When you follow our Speak-to- Sell® formula and introduce yourself during your presentation, you tell a personal story in order to create connection, credibility and vulnerability.

Sometimes, when telling these stories, you can, inadvertently, pull up Medusa’s head.

If you recall your Greek and Roman mythology, Medusa was a former priestess turned into a monster, whose hair was comprised of snakes, and anyone who looked at her face turned into stone.

How does that apply to your story?

Sometimes the topic or details of your story can affect your audience so strongly that they stop hearing you—in effect, for a period of time, you’ve turned them into stone.

For instance, a client of mine, who used to be in law enforcement, was wondering if she should include in her story the impact on her of a tragic story about a little girl.

Even now, I don’t want to give you the details, because once I’ve shared them, you won’t be able to take in anything else in this post.

It’s the same with your audience.
 
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There are some subjects that would affect anyone, such as harm to a child, but there are also topics that are specific to certain audiences that you’d want to avoid.

For example, for six years I taught roomfuls of women who had some pretty intense feelings about their relationships with men. When we said certain triggering things, the women turned to stone and couldn’t hear us for 10 minutes.

We started calling that “pulling up Medusa’s head,” and learned quickly that certain subjects were pretty much off limits for the purpose of our training.

And that’s why I urge you to consider the impact of your story on your audience and tailor it accordingly.