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Francisco Mahfuz 0:00
Hi everyone, Francisco here. Just before we get started, I wanted to share something I'm really excited about. I recently launched the story powers bootcamp, a course that teaches you everything you need to know about how to find craft and tell stories that work. But it's not just an online course, because you get personalised feedback from me for all the practical activities in three hours of life coaching, to work through any challenges, or focus on specific projects. So it's like if you bought a cookbook, but the chef came along with it. So go to story powers.com, and click on Course, all the information you need will be there. So please check it out. And if you love the show, and would like to support us, you can go to buy me a coffee.com forward slash story powers. I drink about five coffees a day, so any support would be much appreciated. All right, on with the show.
Welcome to the story powers podcast, the show about the power of stories that people who tell them and why you should be doing it too. I'm your host, keynote speaker and storytelling coach, Francisco mahfuz. This will be the shortest and probably the strangest of all the episodes I've done so far. Because this one is about why your job title is the worst way to answer the question. What do you do? So you should stop doing that in instead, you should start telling people elevator stories, not pitches, stories, and there are three of them. But all I have to say about that subject is in the four and a half minutes coming up. Which by the way, is a lesson straight out of the story powers bootcamp. Alright, let's get on with it.
The most important in dangerous question in business is, what do you do? We've all heard that in networking events, and parties. And when we meet new people, and what most of us do is we just give our job title, you know, I'm a doctor, I'm a teacher, I'm a lawyer, I'm a marine biologist, or whatever. And when you do that, all you get back is okay. And that's the end of the conversation. And that's not what you want. Because by business at least, you want to find out if that person can help you if you can help them. And that's why you need an elevator pitch. And the approach I'm going to teach you, I originally learned from Hasani X, who had as a guest on my podcast, and it's the five second story, the 32nd story and the one minute story. The five second story starts with I help. So I help people become more interesting than Netflix, or as a financial advisor, I could have said, I help people not be hated by their own children when they grow older. In the response, I would have gotten, I would get through any of those two things would be something like what, what the hell does that even mean? Or how do you do that, which is exactly what you want that curiosity, that conversation starter. And then you lead into the 32nd story, which starts with you now, you know, there are a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners who are actually very good at what they do. But because they're not very good at marketing, and they hate any type of hard selling, their businesses are struggling. So I help them use the power of story to become more interesting to their ideal clients and grow their business. Or as a financial advisor could have said, you know, a lot of people work really hard, but they don't pay anywhere near as much attention to their savings and investments. So as they grow older, they find out they can't afford to retire. And unfortunately, what a lot of them have to do is they have to move in with their adult children. And nobody likes that situation. And everybody ends up miserable. So I help them look after that money. So they never have to live through that. In the one minute stories, something you only really tell when you have more time. So maybe it's a podcast or workshop or you're on stage. And it's more of a story. So it's more specifically a moment of maybe your origin story or your help story, followed by your 32nd story. For example, when I was 12, my seventh grade teacher asked me to come up to the front of the class. And she said, Can you now please tell your story to everyone. And I was terrified. I mean, I wasn't a popular kid. And I went to this expensive private school and I didn't have much money. So that made me different than the other kids. And that age of being different is not good. So I thought the other kids would tear me to pieces. But as I got up there, I was a little excited as well because I thought, what if they liked my story? And that's what happened. I told it and they laughed and they cheered and they asked for more. And at that moment, I was the most popular kid in that school. And that's when I first found out about the power of stories. But you know, there are a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners who are really good at what they do, but because they don't know much about marketing and they hate that type of hard selling, their businesses are struggling. So I help them use the power of stories to become more interesting attract their ideal clients and grow their business or as a financial adviser could have said, my grandfather was a really great guy. He was a well known scientist and professor. And everybody looked up to him, particularly his children who thought he was some kind of hero. But he never really looked after his house and his money the same way he looked after his career. So as he got older, he needed more and more help. And then his children started having to spend a lot of their time looking after him as if he was the child. And that put a lot of strain on that relationship. And something similar happens to a lot of people, because they work really hard their whole lives, but they don't pay that much attention to their money to their savings, their investments. And as they grow older, they find out they can't afford to retire. Unfortunately, what a lot of them have to do is they have to move in with their adult children. And nobody likes that situation. And they all wind up miserable. So I help them look after their money better, so they never have to live through that. So there you have it. The five second story starts with I help. The 32nd story starts with you know, in the one minute story is a moment of a larger story, followed by a 32nd story.
I hope you enjoy the show. And if you did, I'd love for you to subscribe and leave us a review or a rating on the Apple podcasts app. It's very easy. You open the app and find the show and scroll down a little and when you see the stars tab. I'd really appreciate it and it does help other people find us. And if you'd like to get in touch or find out more about what I do, reach out to me on LinkedIn or visit my website story powers.com