Why People Get Bored of Your Stories

Let's be honest. You've seen the glazed eyes. You've seen the covert glances at phones. You've felt the energy leave the room while you were still talking.

It hurts. It should.

The problem isn't your voice. It isn't your slide deck. And it certainly isn't that the audience is "distracted."

The problem is you.

Specifically, the problem is your ego. You think the story is about you. You think because it happened to you, it matters to them.

It doesn't.

Your audience is selfish. We all are. We don't listen to stories to learn about the speaker. We listen to find a piece of ourselves. If your story doesn't help them survive, thrive, or solve a problem, you are just making noise.

The Steve Jobs Standard

Consider Steve Jobs. He is the gold standard for corporate storytelling. But people forget the rigorous engineering behind his "magic."

When he introduced the iPhone in 2007, he didn't start with specs. He didn't brag about the processor speed. He didn't talk about how hard his team worked.

He told a story about struggle. He showed the audience their own pain—clunky keyboards, slow interfaces, plastic styluses. He made the audience the victim, and the iPhone the savior.

He didn't say, "Look how smart I am."

He said, "Look how free you could be."

The "So What?" Test

Most professionals communicate like they are reading a grocery list.

"Then we did this."

"Then we achieved 10% growth."

"Then we hired Bob."

Boring.

To command a room, you must kill the narrator. Stop reporting facts. Start constructing emotional arcs.

Every time you open your mouth to share an anecdote, ask yourself the brutal question: "So what?"

• If the answer doesn't involve the audience's ambition, fear, or money, delete it.
• If there is no conflict, delete it.
• If there is no lesson, delete it.

The Cost of Being Boring

In the corporate world, "boring" is expensive.

Boring people get interrupted. Boring people get passed over for promotions. Boring people have great ideas that die in PowerPoint slides because nobody cared enough to listen.

Charisma is not a gift. It is a mechanic. It is the ability to structure information so that it hits the nervous system, not just the ear.

You can continue to be the smartest person in the room that nobody listens to. Or you can decide to become dangerous.

Ready to stop being boring? We teach the engineering of influence. No fluff. No theory. Just the tactics that turn "presenters" into leaders.

Stop waiting and start your transformation today. Join UltraSpeaking and become the speaker you were meant to be →