Paul SPaul Smith Interview - How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale With Storiesmith Interview - How to Capture Attention, Build Trust, and Close the Sale With Stories

·20 min·2 clips

Paul Smith reveals that human decisions are made emotionally first, then rationalized logically nanoseconds later.

The episode begins with a podcast ad for Libsyn Ads before host Kurt Mortensen introduces the topic of turning presentations into persuasion through storytelling. Mortensen, author of 'Maximum Influence', welcomes back guest Paul Smith, an organizational storytelling expert and former Procter & Gamble executive. Smith defines a sales story as a real narrative about something that happened to somebody, contrasting it with a sales pitch which is a list of reasons. He explains that stories are effective because they speak to the subconscious emotional part of the brain where decisions are actually made, before logical rationalization occurs. Smith shares research from interviewing salespeople at over 50 organizations, including Microsoft and Costco, revealing that storytelling is used throughout the sales process from introduction to post-sale relationship management. He interviewed professional buyers who described sales pitches as triggering defensive reactions when the tone becomes memorized and scripted. Smith outlines that the average sales story is two minutes long and must answer eight questions in order: why listen, where/when, who is the main character, what did they want, what problem/opportunity arose, what did they do, how did it end, what did you learn, and what should the listener do. He emphasizes that stories need emotion and surprise to be engaging. Common mistakes include apologizing for or asking permission to tell a story, which undermines persuasiveness. Smith argues storytelling is a learnable skill, like playing guitar, requiring instruction and practice. He advises salespeople to elicit stories from buyers by asking questions like 'Tell me about the moment you realized your biggest problem' to uncover detailed needs. The episode concludes with Smith directing listeners to his website leadwithastory.com for more resources.

As heard by us

Storytelling is treated as a sales tool from first hello to the closing ask.

Kurt Mortensen, author of Persuasion IQ, Laws of Charisma, and Maximum Influence, treats storytelling as a sales tool rather than a decorative extra.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when your pitch needs to sound conversational, not memorized.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Maximize Your Influence