at home, it could be I tried to cook a meal and it didn't go right. Those are challenges. Those are very specific moments and moments in time, which means you have a story to share. And sometimes that story can connect to the lesson that you're trying to teach. I consulted with a accountant, she she runs an accounting firm. And I remember she came on the consulting session, and she was just like, look, Jude, I only think in numbers, I don't really think I have any stories to share. But I'm gonna give this a try anyway. By the end of that session, I believe we had four stories that we had related that we had related to back to accounting, but the stories were actually about her boating. Because this woman specifically she loves to go boating every Tuesday, no matter what time season it is, on Tuesday, she's going boating. And I was like, okay, well tell me about a moment where we was first learning how to boat you couldn't get it right. So there was this great funny story about her not knowing how to park a boat, because she, when she she could do it when there were no other boats around. But then when there were boats around, it was just like, she didn't want to do it. She didn't want to touch it. And she had to learn how to get through that. And we related that back to accounting, where people were afraid to look at their numbers. They're afraid to actually know if they're profitable or not. But again, because we have that funny boat story, that great moment, we can relate it back to that, we have another moment where her son had learned how to boat and he had just got his license. And he's just excited to get on the water. He's going really fast. But she, there's a reference of when when you're boating, you have to be able to read what's going on underwater, you can't just go fast and think that you're not going to run into situations where something is something happening underwater. And she relates that again, back to accounting, going deep and learning your numbers, learning what is happening beneath the surface, not just what's on, what's happening on top of the surface. When you are thinking to yourself, how can I become more relatable? How do I get people to care about something as simple as candles, is telling the story that matters to the candle. Make meaning of, that's the way that I often like to say, you make meaning of and when you make meaning of that's what builds the connection we talked about earlier, the bridge. That's what builds the bridge to get people to understand. Oh yeah, even if it's candles, something as simple as candles, it'll make them want to buy it because of the story behind it. There's the last thing I'm going to say about this is significant objects. It's a book, two guys who had bought these, I don't even know what the column like these small little collectibles. They bought them for like $1 each online on eBay specifically. And they decided to do a research project where they would take the buy them for dollar and dollar fifty. But then put them back on eBay. But the second time they put them back on eBay, they added stories to them. So they bought, maybe about 100 different items. Let's say the total was about $137. I forget the exact amount. But you can look up the research project, it was called significant objects. When they sold those pieces back online on eBay, if I'm not mistaken, it was over $3,000. The same 100 pieces, they were able to sell for $3,000. The only thing that changed was the story that was added to it. These were very like again, you can look up the project. These were not like top of the line art design pieces. They were crap, to be honest. But the story made them valuable. When you're looking to take what you're doing, that you're really passionate about, that you care about, and you want someone else to care about it. Tell them a story. The story makes it more valuable. It makes people lean in and want to pay attention to it.
Gloria Chou 24:17
Yeah, I agree to going back to the fact that we don't need more content, we need connection. And we are getting away from the bro marketing content, heavy pressure sales taxes. They don't we know that doesn't work anymore. Like people are no better than that. And I've actually done a lot of work this year, which I don't know if I told you but I spent probably the biggest investment I've ever done in my business to work on my own messaging because you know, people know that I'm a PR coach. My messaging was you know, kind of like you want to grow your business you want to make more sales. I call all the benefits which is what they teach you. But now with the fact that we're starved for connection, people are smarter than ever because they they have the all the tools. It just doesn't work anymore. And so I've done a lot of messaging around, what does it matter? What is my, what is my value? Why is it that I'm even doing this right? And I know you did this exercise when those keep peeling away the layers of why, why, why, right? And I was able to come up with a new message, which I always had inside of me. But now it resonates. So clearly. So instead of saying, Oh, I'm a small business PR coach to help you get more visible, and like, get more sales, like, okay, everyone can say that. But my thing now is like growing up as an Asian American Girl, I never saw anyone who looked like me in the media doing anything creative, I was able to keep my head down, and be like a lawyer or be miserable working for someone else. And so now that I've been an entrepreneurship, I realized, like, we have to tell our stories, we have to pitch ourselves in the media. And if we don't do that, we are not going to be reflected back at us. Because I realized this, the people who are entrepreneurs don't always look like the same people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Right? People who look like me and you, but yet, we're not in the media. So this work is sacred to me. Do you see how that lands a little bit different now? Like, I feel so empowered saying it, but that to me has been the shift in my messaging this year.
Jude Charles 26:05
Yeah, it's when you take the time to go deep, which is what I did in the workshop with you guys. Like, you've realized that your wife is really what's driving you. But you didn't take the time to really understand that. I love that you use the example of something as simple as candles, because I think, again, that's a throwaway thing that many people can look at. It was like, oh, yeah, there's nothing special about that. But if you take the time, the same work that you did, Gloria, and that's why I love that you said at the same work that you did, versus like yeah, but what's my messaging? Why am I really doing this? What is it that I really care about? That is what will get people to want to care. If you can share a little bit with your audience as to why you felt like you had to have me on this podcast, you needed to have me on this podcast when we first met.
Gloria Chou 26:51
Well, I was instantly captivated by you. I'm sure you have the effect on people, you have this ease about you, like you were approachable, but you weren't taking an effort with it. And you just kind of every space that you occupied and the way that you spoke, I really believe in energy. I felt like your energy, it was very much like, I am a human being, I have my story. So do you, we are the same, we are one. And I just felt like you were so relatable. It wasn't like I am your guru, or I am your teacher, or I've worked with so many cool people, right? You never even said that. Like, obviously, if you like a Google you like you've worked with like, shocking, shocking level of expertise. But you had this ease about you that invited people into your world. And that's really the ethos that I'm trying to create with this podcast as well. Because I really don't believe that people want to buy from people who are just like, talking down at them, like they just want to feel seen. And I think in order to feel seen, you have to feel like you're in the same space, or at least the same container with someone. So that's from an energetic level, why I needed to have you on the podcast. And the second reason that's even more close to the actual benefit is my community. When we work on pitch writing, which, you know, I always say, you got to learn how to cold pitch like, I wish we taught this in high schools, just put somebody in a chair and force them to pick up the phone and cold call and sell something or motivate someone to do something, right? That's the work that I had to do, because I never worked in PR. And so it all comes down to the pitch. And the pitch comes from knowing your story and your why. Because people don't care about your product. Like I'm sorry, they really don't, right? And the more I work with entrepreneurs, the more I realize it's really not about the product, right? It's how you're able to draw people into your world. And so storytelling, for me is really a vehicle to that. I am not, I still have so many decades to go in terms of like refining my story. But I learned a lot from you. I felt like your energy was there. And I think you really speak your values of like, let's it's like we don't need more content. We need connection. And that's all the session of what was connection. It wasn't content, although you have amazing content, but it was really not part of you.
Jude Charles 29:01
No, and but I wanted you to share that because what I lead with, I forget how many now, but I want to say I told four stories throughout that workshop. Might have been more actually, but I am trying to walk you in the people in the room through the training, I told stories, I shared with you, I allowed you to get to know who I am. So that you feel comfortable enough to share. Now, this workshop wasn't easy. Like you mentioned, I asked people why and I didn't let them give me surface level answers. But the reason for that, why they were even willing to be vulnerable is because I was first vulnerable. I opened with the story of losing my father. Right? Again, it's when we're looking to connect, when we're looking to bring people into our world. I want your audience to hear it from you, more than for me, but it's everything that Gloria said. I did through the power of stories. And although you may be in the beginning stages of growing your business, you know, still trying to make a lot of other things work. Take the time to work on your story. Even if it's two main stories that every time you meet someone new, you tell those same two stories over and over, take the time to do that. When you do that. It makes everything else easier. Now, I'm not saying you're still not, you're not gonna go through challenges and all these other things. But when you're looking to collaborate with people, when you're looking to get people to pay attention to you, you lead with your story. And that's what will make them care to the point that they want to work with you on their own, they're coming to that conclusion on their own. Sales to me, marketing and sales with sales specifically, I am not looking to convince a person that I'm the right choice for them. I'm looking to convince them, or help them see that they're making the right choice for themselves. Storytelling does that. It allows that person to make their own conclusion, based on their core values based on where they are in their business, you said it yourself. The reason that you connected with me is because you we had similar messages, you felt like I was on the same path as you. Customers and clients are looking to be connected with people that will either leave them or, or collaborate with them on their journey. And so, again, storytelling for me, is what I've leaned on him last 15 years, it is what I I strongly believe in 2022 as we're recording this, you no longer have an option whether or not you tell stories, it is imperative to tell stories in order to connect deeply.
Gloria Chou 31:48
Yeah, we have way too much content, we do not need more content. Now. You go through so many amazing things that you've learned and actionable things in your book, dramatic demonstration. But you said something in on Rick's podcast about your idea of a story think. And so before we need to give our audience this little like a golden nugget because this idea is so good. Talk to me about storytelling. How the listeners can use it to get started with their story so they can connect with more people?
Jude Charles 32:15
Sure. So I have a story bank journal that I started years ago. And I call it a story bank because in the very same way that you go to a regular bank or you go to deposit money, the only way to withdraw money, let's say you deposit $100, you can only withdraw $100. You can't withdraw $200. Right? So in the same way with stories, I go to deposit the story so that later on I don't I may not use it right away. But later on, I can withdraw those stories when I am doing a presentation when I am having a one on one with a client. And so really quickly for those watching the video I want to share a behind the scenes of what the digital story bank looks like. The digital story bank has story prompts, storyboards, so the storyboards help you to understand where to insert the story. In your business. That could be your website, on podcast, social media, one on one meetings, and then story demonstrations. How do you bring those stories and stories to life? During the mastermind, one of the things that I did was I played with a Jenga set during my live presentation. But again, it's just a way to bring the story to life. This story think the power of it though, I want to show you two quick sections. First is the daily story thing. This is just things that are happening to you every day in your life. You open it up. This digital story begins on notion. So you open it up. And it guides you through how to write out the story. First, you start out with the highlights of the story. What is the moral or the lesson of the story, this can be multiple here, because you don't know how you're going to use the story. But there might be different ways different lessons that you've gotten. And then over time, when you know you're getting ready to use a story. That's when you go into phase two, where you refine the story. You think about okay, how do I open this story? What are the obstacles that get in my way? What was I thinking feeling or seeing? That helps paint a full picture, right? So that's the first layer. It is just every day, there's a story happening, you you come into this and you write stories. But the second layer that I think is even more powerful are the story prompts. Maybe you don't know where to start. Maybe you have that a story that happened today, you go to the story prompts, there are over 30 in the first version of this. And let's just say you click on this an aha moment. When you click on an aha moment, there's a prompt there that tells you this can be a moment that changed how you view money or how you view life or relationships. This moment gifted you with one of the most important lessons to your life. Again, go in write that story. Tell me what happened. There are over 30 prompts that go that that guide you through this. The happiest moment of your life or maybe was something new that you're learning to do. And know at The Mastermind I talked about learning how to swim and it's something that happened while I was swimming. Right? So I give those examples, what has the journey been like for you when you try this new thing? Tell me about a specific moment in time, that was the most exciting or the most frustrating. Maybe you thought of going vegan recently, or making specialty coffee, which was what we talked about, I'd read more read his podcast. Again, this guides you through it. But the point is, when you take the time to work on your story, that is how you get better. Daily, you get 1% better by taking the time to say, okay, this is something strange that happened today. Let me just write it down. I don't know how I'm going to use it yet. But let me write it down. And again, this doesn't take long, the first layer of it is just five minutes, just jot it down, just so you don't forget. But then there may be an opportunity for you to tell a story later. And now you have this bank to pull from, to withdraw from, that is how I have mastered the art of storytelling over time. Because I use storytelling in my in my business as well. That is, that is the idea of the story bank journal and why I think it's really important especially as you. Gain the confidence to tell your story, maybe it's not easy, and I get that. But if you work on it, you refine it. That's what makes it easier every single day.
Gloria Chou 36:14
Yeah, and you can come on to any podcast, go into any room and instantly connect with people without preparation or needing to feel like you need to, you know, put on a mask. And that is the benefit of doing this work. Right now, obviously, like you know, I do a lot of coaching on myself, we know that what makes entrepreneurs successful is that they are focused on the $10,000 an hour tasks. Things that are really going to be the foundation for the rest of their business. So I really think your story, and the story bank is literally something that of course, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it instead of just posting stories, I get no reach. But if you really just spend time to clarify your message, or work on your pitch, come up with ways that you can really captivate people instantly, whether it's in a room over in the DMs, that is an ROI, that is like times ten thousand times like ROI benefit, right?
Jude Charles 37:01
No doubt, no doubt, because like we talked about in the beginning of this storytelling is used in every part of your business at a high level. Let's say you start to build out a team, or you're rebranding, maybe you've done really well in selling candles, that you're rebranding now. You now have this story bank to pull from when your team is thinking about. Oh, how do we pitch this? How do we market this? They are now empowered to tell your story because it's already documented somewhere. Right? You've taken the time to do it. So even at a high level. Actually, this is the last thing I'm gonna leave with a Shark Tank. We're all very familiar with Shark Tank, the TV show, if you look at the people that are most successful on Shark Tank, they started by sharing their story. But people that got investments, the people that, maybe moved the judges to tears, the investors to tears, they had stories. And so even at a very high level, when you're looking to, to go to a VC or get go to investor and get millions of dollars, it is your story that is going to matter to them, it is going to be important to them. And that's going to make them care. And so again, that's what even when you're starting out, you have an advantage, you have a secret advantage when you're starting out. That although you may not have everything lined up, but if you have your story lined up, people will love you and will want to help you even if you don't have it all figured out. And so again, that's why I'm so passionate about it. It's not easy, but it is sure as hell worth it.
Gloria Chou 38:32
You're building skills that no external environment and pandemic economic downturn can take away from you, period and end of sentence. So how do we get our hands on this story bank because I literally want to start filling it out like today.
Jude Charles 38:47
Storybankjournal.com, very easy, storybankjournal.com. And that is where you can get access to the digital version and the print version that will be ready soon. But storybankjournal.com, and that'll take you through the entire experience.
Gloria Chou 39:03
And how can people find you and get more into your world? I'm sure there's going to be a lot of people who want to know more about you after this.
Jude Charles 39:09
Judecharles.co. I write a newsletter called The Dramatic Leverage Newsletter that walks you through the business side of storytelling, I bring you behind the scenes of my own business, how I'm doing it, not only with my clients, but just real life, real everyday life have gone through burnout and all these other things. And I talk about that on the newsletter. But you can go there, judecharles.co. That is also where you can find the book, the newsletter, connect with me there. But, judecharles.co, that is the one place for everything.
Gloria Chou 39:39
That's amazing. We're gonna have to have you back on the podcast. I'm thinking of like, New Year stories as we plan out our content. I could see so many ways that we can use this to look at our content differently because we know that the templatized like content pillars, I don't find that to work anymore. And so I think this story bank is a much better way that's going to serve as a foundation for messaging for all parts of your business. So that's what I will definitely use it for. Thank you so much, Jude, I could talk to you for hours, but I know you're a busy person. So thank you for giving us your time.
Jude Charles 40:09
Gloria, thank you for having me. We'll definitely do this again, no doubt about it. But thank you for having me and look forward to seeing and hearing all the stories that come from your audience after going through this.
Gloria Chou 40:21
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