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I spent the weekend in Melbourne after  a speaking engagement at the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Business Forum on Friday. While “on the road” I always try to take time to enjoy some down time in the city I am in. Doesn’t always happen but this weekend it did. And on Saturday night I went to see the stage show Strictly Ballroom. I remember the movie well and enjoy playing the soundtrack. Even had “Love is in the Air” at my wedding – cheesy I know! I love a good story and this one has it all – rags to riches, boy meets girl, the villain and other criteria that make up the formula of a good story. I don’t profess to be any sort of scriptwriter however a good story whether told in a blog, speech, movie or play will certainly capture your audience’s attention. In this blog I will share the Nine Steps of Story Structure. ..

I began my media career for Prime Television in Wagga Wagga, a regional city in Australia. I clearly recall the day when Prime flew me down from Sydney for the audition. I was absolutely petrified. They sat me on the set, put the autocue up in front of me and said, “Action!” Well, my palms were sweating, my knees where shaking, my voice was somewhere up in my throat…but somehow I did get through it and passed the audition test. I was later offered the job as newsreader. When we’re asked to do a media interview, we need to put this fear or nervousness into perspective. We do not want to lose this opportunity to showcase our personal brand or business. ..

One client I worked with was invited to speak on a panel at an industry conference. This presenting opportunity was a chance to showcase his personal brand and company brand. Now that could have been okay – just answering the questions put to him by the chair of the panel. But by understanding the true objective of this engagement he was able to maximise the opportunity and ended up gaining media exposure – a further way to grow his brand. ..