Before You Tell, You Have to Ask
Before you tell your story, and help them to believe, you have to ask some questions. During jury selection in medical malpractice trials, we ask.
“Is anyone in your family a medical professional?”
“Have you ever had a bad experience with a hospital or doctor?”
“Can you think of any reason why you would find it hard to be fair in this case?”
We ask these questions so that we know WHO to choose to be on our jury. But we also ask them to know HOW to tell our story once we’ve chosen a jury.
Because these people will be the ones to listen to our stories. Last week I told you that we need to tell our stories, but we also need to help them believe. Asking questions is the first step.
Once you know the listener, you can step into her shoes. But you don’t know by imagining what it is like to be them. In fact, studies show that believing we know how a person is feeling without asking them does nothing more than make them mad. (Especially in romantic relationships….)You have to ask.
The more questions you ask, the better you know your listener, whether that be your client, your customer, your friend or your family member. And then you can tell your story for them. You can tell the story in the way they need to hear it.
Ask your customers and clients questions. Listen to the answers. Then use those answers to inform your story. Tell them your story, and help them believe. That starts with asking questions.
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