sharing your personal story
Sharing our story or purpose for coaching can make us feel very vulnerable, especially when we are sharing something personal and, quite often involving experiences that we’d rather not revisit. However, as part of getting visible and ensuring your ideal clients knows that you are there to support them, it is one of the most important things you can do.
If the idea of this is making you cringe, try looking at it from another perspective…
You’re looking for a new fridge, so you go to your local electrical store, or hop online to browse and you are faced with so many options. They are all the same colour, many of them the same size, all have great energy ratings, and look pretty much the same inside. So how do you choose the right one for you? It tends to come down to price.
It’s exactly the same with coaching. The market is flooded and if we don’t stand out, the only option we are giving potential clients is to choose us based on price.
Why would anyone want to know my story?
People buy from people and, when it comes to coaching and mentoring, we know that connection between the coach and the client is essential to it being effective. Your story or purpose will resonate with some of your ideal clients, and they will choose you over other coaches as a result.
Your story, or purpose is part of what makes you stand out from all the other coaches. It enables them to see the authentic you and make a decision about whether to take the next steps based on what they have seen or heard. They are facing their own challenges and blocks and it is often reassuring for them that you have had similar life experiences along your journey, or have a passion driven purpose for what you are doing.
If you’re still feeling uncomfortable about the idea, try asking yourself the following two questions, which will surface you fears and beliefs and enable you to address them.
What fears do I have about people knowing my story, or my purpose?
What am I afraid they will think or say?
Write down what surfaces and consider what tools or techniques your can use to resolve, alter, or upgrade each one.
How to decide which aspects of your story to share
Being happy to share your story is the first hurdle; deciding what aspects of your story to share is the next. You’re likely to have had several blocks, challenges, or obstacles throughout your life so far and sharing it as one flow of consciousness might not hit the mark with your audience.
The first step is to gain clarity about who your ideal client is. You may have this already, which is great! If you don’t, this is the starting point for knowing what part of your story to share.
Once you have your avatar, write down the answers to these four questions:
What aspects of my personal experiences or reasons for coaching will resonate most with them?
What do I feel comfortable sharing with anyone out there who might choose to listen to or read it?
What would help my ideal client to understand that coaching could help them to be, do, and have more of what they want in their life?
What would resonate with me if someone else was telling me their story?
This should give you lots of thoughts and ideas to begin scoping and shaping your story.
How to share your story
Now you have your story ready to share, how are you going to get it out there for people to hear or read?
First things first – address the fears you have about sharing it, if you haven’t already, otherwise you’ll have a great story, but still won’t want to go public with it. Resolve any ongoing negative emotions which pop up when you think about sharing your story; it’s not about removing the emotion linked to your experiences, but about ensuring you feel resourceful enough to share it in the way you want to.
Then consider how you want to share it – it doesn’t have to be a big ‘blurt it out’ thing, you can slowly build up the picture over time, adding individual elements which will resonate with your ideal client
… and off you go! I’d love to hear or read your story. If you post it on social media, tag me in so that I can take a look.
Take care,
Jo
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If you feel like you could benefit from a little extra support, why not set up a complimentary mentoring session with me to see if there’s a good match for one of my 1:1 or group mentoring packages. If you feel like you could benefit from a little extra support, why not set up a complimentary mentoring session with me to see if there’s a good match for one of my 1:1 or group mentoring packages. You can find more details about the mentoring packages I offer here
