A miracle happened today!

July 14th, 2014

That’s how a friend started a story she told me recently.

“A miracle happened today.”

Then she proceeded to recount a litany of difficult things, each one more challenging than the last.

I knew that a miracle was coming so I sat on the edge of my seat waiting to find out how this difficult story was going to turn around. I found myself listening with baited breath, waiting in anticipation for the miracle.

When the miracle finally came, I exhaled with relief. I already knew the story was going to end with a miracle, but I didn’t know what the miracle was, or how it was going to get there…and I wanted to know!

I enjoyed taking some guesses in my mind along the way, but ultimately each next thing that wasn’t the miracle just made me hang on more to every word.

I learned something about great storytelling.

And about how to communicate something to a person or group of people in a way that makes them say “Tell me more.” Whether while giving a speech or telling a story or getting a roomful of people to sit on the edge of their seats wanting more.

Audiences want their minds and hearts engaged. They want to do a little bit of the work themselves. They don’t want you connecting all the dots for them. They definitely want clues, but not all the answers.

Your job as the speaker is to create a gap.

The gap between what is and what’s possible. The gap between what used to be and what might be in the future. The gap between the conflict and the miracle.

Create a gap that’s big enough to keep audiences from feeling spoon fed easy answers, but small enough that they can believe in the possibility of what could be and wonder how it’s going to get there.

Try it! Next time you tell a story, be aware of the gap, and see if you can bring your listener with you into a state of wonder and curiosity. Then leave a comment here and tell us how it went.