Improving Your Pick Up Ability

The Power of TOUCH on your Storytelling

This is now the third part of the storytelling technique.

And what I am about to share with you is a very powerful technique and it ties back into displaying your personality and bringing your characters to life.
 
This technique is adding TOUCH to your stories. As an example of this would be like "My friend and I were walking over there like this... (lock arm in arm)."
 
This really helps paint the picture of your story and get your audience more involved.
 
Only hold whatever touch you are displaying for the appropriate part of the story. If you are using something like the arm and arm example, you would only do it for that short instance, not tell the rest of the story arm and arm.
 
An example I would use in my story is when describing his weirdness would be "I would be talking with some of my friends and he would come up from behind me, stick his arm around me like this (put arm on girls shoulder and pull her in, give her a little shake, showing exactly what he did to me).
 
The key for you not to look obvious is to continue telling your story while initiating the touch, and not looking at where you are touching or pausing and waiting for any form of reaction.
 
Another fun thing to sprinkle into your stories is subtle hints that raise your desirability. These are all essentially tasteful ways to brag in your stories... without actually bragging. Now you don't need these but in some cases can add a special flare to your stories.
 
These include mentioning other women in your life, having special social privileges, being the leader of your group, and doing things that make you stand out.
 
In my story, I do often mentioning other women. And you can try this and you can change it to "friend" to "girlfriend" or name dropping by saying "my friends Lisa and Sarah" anything along those lines.
 
This have to be subtle and never be the focused of your story.
 
To make them theme authentic, do not provide an explanation for them. If part of your story involves you hooking up with multiple people, don't give an explanation for it, instead go on with your story, it's not the focus on the story and by not providing an explanation, it comes off as a perfectly natural thing that is no big deal.
 
Once you have thrown in all these fun storytelling tactics it time to give it the once over.
 
Cross off all unnecessary content and make sure your story is moving along and does not dies out. That is the biggest problem people make, they drag their stories out too long about things that don't affect the overall story. Be sure to eliminate redundancies.
 
For now...you just have to aim for about 2 minutes stories.
 
How much you share all depends on how your storytelling skills develop. A masterful storyteller could capture the audience attention for 20 minutes. But for now, focus on getting 2-3 solid minutes.
 
Always make sure you are keeping eye contact, this will help hold the audiences attention and for you to look for clues of people fading out so that you know when to speed things up and get to the punch line.

Looking back at the original example of...
 
"So the other day I am at club voodoo with my friends and I am going around making some new friends and having a good time. Well this one guy somehow works his way into my group but then ends up not leaving us alone all night, and he was a really annoying person that you just don't want to talk to. He kept making every interaction in the club awkward and would not leave until he actually gets a hint and goes home."
 
So here is the FINAL revised version of my story. Enjoy:
 
Me: "Hey guys...how do you deal with people when you just caaaaannt get them to leave you alone?!"
 
Group: "blah blah"
 
Me: "Yeah that's interesting so check this out...the other day I am at Club Voodoo, you ever been? (Check in point)...Cool, anyway I walk in with a group of my friend Lisa and some friends she brought along. There is a decent amount of people in the club, we are all having a great time and meeting lots of cool new people.
 
Well this one guy somehow works his into my "group" and he just has this annoying vibe. Like he is so out of place, he was walking around with a Harley Davison Motorcycle hat on and like this tainted banana colored polo. You know when someone just clearly does not belong and seems out of place... kind of like that guy (Put arm on person from audiences shoulder and point to someone else outside the audience)
 
So my friends and I keep trying to avoid him but he just won't back down, he would just follow us everywhere we went, buzzing around like a mosquito...with a really bad taste in clothing...like you have no idea how bad it was, I would be talking to some of Lisa's friends and he would come up, stick his head between us and wrap us both in his arms and give us a little shake like this...(Do exactly what he did on them) And the worst part is he had this nasty...thick breath....oh it was terrible.
 
(Random Story Telling Tip: Appeal to the senses, especially the smell, it is the least addressed and most memorable.) Anyway... my friends and I try to get away by going to the VIP floor and we have been drinking the free energy drinks all night and made a super tall pyramid out of cans.  (Illustrate structure with arms).
 
Then all of a sudden, the creepy guy weasels his way onto the floor and sits down at our table... and like a jackass he tries to add a can to the structure. (Start slowing things down for the punch line)
 
Little did he know... that although the Red Bull on the top of the structure was opened... it was full... so this guy tries to add his can to the top then BAM!...................the whole structure falls right into his lap and the filled soda can pours all over his crotch!
 
(Create dramatic spill scene around your crotch, getting the girl to look there, although sneaky, creates lots of subtle sensual messages)
 
It looked like he wet his pants!
 
His face turns beat red and he just runs downstairs and we assume he left the club cause we didn't see him again... I don't know what the big deal is...I thought it was hilarious!
 
(Share a good laugh with your audience, initiate more touch if you so please, initiating touch during laughter is very powerful)
 
There you see the dramatic changes these steps can make to any story.
 
Before I make a conclusion....I want to leave you with a couple advanced story telling tips.
 
-If you are telling the same story, increase vocabulary in it, use powerful verbs and adjectives to bring the story to life.
 
-Always be painting a picture, appeal to all the senses when possible.
 
-Start your stories at the end. If you ever saw the movie Fight Club you will notice how you are caught up into the story right from the beginning because you are curious to see how Edward Norton's character got himself in such a dangerous situation. You can start your story at the end then build up to really captivate your audience.
 
-The more emotion you put into a story the better, the more emotion you show in a story, the more mistakes you can make because your emotion and commitment to the story covers all that up.
 
-Avoid pauses like "ummmm and ugghhh" everyone has a bad habit when they stumble in there stories.
 
-Do not memorize your stories. You don't want to sound like you are reading from a script, you want it to seem natural. It is possible to be too good at telling your stories and then it is almost like the listener is watching a scripted play. Just understand the concepts and events of your story, there should always be some slight differences when you tell your story. Practice telling it...but don't become a scripted narrator.
 
-Lastly and most important to sum things up.... Do not tell your stories AT your audience...tell your stories TO your audience.
 
Make sure they are always getting involved and as you are telling your story, keep your eyes open for cues in the interaction you do not always have time to look for.
 
You pick up on different things if you are telling a story you know well, this is another way storytelling continues to improve your game.