The most powerful way to persuade people is to tell them a story they will remember and tell again. Here is how to do it:

* Passion: Start by asking “what do I really care most about?” If you are passionate about your new idea, product or service chances are the audience will catch your passion the same way they catch the flu. Passion is a contagion and it spreads quickly. Your passion needs to authentic. If the audience thinks your acting solely out of self interest-you’re done.
* Hero: You are the hero. The hero’s job is to make the audience see what you see. Pull the audience into your world. Make them see your message from the inside out. Help them see it through your eyes and as if they were standing in your shoes.
* Obstacle: Define clearly the obstacle or problem facing your audience? How does your new idea help them overcome it? You and your new idea are the hero, mounted on a great white steed. , You have a lance in your hand and you’re charging ahead to slay the dragon. Before you charge make sure that you and your audience share the same dragon. Ask yourself “what is the dragon that keep me up at night?” does it keep my audience up as well? If you can slay that dragon you’re on your way to success.
* Awareness: Does your idea bring something new to solving the audience’s problem? What insights are imbedded in your message? What lessons can the audience take away and use again? Does your audience nod in agreement as you discuss your solutions or do they remain stone silent?
* Transformation: How will your idea change the audience for the better? How will they be different by using your idea? What is transformational about your message?

The more you can turn your message into a story the more likely your message will succeed.  Successful stories make an audience feel as well as think. This is crucial because as neuroscience has discovered; stories are easier to recall than facts alone because they implant themselves in our memory.