a single story outsell any sales pitch
that you'll ever write?
Well, a few weeks ago, I watched it
happen in real time.
My friend Russell stood up on stage and
he didn't pitch anything.
He just told a story.
But by the time he sat down, people
couldn't wait to get involved.
Now, I want you to
think about your own offer.
You describe it, the features, what's
included, the price, and people just,
they just nod politely.
And he can't figure out why something so
good isn't pulling people in.
Well, nobody wakes up wanting to buy your
thing, but they do want to
become someone different.
So that's what you gotta show them.
Because you're describing a thing and
nobody gets emotional about a thing.
Today, I'm gonna walk you
through exactly what Russell did.
And by the end, you'll know how to
all good.
But when I was in Nashville for a charity
event that we did for our charity,
Village Impact, this is the one that my
wife and I started many years ago, we
were hosting a mastermind and we were
co-hosting it with Russell
Brunson and Amy Porterfield.
And so everybody paid $5,000 to be there
in the room and 100% of
that money went to the charity.
So I'm just so incredibly grateful.
Shout out to Amy and Russell because
without them, we wouldn't be able to do
an event like that and
it was a huge success.
Also shout out to Russell's CEO Bill who
so generously donated the facility where
we hosted the event.
But anyways, it was a huge event.
Amazing, we had about 30 people there so
we raised about $150,000
which was just incredible.
Now I share all this for you as context
because when Russell came up on stage, he
started sharing a story.
Now yes, of course, he went into tactics
and strategies and he decoded exactly how
he is using AI to write the most
spectacular and highly profitable ads and
campaigns, it was incredible to watch him
just break down his whole process.
But when he started, he
started by sharing a story.
And so when he got up, he started sharing
a story that was close to his heart and
that was his experience in Kenya.
And so what he was doing was he was just
kind of setting the table, so to speak.
He was setting a stage of this is why
this whole event, this mastermind and the
cause, the charity,
was meaningful to him.
So he started sharing his story and he
told the room and everybody in there that
when I first approached him about Kenya
and our charity, he didn't have any
interest whatsoever in going to Kenya.
He had an interest in supporting and
helping for sure but
that was about it, right?
He's like, look, I love Stu.
He's like, I wanted to help Stu.
I'm glad that Stu was doing this.
But he said, I had no
interest in going to Kenya.
And so on my first Kenya trip, Russell
had donated and so one of the things that
we did was we went into a classroom of
the kids for the school that he donated
and we just created a little video.
And the little video was like all the
kids basically saying to the
camera, thank you, Russell.
And so then we grabbed that video and
then I sent it to Russell.
And so he was sharing in front of the
room how he was at church when he
received this video.
And so he sat there in church and at
break he went and he watched the video
and he was just like emotionally just
pulled in instantaneously.
And he showed it to his wife, Collette,
and then she was
immediately like pulled in.
And so then they both collectively in
that moment agreed like, okay, the next
trip, they're going.
And they have, by the way, they have now
come to Kenya with us four times.
They brought even their whole entire
family, like all five of their kids, it
was pretty incredible.
But that first trip, he and Collette came
to Kenya and on that
trip they met a young woman.
This was one of the students in the
communities that we were
serving, her name was Jane.
And so Russell starts sharing how they
met Jane, how they immediately like
formed this relationship,
especially his wife, Collette.
And they became like just
really close to this girl, Jane.
And he just took the room through the
whole journey of like meeting her, how
she became part of their lives and they
stayed in
correspondence, et cetera, et cetera.
And as he's sharing all this, he's got
pictures, he's got video, it's just like
the relationship is coming to life, like
you can feel it, right?
And people in the room, they weren't
hearing about a
charity, they were feeling it.
Now, afterwards, he then goes on to share
how Jane, they stayed in contact with
Jane and then the next time they came to
Kenya, they were hoping to see her and
she wasn't there and then all of a sudden
she like showed up on like the last day
on the back of a motorcycle and she had
taken this crazy journey to be able to
get there because we were actually
staying in another location.
And it was just like this reunion and it
was just beautiful and
he was showing all that.
And then fast forward, he showed how
like, Jane eventually becomes a young
woman, she eventually has her own child
and the next time they were in Kenya,
they got to meet her and then eventually
he showed how both Jane and her daughter
are now in the United States living with
Russell and Colette.
They're literally effectively part of
their family and it was just beautiful,
like just to watch the whole journey of
this as Russell explained it.
Now afterwards, you wouldn't believe the
interest from others in the room wanting
to come on that Kenya trip.
People came up just wanting to be a part
of it because he pretty much sold the
whole thing but he
never quote sold anything.
He never pitched the trip, he just told
his story and people saw
themselves in that story.
That's what sold it.
Now you might be thinking, Stu,
beautiful, thank you for sharing but
that's a charity trip.
I sell a course, I sell a membership, I
sell a service, I sell a product.
Well, stay with me because the exact same
thing that moved that room is what will
move people toward your offer because it
was never about the trip.
It was who they got to
become by being part of it.
Now here are the three lessons
I want you to take from this.
Number one, people buy
the story, not the thing.
See, Russell didn't say,
here's a worthy cause, please give.
He told a story with a real person, Jane,
and she was at the center of it.
See, people don't buy what you do, they
buy the story, they can
see themselves inside.
Let me say that one again
because it's really important.
People don't buy what you do, they buy
the story, they can
see themselves inside.
And when there's a person and a journey,
people stop evaluating
and they start feeling.
They picture themselves in it.
See, when you list your features, you're
gonna inform people.
But when you tell a
story, you will move them.
Your offer has a Jane.
Your membership, your course, your
service, somewhere in there is a real
person whose life has
changed because of what you do.
That's your story, not your feature list.
Lesson number two,
your brain is
literally built for stories.
So here's the proof
on this, and it's wild.
When people hear a list of facts, only
the language part of
the brain switches on.
But when they hear a story, the brain
reacts like it's actually living it.
The parts for sight,
sound, even smell light up.
So when you're describing a story,
describe all of those elements.
Describe the smell of the fresh pasta or
the sound of somebody kicking a ball.
Like bring people into that moment
because facts get filed away.
But a story gets felt.
And that's not poetry, that is exactly
how the brain works.
And it sticks, by the way, because
Stanford's Jennifer Aker found people
remember stories up to 22
times more than facts alone.
And in one of her studies, only 5% of
people remembered a statistic, but 63%
remembered the story.
A good story releases
the brain's truschemical.
So people don't just hear
you, they feel connected to you.
It's the difference between handing
somebody a recipe and
cooking the meal together.
One is information, the other is an
experience that they're part of.
And a list informs the
brain, but a story moves it.
Okay, lesson number
three, show, don't tell.
This is the whole point in
three words, show, don't tell.
Don't just tell them the result.
Show them the face,
the video, the moment.
Let them feel it.
So when Russell was describing this story
in Kenya, he had the video, he
had the pictures, he had the kids' faces,
the thank you note, everything.
People don't fall
in love with the words about a thing.
They fall in love when
they can see it and feel it.
So for you and I,
don't just tell the result.
Actually show it.
Like the before and after photo, the
voice memo from a member, the screen
recording of the win, the actual client
words that were said, all of that gives
context to the story.
Another good friend of mine who's really
good at this is Jason Gaynard.
I just attended his book launch party and
he gave the audience an entire background
on how the book came to be.
And he too was showing screenshots and
voice memos and little
videos, it was incredible.
And when you tell it like a story,
whether it's a real person, a struggle,
or a turning point and a result, not just
a testimonial, then the story sticks.
And here's the reality.
Is this harder than just
listing a bunch of features?
A little bit, for sure.
But it's the difference between someone
understanding your offer and
someone wanting your offer.
So the story, even though it may be more
effort, it's always worth it in the end.
So here's your next step.
I want you to find your Jane.
The one real person whose
life your work has changed.
And I want you to write their story the
way Russell told ours, the doubt, the
turning point, the result,
the photo, the video, or the screenshots
that let people feel it.
And use that everywhere
instead of your feature list.
Find your Jane, tell her
story, and watch what happens.
See, people buy the story, not the thing.
And it works because stories literally
change the brain's
chemistry, and it syncs us together.
And the magic multiplies when
people can see it and feel it.
That's the pictures, the
video, the real worlds.
People genuinely want to do
good and they want to grow.
And a story just gives them that avenue.
So stop describing what you do.
Start telling the story
of who they could become.
And your market is
waiting to see themselves in it.
That's all for today. I'm John Furrier, and I'm a video creator. I'm a video creator. I'm a video creator. I'm a video creator. I'm a video creator. I'm a video creator. I'm a video creator. I'm a video creator. I'm a video creator. That's all for today, my friend.