Show Notes
Signature stories come from all sorts of experiences, from the ordinary and mundane to the fantastical and unbelievable.
But what if your story has nothing to do with you? What if you weren’t there or even alive when it happened?
It might go against the grain for most speakers, but it’s never been a problem for Tamsen Webster.
With a glittering career as a speaker, strategist, marketing maestro, TEDx executive producer and Weight Watchers leader, Tamsen has more than enough stories of her own to tell, but her most popular and powerful talk remains her signature story that starts 200 years ago.
She’s been telling the story of Dr Ignaz Semmelweis to rapturous applause for years and, now, she’s telling it for Standing Ovation.
I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did, Clappers.
Find out about:
- How taking your audience’s perspective and knowing their problems will make your talk untouchable
- What your audience want to know at the very start of your talk
- How to find and follow the red thread of every story
- Why some great stories don’t have a place on stage
- Why a shift in focus can give the same story a completely new perspective
- What Tamsen’s process behind planning a great speech is
Quotes from the episode:
“Your talk needs to do something, drive something forward, create a change in thinking or behaviour – not just entertain people or get them to understand a new concept.”
“We have to solve the problem that the audience says they have, before we solve the problem we think they have.”
“The facts of the story can stay the same, but changing the lens through which you look at it – where you add detail or emphasis – can shift the lesson without changing the story.”
Connect with Tamsen Webster
2 Key Questions
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given about the speaking business?
“Tim Pollard, author of The Compelling Communicator, once said to me: “If you seek the room’s approval, you will lose the room’s respect.”
Who is your dream guest for Standing Ovation?
“Malcolm Gladwell – he is my idol for story construction. He is the master of telling a story within a story and I think it’s spectacular, I would just love to know how he thinks about how he tells stories.”
