Episode #12: Build Your Business Brand’s Core Story Collection with Jilliane Yawney

Intro (00:02): Welcome to The Fast-Track Entrepreneur Podcast with your host Terra Bohlmann. You are about to get filled with business strategies, advice, and motivation to get you prepared to fast track your five year plan in less than one year. So buckle up and let's create your first class business with clarity and confidence.

Terra (00:27): Today I have such a treat for you. I can't wait to energize you to my amazing speaker that's going to be sharing all her wisdom. So let me introduce her and then I will let you know how we met and I want her to share and pour and all her goodness to you. Let me introduce her. I'm gonna give her the proper introduction that she deserved. So Jillian Yawney has coached and provided a platform for thousands of people to share their story. She is the founder of a narrative approach where she empowers entrepreneurs and business people to communicate with impact using story. Jillian founded the Calgary story slam in 2012 which is a community based storytelling platform. Through the Calgary story slam, she builds performers and storytelling community by providing a space for people to find their voice. And share their story. She's a faculty member at Mount Royal conservatory in the department of speech and dramatic arts where she instructs on the power of storytelling and voice in communication.

Terra (01:34): So Jillian has spent 13 years and nonprofit and management where she's coached teams to use storytelling as part of their communication strategy. In her master's degree, she wrote a thesis on the role of storytelling in education. She's currently a speaker coach with TEDxYYC and learn more about Jillian after you hear all her goodness and I'll remind you at the end you can visit her website, which is a narrative approach.com. So please join me in welcoming Jillian to the business upgrade podcast. Hi Jill, how are you?

Jillian (02:11): I'm great. Thank you for that warm introduction. Terra, how are you?

Terra (02:15): I'm good, I'm good. And yes, when it comes to doing an introduction, like I love to give anyone who, whether they're speaking on one of my stages or on the podcast, like that respect of really reading their bio because I find that sometimes, I don't know when I hear mine and maybe it was like this for you, you're like, man, it's just a reminder of how awesome you really are.

Terra (02:38): Right? Or sometimes they're like, that's me. Yes, that's you. So we're so honored to have you here today and to just jump into storytelling. When I first met you, like I was blown away when you just naturally told me your story. I mean, which is kind of your thing. Like I had never met someone who was born to do what you do, like to a point where you have a master's degree in it. You teach at a high level of education about it. And now, thank you. You are bringing what you know into our entrepreneurial world so that women entrepreneurs who listen to this show especially can leverage building their own brand using story. So thank you for that. I'd love to hear from you. So can you give us a quick story around how you got into this and why stories?

Jillian (03:34): Yeah, yeah. No, I'd love to share that with you because I love sharing stories. And for me it started really young. I fell in love with stories when I was just still a teenager. I grew up in a tiny town and my world was very small in this tiny town. And when I was 18 years old, my friends and I decided to take a road trip across Canada. We just graduated high school. So this was our way of like busting out into the world. So we hopped into a car, drove across Canada and which is a long trip cause Canada's huge. So a week later we arrived on the East coast and we ended up at a storytelling festival. And as I sat in that audience listening to this storyteller speak, I was absolutely wrapped. I was gripped. And it's funny because when I go back to that memory, I see that storyteller wearing red.

Jillian (04:30): And I wonder, I often wonder if that's a constructed memory or a real memory because the reality is when she spoke, she was, it felt like she was speaking directly to me and I was moved. And that moment set my life on a completely new path. And so she represents to me, she, she represents power. When I heard her speak, I heard someone speak with extreme power and influence and I knew that I needed what she had. So when I came back home and you know, I was working my minimum wage job, barely getting by, still living at home with my parents, hadn't figured out yet, but I knew that I needed to become a storyteller. So I called up a coach and immediately started studying how to speak with power the way that storyteller had. And that's how I became a storyteller from a very young age. And I've really devoted myself to storytelling. And ever since then, ever since that moment I've been learning more and building my skills and then sharing my skills. It's an ongoing process for me.

Terra (05:38): I love that. So let me ask you a question cause I have a similar hero in my own life trajectory story as well. And in my case it was a woman who was a counselor or at the community college that I hadn't been enrolled into junior college because I didn't know, I was just going to, I was planning to be a secretary and I was going to be the best secretary for the biggest company in my hometown. And that was my ambition. And she literally just looked at me and looked at my transcripts and she said, honey, are you sure this is what you want to do? This is the program you want to go into. And I said, yeah. I said, of course I'm going to be the best secretary like ever. I'm, I want to learn short hand, I'm ready to get in and do this, you know, cause you know, my expectations were work at this company and be the, you know, get really good benefits and maybe marry someone that isn't in the union.

Terra (06:26): And I'm happily ever after. Like, that's what had been programmed into me as a child. And it was her questioning that and saying, well, why don't you know you're getting an associates degree, so let's just start with your general and your general education and see where that goes. Like give yourself time. And I was like, I was really excited to take shorthand and he's like, just trust me. Let's do this. And then after the semester, you know, we can reevaluate and if you want to get into it, you got to take this anyway. So gave yourself six months. And I was like, okay. And the reality is she saw me bigger than I saw myself and I ended up, you know, getting an internship at that company and had amazing mentors and found out I was really good at computers and got a computer degree and like went on to, you know, do much other things obviously.

Terra (07:14): So. So I often think, I wish I had knew that woman's name. I wish I could send her a thank you note. I don't know if she's even still alive. Like, do you remember much about this storyteller? No. And I've tried to research it. I asked my family who took me to that festival. I've really tried to find out who that was and she's just this powerful influence who literally set my life on a new trajectory to ever know. Yeah. Oftentimes our heroes in our story are people who they don't even know, like how impactful they were for us. I love that a hundred percent transparency. I myself and working with Jillian, so she's been a client of mine and the Concorde, but I'm also now hired her to help me build out more stories around my brand and whatnot. So I'm super excited to be working with you myself.

Terra (08:04): So that's how I'm like, Oh, is that a hero thing? So you may hear about that on some of our future calls together. Wink, wink. So one thing that you've got the core story collection and how important that is, especially as a woman entrepreneur building a brand and their business. Can you tell us what is a core story collection?

Jillian (08:24): Yeah, I see it as a vehicle for you to get your message across. So if we go back to the story I just told that woman who I see wearing red and she shared that story with me, that changed the trajectory of my life. And what she represents to me is the power of a strong narrative. When we have a strong narrative, people are able to connect with us in ways that are memorable, motivational, inspirational, relatable.

Jillian (08:59): And when you build your core story collection, then you are able to be that woman on that stage who changed my life. You're able to be the person who has a powerful influence on other people through offering your value, sharing your brand, communicating what it is that makes you relevant and important to your client. Stories are a vehicle for translating information with emotional impact and people make decisions based on emotion and then justify those decisions with logic. So as business owners, we need to figure out how to help our audiences to feel something because when we feel things we're motivated to act.

Terra (09:46): I love that. And I was going to ask you like what is it from a psychology standpoint, cause you have a master's degree in this. Like I knew you would know the answer to that and then you already answered it before I could even ask. So I love that. So I mean we're often hearing how powerful stories are, right? And I mean, I'm seeing a more than more and I don't know if that's just because of the stage I'm in in my business or if it's just a big aha that a lot of people are realizing that people connect emotionally with stories and make decisions like you just said, but in a much more eloquent way. So I love that. And when you talk about like your core story collection, like what does that include?

Jillian (10:26): Yeah, you know, I was thinking about it Terra, because of course you, the, the important thing that you offer, one of the many important things you offer is the business map method. And so I was going through your business map in my mind. And so just as an example, one of the things you challenge all of your clients to come up with is your values.

Jillian (10:45): We know as business owners it's so important to have clear values and to communicate those values to your potential climate. What have you could communicate those values through a story? How would that change that? Right? Another thing that you challenge us to come up with is a clear way of helping your customers to understand what you offer. That's a big part of what you talk about is when your customer's confused then they're not going to understand how to connect with you or how to relate to you. So what if you could come up with a story that helped your audience to understand what you offer like that. And I call that just because it's your, what you do story also known as a pitch because I mean we all have to communicate with people all the time. People are always asking us, what do you do?

Jillian (11:39): What have you could share a story in one minute or less that helps people to understand what you do. So these are the sort of pieces of our business that are most important for us to be able to translate into our audience's brain very quickly in a way that's relatable and motivational. And that's what makes up your core story collection. So things like your vision for the future, your origin, your values. Like I talked about your customer relationships, you're overcoming obstacles, your successes, those pieces of your business that are so important for people to grasp, not just quickly and clearly, but also in a way that connects in an emotive way.

Terra (12:29): Love it. Oh my gosh, take all my money. This is so powerful because what I do from a business strategy perspective is really work hard with the entrepreneur to get crystal clarity on their entire business strategy from who I am, what do I sell, how much do I sell it for? All the way to who needs to be on my team. Like it's full compassing bird's eye view of how your entire company runs, right? And so you have that clarity. But so that's, you know, I just had the aha of like, you know, that's kind of my zone of like being able to help my clients do that. But one thing I always say is if you don't understand it well enough, okay I didn't say this, this, this is a rendition of what Albert Einstein says. If you don't understand and kind of have that clarity and you can't explain it simply enough, you know your audience is going to be completely confused.

Terra (13:22): And what you do is you take the quote unquote simplicity and clarity of your own experience and translate that in a way so that makes it relatable to your future customers. Like huge. I mean how many times have you heard, I'm sure cause you've worked with plenty of people to have, like when someone, and you're an entrepreneur, you go to a networking event and you get the dreaded, so what do you do? Right. And it's like people just freeze. I mean, and I know women who make millions a year and they get that question, they're like, you know, like you just, so to be able to have, I never thought being able to tell a story in under a minute, you know, that's possible. So I can't wait to like dig into all this stuff with you privately. So not to give anyone the audience FOMO, but if you can't tell, so because, but one thing I learned, and maybe we can touch on this, this would be important is before you can even hone in on those things, like your lady in the red, you know, their storyteller in the red dress, you already remember that.

Terra (14:32): Or the red powerful outfit, which simplified, you know, power and success to you even at a young age. It's like before you can even articulate that and share that story because having the stories one thing and typing it up and putting it in a blog, maybe one thing, but to be able to that effectively

Jillian (14:52): And share it with your platform, whether it's a Facebook live at a speaking gig or at a networking event on a podcast, like do you find that there's some blocks around, especially with women entrepreneurs that have that deal with perfectionism issues, right? Of like, and I wouldn't say perfectionism as much as I would say authenticity and like uncomfortable to share kind of their personal stuff. How does that mindset play into you getting a result for your clients?

Jillian (15:27): It's huge. It's absolutely huge. That is a lot of what I do in that, that's actually what I, what I love most about what I do. I love stories. Of course. I'd love stories and I love sharing stories. What is most exciting to me is watching a client walk in feeling about this high, you know, just like I'm here so I'm a little bit willing to share.

Jillian (15:48): I'm, I'm kind of wanting to do this. And then leave feeling this high. And for those that are just listening, you can imagine it, you know, I have one hand low and then one hand really high, I believe feeling three inches taller. So, so for example, I run the Calgary story slam and I remember one day, this was a few years back, I had a client come in, guest is a more appropriate word for the story slam. She walks into the story slam and I can just sense from her this clamminess knees shaking voice a little bit quiet. And she signed up to tell a story and I thought, Oh go her. I'm so impressed cause I can see that she is nerve wracked but she put her name down, she got up, she shared a story and she rocked it. It was amazing.

Jillian (16:41): It was powerful. Everyone was buckling over laughing and she won the competition because it's a competition and I was so impressed. And then she walked out that night like three inches taller, I swear. And after that she came back again and again and again. She was a regular for year after year. She eventually started to bringing whole table full of people. She told a story at every slam. And what I watched, the transformation that I watched was the power of sharing and succeeding and how when you open up your heart and say, yes, world, I'll let you in, I'm going to be vulnerable for a second. And you know what? The world loves it. People want to hear that. People want to know you. And when they hear that they applaud you and then you grow and the world grows and as beautiful. And that's why I love helping people to find their voice and share their story because it's truly beautiful to watch that. It is.

Terra (17:47): I love everything about that.

Terra (17:50): And I think as little girls, I mean we may have been conditioned and I think back because a lot of the clients I work with have worked in the corporate world at some capacity. And it's kind of like, okay, quiet your voice, right? Like being seen. You don't have to be heard. And so I can imagine that transformation being, I'm sure you've seen it both with men and women and I know, some men I'm sure get an amazing transformation as well cause they're taught their own thing as you know, young boys. But even for women to like to be able to, you know, step into that power and go, I did it and I didn't die. And, and people actually embraced me and I remember that like I've done, gosh, I can't even remember what number event I'm in without looking at my PowerPoint.

Terra (18:38): Hundreds of records, 140 maybe at this point. And the first time I got in front of a group, it was like I had my agenda or my script and I just thought that, and I like read it word for word shaking. And then the next time I had my notes and I may have read a little bit, but I didn't read it word for word. And then by the third event, you know, you're up there doing your thing and you've maybe just have an outline and then maybe some note cards and then nothing. Right. So she goes, I know, but you do it scared. Like I, you know, I was the type of person that's like, you know, I knew to move up in the corporate world, I had to refine my speaking skills and it's no secret, I've talked about it before. My dad was a lead singer of a rock band and you know, he knew no stranger and wasn't, I mean would Hey, there's my family, Hey wave.

Terra (19:26): You know? And it was like me as a little girl being like, Oh my gosh, like I'm not programmed as seven, seven year olds for having people like look at me. You know, it was very uncomfortable. So I was very, very shy and then, you know, I even cheered and I did all these things. I did it very scared. And then, you know, knew in the corporate world, in order to make the impact I wanted and climb the corporate ladder, let's be real. That's what I did in the corporate world, you needed to refine presentation skills. So I was like, okay, there's Toastmasters, right? And so I didn't just join Toastmasters. I became the president I created after I became the president. Just cause I knew if I step into a leadership role, I wouldn't let, not just, I wouldn't let other people down as well as like I'd have to do the stuff for me too.

Terra (20:12): So anyway, and after doing that, it's like, okay, you get a little better and then you do it and then you do it scared. And then even after all that, when I was leading my first event, it was freaked out. So I love the story of your woman that came in because she was knees knocking and I'm sure by her 10th story slam, she was just like coming in like, yeah, you know, I got this and you realize you don't die. And then I never really shared much about me because I was the type of person even 10 years ago that had it all together. Like to a point where people didn't even refer people to me because they're like, Oh, I didn't even know you need a clients. And I'm like, wow, I really give off that air that I have my crap together.

Terra (20:56): Which maybe I do a little bit more than some people, but no way. Like I, we all have failures. And so then I knew I had to kind of start embedding some of this and being able to be a little more vulnerable and authentic and that has taken, that journey has been a 10 year journey of personal development for me. And I couldn't have ever been ready to work with someone like you if I hadn't have went through that. So I think acknowledging, you know, where your clients are and being able to show them where they're going and celebrating every step of the journey is huge. And to have someone like you that's going to hold my hand through it. I love it. So

Jillian (21:39): Yeah, I think, I think the takeaway is the reality that improving your ability to get up on stage and share your voice, whether it's a literal stage or a social media stage or networking event, one-to-one conversation stage, it is a skill you can learn. So if you're the person who thinks about getting up on stage and that makes your heart lurch a little, know that you can learn that skill. I'm here to help you fast track that, to help you not to use a terrorism that that's your word. I love it. Don't tell her because you know, like that's something I love to do. It brings me so much joy to watch people build their voice and find the confidence to get up on stage. And moreover, as you start to focus in and hone in on those skills, there are levels that you can get to. You can become a master of pause. You can become the person who speaks in a beautiful artistic way that inspires people. You know, if you want to be a professional speaker, be a Tony Robinson's who's getting up and motivating people. There are specific vocal techniques and visualization exercises and ways to breathe. You know, all of these technical skills that you can add to your repertoire so that you can up your game no matter what level you're coming from. And it is something

Terra (23:10): You can learn. I love that. And the one thing is like sometimes, I mean I know when I thought about it, it was like, Oh, stories, you're making it about me when I want to make it about them. But by making it a little bit about you and showing that authenticity, you think of all the more people you get to impact because you're making that connection and then you can serve more people. Like that is truly the power of story. And I'm seeing it over and over to a point where it was probably only maybe 10 to 15 event events a go where I started embedding a little story here and there and being vulnerable

Jillian (23:46): To share things, past mistakes. Cause if I'm going to fast track entrepreneurs, like I have to be able to share when I was in the trench, all muddy and crying and whatnot. Right. And being more vulnerable to that. So so anyway, so yeah, I just love it. Love it, love it. So for that woman who is freaked out to even like probably has a story inside that she's dying to get out. Like you've, I know you've seen this hundreds if not thousands of times. Like she, you know, she knows she needs to tell that story from a healing standpoint, but it may be pretty traumatic or you know, people are also very scared to share a story because they don't want to offend any family members that may have impacted them or whatnot. My, you know, previous podcast and also, you know, Dr, Cindy Childress who's in the Concorde as well, she's a ghost writer so she often has, you know, has said like, there's a lot of people who want to write a book, but they're almost waiting for that person who, you know, did them wrong or whatever to pass away so they don't hurt their feelings or whatever.

Jillian (24:53): What do you tell people who have like a story that will be massive healing but they are so scared to put it out there? Like what, what's some advice you have for them? Yeah, that's a, that's a really good question. And it, and an interesting one, there's, there's two approaches to, not to purchase, but two things that you want to really think through. And so I think it's an exercise in thinking through ethics and where you're at to know whether or not it's right to share that story. So let's talk about ethics for a second, and this is something you might want to journal about it or maybe talk it through with someone in order to analyze what's right for you. So with ethics, if there's another character in that story, who's a real human who's alive? The ethical approach is to always ask that person's permission.

Jillian (25:43): So just as an example, I've shared stories about my grandmother's life a lot. You know, like she's a first generation Canadian and so I often tell their immigration story or I tell stories about just like family stories. I tell my dad's story sometimes too, and I always call up and say, Hey grandma, I want to tell the story about how you didn't want to move out West. Are you okay with me sharing that story? And I mean the answer has always been yes, but it's really only fair and ethical for you to let the other live human know that you're going to share a story about them. Now, if it's a really important story for you to share and you know that that person is going to say no, then you want to think through that and say, well, why would they say no? Is there something about this story that is going to hurt them or affect them in some way?

Jillian (26:37): Then you have some tough questions to answer. I do think that there's a space and a place for you to share a story that be hurtful to someone else and as a healing process for you. And then, then you just need to ask yourself, what is the format or venue that I'm going to share the story and who's going to hear it and how can I anonymize it so that that person is never affected because it's, it really isn't ethical for you to share a story that's going to hurt someone else and in a real way. But if you can limit the venue to a space where you know it's never going to leave that room or anonymize it, then maybe there is a space for you to share that story. Because I certainly understand that there's stories we need to share for healing.

Terra (27:21): Yeah, I love that. Even if it's like, instead of being like my grandma Mary, you know, like I had someone in my life who, and then, okay, yeah, that's really, really brilliant. Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Love it. So once you have your core story collection, so it sounds like I can't wait to get mine. Like, I'm so excited and I'm sorry I keep like talking about that and whatnot, but I'm really excited. So like once you have your core story collection, how do you embed that into your business?

Jillian (27:55): Absolutely. really good question and I think there are so many ways and uses and approaches for it. So let's talk about if you came up with some success stories. We all use these already on our website, right? Like it's very common for us to have a portfolio or testimonials on your website positioned as success stories. Now think about how you can take those success stories and work them into a clear narrative.

Jillian (28:20): You know, a narrative with a beginning, middle and end and then share that with the people in your life. So for example, if you are going to have a conversation on a podcast or if you are going to do a speaking gig, if you are going to be having a sales call with a client and they will ask you about those successes. If you position that, if you frame that story as a clear narrative with a beginning, middle, and end, it enables you to share that success story in a way that is, feels relatable and relevant to the person you're talking to. I want to talk here specifically about the concept of placing your customer as the hero in your story. It's a really important perspective shift for us to take as you start to craft your story and what I like to think of it as is a position of empathy because I mean, the reality is we know that when we're having conversations with, whether it be customers or prospects or people who simply want to learn more about what we do, the reality is, let's be honest, we're all selfish.

Jillian (29:23): We all want to know what's in it for me. We all want to know why is this important to me? And so if you can carry up that perspective shift and make the hero in your story, the person that you're talking to, it's an act of empathy by making sure that you're delivering the information to them, the story to them in a way that is most relevant and relatable to the person that you're talking to. They can easily see themselves as part of your story. They can place themselves as the hero in the narrative, so when I share a success story with someone, I might position the client, I might anonymize them so that then the person I'm talking to can easily place themselves in that position and see themselves as being a client of mine and by doing that better understand what working with me might be like.

Jillian (30:18): That's one example of a success story. Let's talk about your about us page on your website. Well, what if we frame that as a narrative so that people can then really start to understand who you are as a person and easily understand what it would be like to work with you. Let's talk about if you create a value story or a vision for your future story. That's a story, a vision for the future story. Picture yourself on a stage talking to a group of people and describing what your vision for the future is. Then everyone in that audience can immediately understand what it is that you care about, what's important to you and whether or not that's relevant to them, whether or not they align with you. A vision for the future story can help people to quickly assess whether or not we're on the same page. If not, okay, great. Then let's move on. If so, fabulous. Here's a wonderful opportunity to add someone to your tribe.

Terra (31:31): So good. I didn't mean to cut you off. Is there anything else you were going to say? Sorry about that. Well, no, it's simply that it's there.

Jillian (31:38): So many ways that stories can be used in all of our communications, whether it's a one-to-one communication, a sales communication, a social media, your stories can become blog posts. How do you see yourself using your stories?

Terra (31:55): Yeah, I mean emails doing, you know, sharing emails as stories, but also doing videos that you can embed into emails, YouTube channel, social media stories for stages. You know, there's, if you have live events where you give an offer, I have two a year primarily. And then the other events I do are for clients. But you know, if you do something with an offer, like having a story that leads right into why you're, you know, you giving the offer, right? That type of thing. So yeah, I just see using them like everywhere, because in the first thing you even sent me the graphic, it was like, the thing that was an aha for me was, you know, it was something as simple as when you have your story, you know, understand the intention behind it. Like what's the purpose of sharing it, you know?

Terra (32:48): And with really good storytellers, and this was never even in my horizon, honestly, before I met you, like this whole concept of storytelling and whatnot. But I'd always now I can look back and be like, Oh, that man that I met, I remember he was an awesome storyteller because at the end it all tied in and that is a real skill and I can't wait to develop that of some people just tell stories because they're funny and they want to laugh, you know? And that's great and that's fine too. That was probably one type of story. But then the other types are like, there's that light bulb moment at the end that's like, that's why they told me that story, right?

Jillian (33:27): Yeah. As business people, it's really important and I like every communication moment you have with someone counts. It's like we think about our time as so valuable and it is, let's be honest, it's so valuable. Think about the time you have with your audience in front of you. Every moment of that has to count, right? If you have someone paying attention to you, you better make that valuable. And so if you're sharing a story, you need to ask yourself, what is the point of this story? And the shortcut question I share with my clients is what do I want my audience to think, feel, or do at the end of this story? And you really want to be clear about that. And I want to emphasize the field part of it because that's the whole reason we share stories. At the end of the day, it's so that someone will feel something because people make decisions based on emotion and justify those decisions with logic.

Jillian (34:23): So you want to be clear about how do I want someone to feel when they hear this story? And when you have clarity about that, that's going to give you like the core of your story, the key message. And then as soon as you have that key message, everything else falls into place. It's I call it the storytelling triangle. On one angle is what do I want the audience to think, feel, or do? The other angle is who is my audience? What do they care about? What are their priorities? What's going to be relevant to them? What's going to make them feel something? The other angle of the triangle is what are the limiting factors? And that's where you ask yourself, is this a live event? Is this a Instagram post? Is this, do I have one hour or do I have one minute? Is this for a networking engagement? Because all of those things affect the logistics of the story. If I have half an hour versus one minute, it's going to be a really different story. If it's written versus spoken. I need to think very differently about how I convey this story because it's a different mode of transportation, right? Yeah. So all of those factors need to be taken into account. So that core triangle, I think of it as like a prism that I then shoot for me, I ain't gone. Then you can just suit it all through.

Terra (35:45): Oh my gosh. Well, and I can tell you just from a hundred percent like vulnerable me, like I've been doing this like, you know, done over 140 events. I've been doing this business for 10 years. I have never wanted to ever step into being what I would consider a keynote speaker on a stage. I'm a great breakout. I'm a great teacher, I'm a great, you know, I know what my limits were, but there was so much what I felt emotional responsibility when you become a keynote, like a keynote being for the people listening who don't know the difference between, you know, just being a regular speaker and a keynote, you know, a keynote really is meant like if you go to a conference, the keynote is, everybody at the conference was going to hear this person speak.

Terra (36:30): So it's like the Rachel Hollis's of the world or the draw. You're the draw. You're like, you're going to know why people buy tickets. Yes, you need to move them. Right. And so I never ever a saw myself in that role and I've never, because I was very scared of the responsibility to move an audience. It never felt like something I either wanted to do or was trained to do or that I had the skillset to do it right. Cause I used to tell everyone, Oh, I only cry twice a year cause I had just come from a family. We don't cry. You don't cry about it. You just get to work. And now I've done so much emotional healing work and whatnot that I can watch a hallmark Christmas movie out. We know how they all end in the hallmark kiss and I cry.

Terra (37:15): So, you know, but now I like have this little sense of like, Ooh, maybe working with Jillian, it's gonna allow me to feel comfortable if I can create my own prism, you know, to be able to say yes and look for those real keynote things to help impact more women entrepreneurs. Right. I've always felt like I was a good, how to, you know, I love listening and I'm inspired by Lisa Nichols. Like she's amazing, but I could never see myself doing her type of work. But I love how she can transform and move an audience. But now I'm like, okay, if there's a system around it and it's something I can practice into and get some training with Jillian around it, maybe I can say yes to some of those opportunities. So that's super exciting!

Jillian (37:59): It's a skill you can learn, you can learn. And how, how powerful is that? I think that's why I see that woman from my story and read it truly is powerful. Yeah. It's the ability to help people to feel something, to, to see things in a new perspective, to inspire, to motivate. That's like when I wrote my thesis, the big thing I discovered from the research I did is that storytelling was incredibly motivational. So the research was on storytelling and education and using storytelling as a tool, like a pedagogical tool, a way to help people learn. And I'm the biggest discovery I had through like the learning. I created a learning module and built it all around sharing stories and then had people do research work based like through the learning module and without fail, the information people reported back well through the interviews and observation I did was that stories motivated people.

Jillian (38:57): And there's, there's research to show that. So there's, you may have seen, there's a famous Ted talk from a researcher out of Germany and what he found, he conducted neuroimaging scans on people's brains while they were storytelling, a storyteller speaking and then the listener listening. So at the same time and the scans revealed that people's brainwaves literally aligned. Wow. The act of storytelling and listening. So the speaker and the listener had similar brain patterns. Dr. Yuri Hassan. So it's like, it's, it's an incredibly powerful tool. And, and I, I mean, certainly it can be used for evil.

Terra (39:37): Yeah. Right, like everything?

Jillian (39:40): I use it for good because so many wonderful business people and entrepreneurs out there doing beautiful work, right. Making this world better. Why not use story to propel your objectives forward to help you reach your audiences better.

Terra (39:58): Right. And we don't want, there's so many, I found even the smartest and the most qualified, I mean, like Jillian has wrote a thesis on this topic and has a master's degree and yet continues to teach at a academic level on it. Right. There's no one more qualified in my mind for someone to teach me about the power of stories. Right. Especially in an ethical way. And it's like, I don't know, I'm just beyond excited for, you know, not just to learn from you, but also the fact that there's so many smart women entrepreneurs out there. And I just, and there's, you work with all, you know, men, women, that kind of stuff. My niche is women, but it's like, that's part of my why is to help, you know, elevate how the world sees women entrepreneurs and you know, and I see great ones, but they're the world's biggest secret.

Terra (40:47): And because of that, their prices are lower than somebody, way less qualified doing what they're doing and charging a high price because they've probably shared the story of, you know, stories and authenticity. And they put themselves out there in a way that says, I may do this and I may fail. I may be judged, I may be whatever, but I need to get out of my own way so that I can help more people. And if I, you know, for me, after doing 140 events, you know, each time I go and do it, I have butterflies. I mean, who doesn't you? You do too, right? Like sometimes even you know, people and your jam and your skill set is especially around stories like, you know, whether it's audible or you know, on a stage or in person kind of thing where some people are great at teaching stories but it's only like the written side and copywriting and whatnot.

Terra (41:41): And Jillian is all about, you know, the communication, the video, the whatever, using all the elements of, of story. And I just, you know, the one thing that I had learned was when I get nervous, like you can either step into it or you can be freaked out by it. But also when I'm nervous that means I'm making this about me instead of about them. And so I always do like a deep breath and I would love to hear what you tell your clients on, you know, like the one tip, like if they have to be put in a spotlight in front of a room for whatever reason, you know, I just always say, this isn't about me. This is about them. And there's a trust with the universe. They're going to get little woo. But there's a trust with the universe that I've developed.

Terra (42:30): That's like you just go out there and you do it and you just step into whatever you're feeling at that moment to be able to share. Not that it's not planned or hasn't been whatever, but you know, sometimes I'll be like, I don't know if I'm gonna share this story or this story. I just need to feel at the moment, like my vibe with the audience and I share that one and then at the end like people will tell me things and like that was, and I'm like, I don't even remember. I don't even remember. Like you're so almost in the zone. Is that like normal that sometimes you, or should I really be remembering like everything that I'm saying, like sometimes I feel like it's just telepathically like transferred to me and it's just I'm the vehicle. Have you ever heard of that before?

Jillian (43:13): Absolutely. Okay. That's very normal. Yeah. Yeah. And I love what you're talking about because you're absolutely right. I think one of the biggest barriers people have is just feeling really nervous or a concern about getting up on stage. And you know, you might feel tightness in your stomach or you might feel your palms might get sweaty. And if that's what's stopping you from expressing yourself and sharing your vision and being heard. And then I'd love to share some tips with you to help you to work through that. And what you're describing Terra is bang on. So what happens is your body goes to fight or flight mode and because your body is scared, it's like your body thinks it's preparing to go fight off a bear or fight a tiger. And we can either flee, we can either run away and say, Nope, I'm not going to step up on that stage.

Jillian (44:07): I don't need to be heard. Or we can say, I'm going to fight. And if you tell yourself I'm going to fight, and I think that's what you're doing, Terra, when you say, this isn't about me, this is about them. You're saying, I'm going to go fight for my clients. I want to go fight for these women entrepreneurs who need to step onto their stage, and the way you can do that is by telling yourself, simply say to yourself, I am so excited. I'm so excited. If you really say that to yourself, even just the act of saying it, your brain will then reframe that experience from a flight experience and I'm going to get the hell out of here too. I'm going to go and fight this bear and it's going to be awesome. Yeah, frame it into a, into a conversation where you truly believe that what I'm about to do is an exciting opportunity.

Jillian (45:00): And then this is research again, this is academic research and the research shows that people who approach, when you have pre-performance anxiety, when you approach situations where you have pre-performance anxiety and you say to yourself before, I'm so excited, then the outcome on the other side is actually better. You have a more positive experience. So it's that mental reframing. There are other people, I'm sure you might've heard this research before where people advise you to make yourself big. So that's another thing you could do is combine the, I am so excited. Affirmation with a make yourself big step into your biggest, tallest stance you can and say, I'm so excited and then you will have a better outcome on the other side. Now there's lots of other things we can talk about which is deep breathing, which actually does trigger a relaxation response, visualization exercises.

Jillian (45:58): That's a big part of what I do is help my clients to develop a preparation, performance preparation routine that you go through where you visualize yourself being successful. And this can be applied to a stage performance or a podcast interview or a sales call like these things. Psychologically it's all the same cause if you perceive it as a performance, I'm on the spotlight, I'm getting nervous, then it's the same techniques apply. Yeah. So I love that because you even hear about Tony Robbins and you know behind the stage when he's getting pumped up to come up, he's jumping on a trampoline or whatever. He has his routine as do other people. And so how cool that, you know, some people would go, I need to go jump on a trampoline. Cause that's what Tony Robbins does. No, like you get to work with your clients individually to say let's come up with your routine that works for you.

Jillian (46:53): That's exactly what I do. Yeah. I like to set each of my clients up with a workbook or a GoTo book that's going to work for them. But when they have that when they start to feel that anxiety or whatever it is that they feel they have a method they can go to in order to set themselves up for success. And I want to emphasize that feeling nerves is good. You need those nerves to set you up for success. I'm thinking again, as the person going to fight a bear, like are our ancestors going to fight a bear? You go into fight flight mode. Imagine fighting a bear without that little bit of adrenaline burst that you need. So those nerves that you feel are helping you to do a better job. I love feeling those nerves. Before I go up to performers speak, say those nerves and I'm like, yeah, that's awesome.

Terra (47:49): I love it. Because if you don't, you're just kind of like, eh, you lose your gusto, you lose your, we've all seen speakers who are like, okay, you can tell us the 18th time they've said it, it's so robotic and they may move you but they don't move you. Right. So, Oh, I love it. Oh my God. We are going to do another podcast with you later on this year because so much more we need to dig into and it's beyond, I mean, even the point where, where you reframed back to me on my, on the story about, Hey, what you are doing is, you know, pumping yourself up to not make it about you and make it about them so that you can teach women, you know, your audience that they can stand on their own stage. This is a podcast. I'm, I was tearing up like that.

Terra (48:37): You just off the cuff helping me understand that that's the story that's really playing in my head made me be like, yeah, like you just got me with my own story. Like Oh my gosh, this is so good. And yeah, and again, I used to cry twice a year so, but it's probably been about 10 or 15 times this year. So I hope for 2020 I get to cry even more so. So anyway, so thank you so much Jillian. So how can people get in touch with you and I highly recommend like doing a discovery call with her. Like you know, if you even remotely resonate with this podcast, it's like there's help for you to be able to do this, right? So how can people get in touch with you and what's, what would be their next step?

Jillian (49:20): Yeah, so anarrativeapproach.com. So it's A N A R R A T I V E A P P R O A C H.com. And from there just sign on to, to do a complimentary story, consult with me. I love just chatting with people and hearing their story. And then talking about what the story possibilities might be for them. So they'll give me a shout. Yeah, you can also find me on Instagram, Jilliane Yawney, J I. L. L, I. A. N. E. Y. A. W. N. E. Y.

Terra (49:54): I love it. And those are all those links will be in the show notes on terrabohlmann.com/podcast so thank you. Thank you again. Oh my gosh. I could keep talking to you for an hour. Like I feel like this has been not just a therapy session for me, but I hope everyone listening like completely understands the power of story and that they need to get in touch with you because you're amazing at this. So, all right, well thank you so much Jillian. Take care.

Jillian (50:24): Take care. Bye.

Outro (50:27): There you have it. Another episode packed full of strategies and motivation that you can use every day to put your business on the fast track. For a podcast recap and more resources, visit TerraBohlmann.com. Don't forget, subscribe to the podcast and get what you need to help fast track your five year business plan.