6 Storytelling Techniques for Travel Agents to Skyrocket Their Success
These storytelling techniques are fun and effective.
Storytelling is an art and is an amazing sales tactic used to make your offer more relatable. It’s one of the oldest forms of communication and was used by ancient people groups. (Think cave drawings.)
Similar to ancient people groups, you tell stories every day – in conversation, in your writing, and even in your body language.
But knowing how to be an excellent storyteller isn’t enough to sell travel. You need to know where to apply these storytelling techniques to reap the full benefits. So if you already know how to apply storytelling techniques, scroll to the end to read about where to use storytelling.
But before I jump ahead of myself, let’s explore six storytelling techniques and how to use them to your advantage.
Storytelling Techniques for everybody!
Are you ready to tell your story to help skyrocket your success? Let’s dive in!
Talk about the bad guy and the hero
A story is boring when it doesn’t have a bad guy skulking in the background to keep things lively. I always love it when the bad guy finally gets what’s coming to him.
Your readers like to hear about the bad guy getting his what-for too!
When you’re incorporating your story into your topic, the enemy can be anything from a ruined vacation to feelings of fear the hero is experiencing. The hero can be you, a circumstance, or a friendly airline attendant.
Whatever bad guy and hero you add to your story, make sure the problem is relatable to your clients.
The “I’ve been there” approach is a sure-fire way to gain their confidence from your storytelling. You’ve experienced their bad guy and you know how to defeat him. People love it when you throw rocks at their enemies.
2. Weave conflict into your story
Everyone loves a good conflicting story where the bad guy and the hero fight it out.
The conflict in your story might be a terrible experience a client had with an airline. The airline is the enemy and you, the travel advisor are the hero. You sat on hold with the airline for two hours and when you finally talked to a human, you made sure they took care of things in your client’s favor.
Conflicts are obstacles. Tell your audience how you overcame your client’s enemy, the stubborn airline obstacle.
3. Leave out unnecessary details
Let’s face it – we can all get a bit long-winded when we tell a story. (Slowly raises hand.)
If your story includes irrelevant details, like the color of your carry-on backpack, leave it out. Unless, of course, the color of your backpack plays a key role in your story.
Your readers don’t want to know what kind of skinny jeans you were wearing or where you happened to be standing.
They want to know the details that will help them – not bore them.
4. Tell your story like you talk
Storytelling is all about the senses – anger, fear, smells, taste, how something looked. When you tell your story, add enough sensory words to make it tangible, but don’t go too crazy with the adjectives.
People don’t care about impeccable grammar or proper English when they’re engaged in a fascinating story. Rather, the incorrectness makes it more relatable. It sounds like you’re telling them a story over the phone because you’re writing sounds like you’re talking.
To make your story more relatable make sure you –
Replace “our” and “we” with “you” when referring to your clients.
Speak in the present tense.
Use contractions (replace “I am” with “I’m”, “They are” with “they’re”).
Write in short, quippy sentences and paragraphs.
Remember, your audience wants to hear a story, not something that sounds like a college essay about Shakespeare.
5. Help your audience feel
There’s nothing worse than a boring story that makes no connection with you. You read the first paragraph or two then lay it down. You don’t have time to waste on something that’s not interesting to you.
That’s why it’s important to know your audiences’ pain points so you can tell your story in a way that resonates with them.
You want them to relive the details with you.
Instead of simply telling them you got stuck at the airport because your airline overbooked themselves, tell them how you felt – the frustration, exhaustion, and fear of missing your connecting flights.
Put your readers’ feelings where you want them to be for the rest of your writing.
6. Show empathy
Close your story by telling your readers that you know what it’s like to deal with terrible airlines. You’ve been there. You know how it feels.
And this is when you move into the body of your message – how you can help them overcome their obstacle of unreliable airlines. Use this as your CTA (call to action).
“I’ve been there – stuck at the airport, lost, confused, and mad. That’s why I chose to become a travel advisor – to take the burden and fear of travel logistics for you.”
Now let’s take a peek at which online platforms work best for storytelling techniques.
Where can you apply storytelling techniques?
Storytelling is versatile and can be used anywhere in your business. Like literally everywhere.
Blogs
Storytelling techniques in your blogs are a great way to guide your audience to see a point you’re making. Like which airlines to avoid…
You can showcase some of your travel experiences through storytelling on your blog as helpful guides to those looking to travel to certain areas.
You can also use storytelling techniques to make client success stories into blog posts.
2. Social media
Posting on social media can get tedious. You and your audience get bored seeing travel deals day in and day out. But if you leave out the travel deals and tell a little story with each post it makes it easier for you to post and makes it more enjoyable for your audience.
Share a client testimonial or a personal story or any kind of story, personal or otherwise. Use your story as a way to advertise the kind of travel you sell.
3. Emails
Like the other two avenues for storytelling, emails are an excellent way to flex your storytelling muscles.
Since emails go into someone’s personal inbox, they need to sound even more human.
You know your email subscribers better than your blog or social media followers so you can make your stories more targeted and fascinating for them.
Using storytelling techniques helps you do just that.
4. About Us page
Your About Us page is an excellent resource for practicing your storytelling techniques. You have the opportunity to talk about yourself, to share your story.
Make it fun and engaging, not a list of your accomplishments. Your readers are more likely to respond to someone who feels human.
Go tell your story!
Now that you have all the tools to tell an amazing story, are you ready to tell yours? I know you are!
Apply these storytelling techniques and watch your audience engage with you more than you’ve ever seen before.
