Welcome back to Unleash Your Inner Author. In this episode, I’m excited to talk about one of my favorite topics—storytelling.
Megan Dougherty comes to this session wondering about using examples or stories in her chapters. Is it even necessary? She asked the question. My answer is, as you can probably guess, absolutely yes.
But why? Why are stories important? And does it matter how they’re structured?
So we talk about all these things in this episode, and Megan Dougherty begins with a solid example, and then asks the question, how can it be better? How can I improve it? Does it need more detail?
So we go through her example and talk about all the things that could make it more engaging—to make it more of a connection between her and her reader, and to just make the whole story come alive for the reader.
You’ll see the difference of what she started with and what she ended up with. So tune in and see how this transformation takes place and the story that Megan tells and how she tells it.
You can listen to the episode below or continue to read the blog post!
You’ll learn about:
- Creating compelling examples
- Unveiling your niche
- The power of prep calls
- Precision and personal touches in storytelling
- Showcasing process and connecting with readers
- Refining the example
Don’t forget to grab a copy of our free workbook — your unique story can make a ripple.
Watch the Episode:
Creating Compelling Examples
Megan: “Hello, everyone. Producer Megan from the future here.
As Amy just mentioned, this episode is going to be all about how to structure a really good example. I was struggling a little bit during the writing process with exactly how to formulate these examples and what to include.
So what you’re going to see very shortly is the live coaching that Amy did with me in one of our sessions on improving the example.
But before we got to that, I wanted to share with you what the original example was, and then the outline and structure that Amy gave me that we were working with.
So first, here is the original example that I was going to include in the book. It was my first draft, unstructured from my brain.”
The Example
“During a prep call I had for an episode of The Company Show, I mentioned to my guest that we had recently adjusted our niche slightly and were planning to create a package for a very specific type of podcaster.
She immediately had an idea for something that we could include in our episode that would be great for that type of listener. Amazing. Better content.
After we had the recording, I got an email from her introducing me to exactly the type of business owner I had described. She’d been impressed that we had so much insight into the situation and was able to really easily identify someone that we could help.
That was the original example. Clear, but maybe not as detailed or as compelling as we might hope it was. So when Amy read that, she told me I needed to work on it a little bit, and then she gave me the following advice.”
Mastering Storytelling
Megan: “So the structure and stages of the story, and this is the structure that Amy teaches for stories in general.
Number one, the life before where you give a little background. What were they doing before? What was happening and what did they think or feel about it?
Step two is the turning point; something that happened that made them make a change, maybe working for us or getting the extra support that they needed.
Number three is the promised land. What was the result? How is their life, podcast and business better because of the turning point? What does success look like for them?
She also gave some advice on making it relatable, giving the characters a glimpse of the person so that we can picture someone we know like them or see ourselves in them.
The emotion. If it’s applicable, share what’s on their minds. What do they fear? What do they worry about? How do they feel at the different parts of the story?
Finally, the detail. Give enough detail to put the reader into the story. It doesn’t need to be a lot, just enough to let somebody really see themselves and connect with it.
This was all great advice and we talked about it a little and we workshopped and you’re about to see exactly how we workshopped it into a much better example that we will then show you.
So here is part of our live coaching session where we were digging into exactly all of these details and how to create a better example.”
Coaching Session: Crafting Vivid Examples
Megan: “Where would more detail be interesting to another human? So more about taking this three year process—what needs to change?”
Amy: “I think it was great that you put some stuff in here that that we can talk about.
First of all, to answer your first question, where do you need more detail? I think you can flesh a lot of things out. It doesn’t have to be a long story. You can do this even in a short story, a short example.
But tell me a little bit about this person you were talking to. So what would you say about that?”
Megan: “She is a LinkedIn expert. We were chatting and we actually worked for the same company way back in the day. It was a lovely call and we were just kind of chit-chatting before getting into the interview.
Then I was explaining a change that we’d made in the business and a shift in our positioning to our new niche and she lit up and was like, oh, I know someone like that, which is very cool. And so then we had the interview, and it was great.
After we had gotten off the call, she sent that introduction, hey, this is the person that I thought of when you were explaining the work that you do. Here you go.
So that was beautiful, just in part of the preparing to record for a podcast episode, natural conversation, gave this wonderful person I was talking to the information to know about who we best work with and can help—then she took action on that right away.”
Amy: “So you just gave me a ton of great detail in a short amount of time. Because you were saying, I think it might even be interesting to say that this wasn’t in a formal interview, this was in a casual conversation with a person I used to work with who happens to be a LinkedIn expert.”
Unveiling the Niche
Amy: “As your reader, I would also love to know what this change is that you made to your niche. Is that something that you that you feel comfortable revealing?”
Megan: “Oh, sure. I just didn’t think it would be a particular interest to anyone. I’ve told you about it as well; the switch to people combating industry bias in the services they provide.”
Amy: “For several reasons, it’s great to bring this in. Because A, it shows who you’re talking to. It makes it very clear to the reader.
You’re doing the same thing with your reader here. You’re saying, so if you know people like this, send them to us. You’re saying it without saying it.
So you’re giving this example, you were excited about really defining your niche, and into this type of niche, because you were looking at your client roster, and you’ve seen, these are the kind of people that you can help really make a big difference and have that success that they’re looking for.
It highlights them as well as highlighting you and your business.
For me as a reader, that’s really interesting. I want to know that. I want to know your process. That’s why I’m reading a use case. I want to know.
It’s like giving me a glimpse behind the scenes of like how the magic happens.”
The Power of Prep Calls
Megan: “Yes, and for the metric that it’s within (the referrals metric) and this is for a relationship building podcast is, why you have a prep call?
It’s 100% the reason that you have a prep call so you can have that unstructured time to get to know someone.”
Amy: “It shows more of your magic behind the scenes when you do. It’s small little details like that that make a big difference to your reader; makes it way more interesting to read and plants a lot of seeds as you’re doing that.”
Megan: “That makes excellent sense. I’m so glad this is recorded for posterity.”
Amy: “So as a reader, I feel more connected to you.
By hearing that story, I also feel a connection with your person, because it is exciting to be able to connect people. A lot of people really like to make those kinds of connections. It helps your reader know who to connect you with. It’s just brilliant.
A place where you could do less detail is—I thought you threw in there something in there that is not terribly relevant to the story.
You said she immediately had an idea for something we could include in our episode that would be great for that type of listener. That may be relevant, but now it’s maybe more relevant since I know who that listener is for that niche.”
Precision and Personal Touches
Amy: “So what are you talking about when you said she immediately had an idea for something we could include in our episode that would be great for that type of listener?”
Megan: “This was so this was a prep call for a podcast episode.
So when she had more information about who we were serving, and who we were pivoting to serve, she had more relevant information to share that would be good for them in the context of a future person listening to the episode.”
Amy: “Okay, see, I didn’t pick up on all that.
So there’s another place, a little more detail. So that she knew your audience, then she can say, oh, okay. Then I can give them more information that’s relevant to them.
Reading it, I thought it was tangential.”
Megan: “Totally makes sense. That’s an excellent point of clarity to add.”
Amy: “So I suggested you take it out and now I don’t.
Then the last part of that, after the recording, I got an email from her introducing me to a business owner that exactly matched our new niche. That’s perfect.
My guests had been impressed that we had so much insight into our ideal client and was able to easily identify someone we could help. That is absolute gold for your use case, for your example story.
The only thing more that I was hoping to see is there another part of the story of how her referrals helped you reach success or how you were able to help people that she referred?”
Megan: “Well, I haven’t had the call with that. This happened just a couple of weeks ago.
But if it goes well, then I can honestly add, a*nd then we started working together or formed a collaboration—*and maybe you can put in brackets or something: Hi, Jim.”
Amy: “That’s perfect. I like little elements like that, because it shows your personality.
I’m sure you’ve had success from other referrals. You’ve talked about that already in that metric section about how referrals are already basically pre-sold on you.
So you just wrap it up with something about success achieved or field of possibility.”
Using Stories to Showcase the Experience of Working Together
Megan: “Awesome. I’m excited to rework this example and I think that’s a good model to have for other examples as well.
It does make sense to have that kind of thing, either theoretical or from life in each metric section, I think.”
Amy: ” I think as a reader, that’s where you make that human connection that you’ve talked about in other sections through these stories.
It also is a glimpse into: well, I wonder what it’s really like to work with Megan. That gives me a glimpse into, oh, well, this sounds like it could be pretty fun.
Because you I think you’ve established in very many parts of the book that you have that the knowledge, the experience, the insight, that’s a little different from what they may be hearing it anywhere else.
But then what’s the experience going to be like? That’s what those use cases are so great for, is showing you what’s the actual day-to-day or week-to-week, episode-to-episode experience I’m going to get from working with you.”
Refining the Example
Megan: “Hey Amy, I have spent some time today looking through your feedback and updating and refining the example that I included in one of my book sections.
I wanted to share it with you here now and for everyone so they can see the alterations I was able to make based on the feedback and the framework that you gave me for creating good examples.
So I’m going to read that now and hopefully you can let me know and let everyone know whether or not I’ve got it and whether or not this is going to make a better impression and be more useful for the people who are going to be reading this book.”
Here’s the example:
“To get referrals, you need a few things: You need to know who you want to have referred to you and you need to create the opportunities to comfortably and politely ask for them.
Hopefully, you already have clarity on your niche and ideal customer avatars. So what you need from your podcast is the people to ask and enough of a relationship that they are happy to help you.
The relationship building often comes in the pre and post recording steps, either in prep calls or in follow ups, or even in the before you hit record and the after the recording light goes off parts of your recording sessions.
For our podcast, The Company Show, I like to have a prep call before we get to the recording date. This gives me and my guests the chance to chat and get to know each other a little bit and make sure that we’re on the same level and workshop a topic together so that it’s going to be really good and engaging for our listeners.
But we didn’t always do this. The first iteration of The Company Show was more of a thought leadership style show and.
But as we got into production and we started looking at the data and the results that we’re getting from it, we decided to refine and pivot to more of a relationship building style.
It would be a better investment of time to focus on those relationships, the networking, and of course, the referrals.
During one of these prep goals, I was talking to my future guests and mentioned that we had recently adjusted our niche and who we were targeting and how that specifically was going to impact the the podcast and the conversation that we were going to have.
She asked who we were specifically looking to work with and when I told her, her eyes absolutely lit up and she said, I’ve got an idea.
So she had this great insight for our episode that would speak directly to our ideal customer, which made our conversation much more vibrant and engaging and valuable to those customers who would be listening, which is great by itself, but it didn’t end there.
After we got off the call, I received an email where she introduced me directly to someone from her own network who fit our new niche and that she thought we could help. That’s how it’s done.
When you have a really well optimized relationship building podcast, you have a great reason to talk to your guests about who you want to work with and why—and enough touch points with them that making a request for referrals is natural.
Sometimes you don’t even have to ask, but you should.”
Megan: “I’m excited to get your thoughts on that, hear what you think and whether or not kind of this is a good example of using the framework that you shared with me. Can’t wait for your thoughts.”
The Feedback
Amy: “I want to address your new example that you just read. I have to say, it really flows well and I made some notes, so I’m going to make sure that I don’t forget anything that I wanted to address.
So you started with a really strong intro, bringing readers into the conversation that you had with your friend slash guest. You also said why the topic is important and why this metric of getting referrals is important.
Of course, every business owner knows that referrals are gold, but you talk about how you can make that a regular thing with the podcast.
You also dove into some background. You showed the evolution of The Company Show, which I think is a really good extra bonus that you put in there because it shows that you have done this yourself.
So all your readers will know that you aren’t just preaching this, you’ve actually done it. You established what I call a character and you talked a little bit about who this person is that you were talking to and why you were having this conversation before you recorded the podcast.
You really illustrated her transformation, that aha moment when you explained who your new niche was, and then she related to it instantly.
That light bulb went off and it led to the outcome that you wanted. It led to a really quality referral of exactly the person that you wanted to have referred. So it shows how that works.
Overall, this story is now much more interesting. It’s more compelling. It draws me in as a reader and makes me see myself in that place.”
Showcasing Process and Connecting with Readers
Amy: “As a business owner, of course, that might be a metric that I want to track; getting referrals. It shows them the promised land of what’s possible.
The bonus is that your story also highlights your process, what it’s like to work with you. It gives your readers a behind the curtain view of what their experience might be if they worked with you and your company.
Overall, very strong. You’ve done a great job of transforming this story into a, okay, I get it story to a, wow, this is really interesting.
I can now see myself in the story, exactly what you want to help build connection with your readers and keep them turning the page.”
Final Thoughts
What was so fun for me in this episode was to see Megan’s absolute transformation in terms of taking the information that I gave her—just the feedback that we talked about, but also using the structure that I teach about.
I call it how to craft stories that connect.
It’s that how to build the story so that it draws people in, it gives people enough detail that they can put themselves in the story with you. They can relate to it.
It gives them some character development so they can picture that person that you’re talking with or that you’re talking about in your stories or examples and it gives a little structure about how to format the story so that it leads people to a conclusion.
So that is something about, why are we here in the first place? What’s the background? What’s the normal or the beginning place? And then what’s the turning point? Might be transformation, might be a change, a shift, some kind of movement that you’re showing are fixing a problem.
Then the promised land is what is possible for them. I think about it as giving them a glimpse through the door of the promised land, the green grass on the other side, that they can get to that’s possible for them. hen they know it’s something they can strive for.
So all of those are absolutely great elements of a story that you can put into any story that you’re telling. Megan did a great job of that and you could see the difference between her first very cursory example and then the more fleshed out story that she told.
That is just the magic of storytelling. You can do it in your book or you can do it in a casual conversation or in a sales conversation in business.
Stories are so important and I’m glad that this came up because Megan’s example really illustrates the possibilities of how you can transform just a simple story into something much more compelling.
Key Quotes
“It’s small little details like that that make a big difference to your reader; makes it way more interesting to read and plants a lot of seeds as you’re doing that.” – Amy Collette
Resources
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