📖 Storytelling: How to tell a story like Jamie Foxx

I recently shared a clip of Jamie Foxx pausing for 6 seconds mid-story on the Graham Norton show. The LinkedIn post went viral. The tip?

The most powerful person in the room is the one who can hold a pause.

But Jamie’s pause wasn’t the only reason why his story has resonated with millions.

Hidden in that clip are a whole host of advanced techniques that you can use to take your stories from good to extraordinary.

Before I share them, watch back the 85 second clip with a critical eye… 🍿

Three techniques to tell stories like Jamie Foxx:

1. Find the tension in your story 🤓
   Tension is what helps us connect with the characters in the story. It’s what keeps us listening. Think: Good vs Evil |Dreams vs Reality | Truth vs Lies | Freedom vs Oppression.

   
   Or in this case, Justice vs injustice.

2. Vary your sentence length…
   …to change momentum. Long sentences are great for setting the scene. Contrast them with shorter sentences to slow down time and create a climax.

3. Re-live the story
   Jamie’s 6 second pause wasn’t for tension, it was so he could compose himself (as Founder to Thought Leader reader and expert storyteller, Mark Leruste commented on my original post). When he told that story, he wasn’t on Graham’s sofa. He was back with his Dad and he took us with him. This is why we feel so connected to the story he shared.

You can’t be a good communicator without being able to tell great stories. It’s why so much of what we do inside MicDrop is around storytelling.

Your message will only land if you pair it with a good enough story so we give our members regular opportunities to:

1. Practice telling them (so they become second nature).

2. Create new ones for their bank of stories (to speed up presentation prep).

3. Get coaching (to take their stories from good to great).

That way, when they land the big stage presentation or podcast opportunity, they’re ready.

Our October intake is filling up, if you’d like to get on a call with me to see if it’s a good fit before we launch the intake publicly, click here.

Alex