Media Training to Script Your Story of Origin

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Media Training to Script Your Story of Origin

This is about how to craft your signature story, your story of origin.

Your Story of Origin Sound Bite

Today I wanted to talk about how to create your most important sound bite. It is called your story of origin. It’s called that because it’s where you began and what gave you the incentive to create your business/book/product/service or cause.

The reason why it’s the most important soundbite that sets you apart from everyone else is that it’s unique to you. And also it’s the most important sound bite because every journalist, producer any interview that you’re going to be in, they are going to ask you the question: Why do you do what you do? Why did you start your business? Why did you write your book? Why are you involved in your cause?

So that is a question that you absolutely need to have prepared. What is it? It’s the sound bite, which is the story that tells why you do what you do and how you came to either have the idea for the book or why you’re involved in your business.

A couple of examples of stories of origin can be, they either start from “Oh I had this childhood interest that has carried me all the way through adulthood.” And you want to connect that together. It can be a hobby, it can be an interest, it can be a love.

So for example someone who is working at the SPCA for example has always loved their first puppy. So they carry that love animals all the way through to what they’re doing today.

Your “Aha” moment Sound Bite

The second sound bite is called your “aha moment.” Oh my god something happened that changed your life. You had some brilliant idea or some thunder struck thing actually happened that inspired you to do what you do.

Your Thunderstruck lightening bolt Sound Bite

Another variation of that “aha moment” is a severe change or accident or this is another kind of lightning bolt that comes down to you that is something that shifted your life on a dime.

An example of that would be like Christopher Reeve who became paralyzed and then became an advocate for paralyzed people all over the world. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a traumatic event by the way, but it can be just a dramatic event, let’s say that.

Your ancestral Sound Bite

One of the most common sound bites too is something that connects your past to your present. And this can be ancestral. This can be your relatives, your grandfather. your mother, your grandmother, or someone even further in the past that has influenced you to become the person you are today.

So for example my client Kristen Schuerlein who some people call “the blanket lady.” She’s a graphic artist and left all of that behind to create these beautiful blankets that have affirmations on them.

She didn’t realize this by the way. When we first started working together she didn’t realize that her story of origin came from her grandfather who at that time during the war traded shoes. He created and repaired shoes and he traded shoes for chickens. He would make sure that every child in the town had shoes and then he got that food in return. And she said she didn’t realize that essentially she’s trading shoes for chickens by creating her blankets that she would then give to charities to help support them.

So connecting your past to your present is a very powerful way too. And sometimes by the way it’s not like you know it right away. You know what your story of origin is. The process that I go through with my clients typically is let’s just talk naturally and hear the way that you speak naturally. And start talking about how you came to be where you are today.

Because often times it’s that connection that people don’t see necessarily until they start talking out naturally. Because what I found in neuroscience – neuroscience proves this out – is that when you’re not in your thinking brain, when you’re just in a relaxed state and you’re actually just talking freely, all of the right answers come.

This is the same part of the brain that lights up in jazz musicians when they improvise. So essentially what we’re doing is we’re improvising with our talk, we’re improvising as we chat. And then that beautiful thing comes out unexpectedly.

And then we craft that story. We craft it to have a beautiful beginning, middle and end. So it might come out perfectly almost and then we just craft it to make sure that it’s ready for media.

So that is your story of origin. Whether it is a hobby or love from your childhood, an aha moment, a thunderstruck change in your life, or something from your ancestral past.

So that’s one of the first steps that you want, but make sure that you’ve got your story of origin sound bite down before you actually contact the media.

RESOURCES

Get your free copy of The Top 50 Media Contacts List (It’s free!)

Watch the webinar 5 Ways to Double Your Business With Media Appearances in the Next 90 Days (It’s free!)

Download the 5 awesome tips to prepare you for a TV interview free PDF (It’s free!)

Media Training Tips for Entrepreneurs, Authors, Coaches, Consultants, CEOs

Are you enjoying the Podcast? Then I invite you to hop on over to iTunes to subscribe, rate + review it. Here’s a quick video on how to do a podcast review on iTunes. (It’s simple if you follow these directions). Note: It can take up to 24 hours to show up on my Podcast. You’re welcome to send this to anyone you think it would delight. May good fortune always follow you!

Want to know how to subscribe on your phone? Watch this video.

Want to be a guest on my Podcast? Jet me an email with your topic and a link to your bio here.

Send Susan a Voice Message!

Click below to send me your voice message with a question or topic you’d like to hear more about in my upcoming podcasts! I will answer the most pressing and popular ones in a future episode. (I’ll mention your first name ONLY to protect your privacy.)

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