How to Empower from the Stage Using the Crisis Story Framework
Featuring a live-recording of Aleya’s Keynote
Join Aleya Harris as she guides you through her transformative "Crisis Story Framework" and teaches you how to use it to create more inspiring and compelling stage presentations. For an extra treat, this episode includes an example of the Crisis Story Framework in use that was recorded live at the 2024 Women on the Rise conference.
This episode is a treasure trove for anyone looking to turn personal challenges into compelling stories that foster clarity, connection, and growth.
What You’ll Learn:
Understanding the Crisis Story Framework: Discover Aleya’s three-step process to crafting stories that resonate and connect with audiences. This framework is designed to help you identify your own crisis experiences and transform them into narratives that not only tell a story but serve a purpose.
Radical Authenticity in Storytelling: Learn how to embrace your unique experiences and articulate them in a way that is both genuine and impactful. Aleya emphasizes the importance of being real and clear with oneself to unearth the deep-seated lessons from personal crises.
Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Aleya shares her personal journey of overcoming an abusive business relationship and how she used her crisis to reinvent herself and her business. This segment provides actionable insights on moving from victimhood to empowerment through storytelling.
Key Takeaways
The Power of Personal Narratives: Aleya’s use of her own story as a case study illustrates the profound impact that well-structured personal narratives can have on both the storyteller and the audience.
Structuring Effective Stories: Gain insights into structuring stories with a clear beginning, middle, and end, designed to engage and hold the audience’s attention throughout.
Inspiration for Action: Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own stories and consider how they might use Aleya’s framework to enhance their personal and professional lives.
Episode Resources
Download the Crisis Story Framework for free at www.aleyaharris.com/crisis
Learn more about the Spark the Stage course to enhance your public speaking skills at https://www.aleyaharris.com/spark
If you're inspired by Aleya’s approach and want to delve deeper into becoming a transformative speaker, consider joining her Spark the Stage program. It’s designed to refine your speaking skills and help you deliver powerful, authentic talks that resonate with your audience
About Aleya Harris
Aleya Harris is the spark for your spark™. A trailblazer in purpose-driven story crafting, she is a former marketing executive and ex-Google Vendor Partner who brings her dynamic experience to her role as the CEO of The Evolution Collective Inc. Aleya is a StoryBrand Certified Guide, international award-winning speaker, and the host of the award-winning Flourishing Entrepreneur Podcast. Her unique approach as a Strategic Storytelling Consultant has revolutionized the way businesses communicate, transforming workplace cultures and market positioning. With her dynamic energy and proven methodologies, she guides clients to unlock their potential, articulate their radically authentic stories, and achieve unparalleled success.
Sign Up for a Free Workshop
Each month, Aleya hosts a free 90-minute, hands-on workshop to help you use the power of radically authentic strategic storytelling to improve your personal growth, career, and company.
Register at https://www.aleyaharris.com/workshop
Book Aleya to Speak
To book Aleya to edutain your audience at your next event as a keynote speaker, please visit www.aleyaharris.com/speaking to check out her speaking topics, reels, and why. Click "Schedule a Call" to secure the speaker with "that something new" you've been looking for.
If you are a Corporate Event Planner, Employee Experience Professional, Head of Marketing, Learning & Development Professional, Executive Assistant, Speakers Bureau Destination Management Company, or Destination Management Organization who is looking for a top-quality, energetic speaker, you should definitely hop on a call with Aleya.
Connect with Aleya Harris
Speaking & Media: https://www.aleyaharris.com
The Evolution Collective Inc.: https://www.evolutioncollective.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyaharris/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyaharris/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thealeyaharris
Links Mentioned on this Podcast
-
Aleya Harris [00:00:02]:
Today, I am going to tell you a story, and you're probably like, Aleyah, how is this different than any other time that you've told me a story? Well, today I'm actually doing something I have never done before. I'm taking a recording of me using my crisis story framework and having it available to you here on this podcast. This recording is a live recording of me on stage in front of of people, delivering a ten minute keynote at the 2024 Women on the Rise conference presented by the Bra Network in Lovely Santa Monica. In this recording, you will see the crisis story framework come to life. So in this episode, I'm going to teach you the crisis story framework, give you a download where you can download it for free, and then give you a live example of how it worked in person. If you are wanting to be able to turn your crisis into clarity, into connection, so that you can inspire and motivate people from the stage, as well as grow your brand and your business, well then, my friend, my dear listener, this episode is for you.
Aleya Harris [00:01:24]:
All right, let's go.
Yuliya Patsay [00:01:28]:
Welcome to the Flourishing Entrepreneur podcast with Aleyah Harris. If you're looking for actionable ways to overcome communication and differentiation challenges by sharing radically authentic stories, you are in the right place. Listen in and learn how to stand in the power of your unique narrative to transform your personal life, business, and workplace culture. And now, your host, award winning international speaker, strategic storytelling consultant, and japanese whiskey lover, Ruby Coral's mom, Alaya Harris.
Aleya Harris [00:02:18]:
I've been using the crisis story framework since I hopped onto the stage several years ago. I just didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know that this exec is what I the framework that I was using until I developed Spark the stage. Spark the stage is my six week on demand and live taught course that teaches entrepreneurs and executives how to deliver a radically authentic signature talk from the stage. When I was developing Spark the stage, I didn't want to go out and just make something that was a cookie cutter version of somebody else's program. Instead, what I did was I sat down and said, what have I done that has made me super successful on stage, where people pay me thousands of dollars to hear my melodious voice in front of them in the spotlight. One of the things that I came up with was the crisis story framework. It's something that I teach inside of spark the stage and something that you are getting a sneak peek of right here on this podcast.
Aleya Harris [00:03:31]:
Stories and storytelling are how people process the world. That's how they process how they interact. With the world, their place in the world, their journey within the world. And it is also how they process information from the stage. I can give you a whole bunch of facts and figures, but none of that is really gonna matter much, and I'm not gonna remember much of it, either. I am, however, going to remember the stories that you tell me. So, the crisis story framework I use to help draw people into the conversation. And you'll see how I do that when you listen to the recording here in just a bit.
Aleya Harris [00:04:15]:
First of all, the crisis story framework has three steps to developing it. You don't just pop on the stage and open your mouth and see what falls out. And you aren't just trying to do mad libs and plug things into different boxes. You really have to get real with yourself first, and you have to take stock of everything that you've overcome to realize what your crises even are. And more importantly, the crises that are actually going to help people, the ones that are going to be of service to other people. When you've listed all of these crises, first of all, I want you to give yourself a pack on the back, because you, my friend, are super resilient, survived the crisis. Congratulations. As someone who has gone through some crises of my own, I understand how important it is to take a breath and say, whoo, I did that.
Aleya Harris [00:05:05]:
So you did it. You are here to tell the tale. But the tale is only worth telling if it can help someone else. Being on stage, telling your story is actually not about you. It's about how you are of service to somebody else's story on somebody else's journey. So, after you've done step one of getting real with yourself, you need to do step two of getting clear with yourself. Dive into each crisis and pull out crisis and pull out the lessons that you've learned. What's the moral? Based on what you've been through, how can you help someone else? Ask yourself questions like, what did I learn from the experience? How did it change my perspective or approach to life? What strengths did I discover in myself through this crisis? What are the common threads across the crises that are clues to my higher purpose? Those are super important things to uncover and discover.
Aleya Harris [00:05:59]:
That's why you're telling the story in the first place. You can go through some things, but if you don't understand why you went through them, you won't be able to help other people understand why they are going through or how to move through. And the third step is that you get connected. It's time to mold your experiences into a narrative. And remember, the most compelling stories are those that have a structure and a clear progression. They have a beginning, they have a middle, and they have an end. They're not unclear. Bill, at Thanksgiving dinner, droning on and on about stuff that you really don't care to listen to.
Aleya Harris [00:06:31]:
Right? This is where you want to make sure to add in the so what? Tailor that narrative so that it resonates with the experiences of the people that are listening, the audience that's in front of you, the other human beings that you are trying to connect with as a reminder. That is what marketing is. That is what speaking is. That is what visibility getting is. Is you building lucrative relationships, but you have to focus on the relationship. You're not talking at people. You are the one who happens to be on the stage. So you are in charge of navigating a collective experience while you're in the room.
Aleya Harris [00:07:06]:
And a crisis story in a proper framework with a beginning, middle and end will help you do that. The story itself has four sections. You set the scene with the time and place. For example, it was a hot summer day in 2003, but my hands were cold as ice. Right? Chilly, chilly. Or in the example that you're going to hear in just a minute, I say, in 2019, I began my entrepreneurial career as the victim of an abusive relationship. Why is it important? The first thing that comes out of your mouth? Because that's how you captivate people's attention. That's when they start listening to you.
Aleya Harris [00:07:47]:
You don't want to open with, well, nice to be here. I like to think that the organizer.
Aleya Harris [00:07:52]:
And what beautiful flowers and hey, Cindy, I see you in the back.
Aleya Harris [00:07:56]:
That's so not what you're there for. That's not what you're being paid for. You're being paid to create a transformative environment so that they can find their higher selves. And you need to do that by captivating their attention and holding it through the end. So the first step is to set the scene with the time and place. The second step is to articulate the problem that caused the crisis. What happened? Like, what was that event that went boom and just caused your event to be shaken up and down? The third thing that you need to do is to outline the three steps on how you resolve the problem, the outcome, and the moral. So here are the things that I did.
Aleya Harris [00:08:33]:
Here's what I learned. Here's what you can learn. This is how it works for you. And then fourth, you either relate it to the broader presentation context. If you're telling a story within a broader presentation, or you relate it to their context. As you'll see in the example that follows from the women on the rise luncheon. I was only giving a ten minute keynote. These four sections are the four sections of that keynote.
Aleya Harris [00:08:56]:
I encourage you to listen for them. I wasn't giving a broader presentation, so I related it back to them. I related it to their why, to a grander sense of why they were sitting there, why I was sitting there at this exact moment in time to give them the information and just tell them the story that I was telling them. So set the scene with the time in place. Articulate the problem that caused the crisis. Outline three steps on how you solve the problem and the outcome and the moral, and to the broader presentation context, or the broader context in general. That is the crisis story framework. My crisis story framework has been effective even before it had a name.
Aleya Harris [00:09:34]:
My crisis story framework is what is getting me booked on stage is because people hear me telling stories, and they want more of it. They want to feel something. They want to be transported, they want to be changed when they leave the room. And that's what stories done in a particular way do for people. As you'll hear coming up, I know I keep saying, coming up, coming up, coming up. But as you'll hear coming up, I follow this framework to a t. And because I did that, I've gotten clients from it. I've gotten closer friendships from it in the room.
Aleya Harris [00:10:08]:
Seven individuals. Yes, seven. They were women. Cause it was a women's luncheon. Came up to me in tears, telling me that they felt something. I changed them. They resonated with me. Ten minutes.
Aleya Harris [00:10:20]:
It was just about ten minutes of content. And, yes, the story is great, and it's powerful, but the story framework is really the star of the show that shines and makes this a compelling presentation. So, as you listen, see if you can get the four parts, you can pick up what I'm putting down, and then also think, I wonder how my story might fit into this framework. All right, now have a listen to my keynote at the women on the rise luncheon.
Aleya Harris [00:10:55]:
I have ten minutes with you today, so I'm going to tell you a story. As Carrie said, I love stories. In 2019, I began my entrepreneurial journey in an abusive relationship. I was the perfect victim. I was in a job that I hated. I was a sparkly, very cute, pink lipstick, round peg in a square hole of blue IBM suits and bald white men. And I couldn't figure my way out. I was lost.
Aleya Harris [00:11:38]:
And then I met her. She was successful. She was triumphant. She was gorgeous. She was two years into her entrepreneurial journey and had already made $500,000. She knew what she was doing, right? So what did I do? I asked her for help, and help I received help, but I also received the presence in my life of the narcissistic energy vampire that I didn't know I needed. Every idea she had was better than mine. Every thought, every word, every idea was better than anything that I could ever come up with with my chimney little brain.
Aleya Harris [00:12:26]:
And we built my business. And it was months and months and months, until one day I sat there and I realized, huh? I have this business that I actually don't know how to run. She had set things up, and she had every step by step. If there were three steps, she gave me step one and step two. But I had to come back to her for step three. So I. I looked around, and I had a business that maybe would have gotten me to that $500,000 mark, but I had no idea what to do with it. And what did that do to me? Instant impostor.
Aleya Harris [00:13:08]:
Sometimes we look around and we wonder where our imposter syndrome came from. Mine has a name. I'm not gonna give it to you. But when I looked into the mirror, I realized that the name was actually mine. So I was playing, like I said in the beginning, the perfect victim. I took no accountability for my life. I took no accountability for my situation. And I said, someone please save me.
Aleya Harris [00:13:41]:
I don't know if you've noticed, but there's no knight and there's no white horse. Correct? So when I looked up and I said, I have this business that was supposed to give me all of this freedom, and I have none of it. And then I now am laid off, that happened. What am I going to do? And I had to figure out how to move from this victim place, this place of imposter, this place of my voice is not good enough to tell my own story to a place where I could step into my power. And I did it in three steps. The first step I did, we had to have a breakup. Y'all have any ever broken up with a friend? It's harder than breaking up with any man or woman on your spouse. It's rough.
Aleya Harris [00:14:40]:
I mean, I wrote a letter like I was an 8 grams. Y'all remember that? Can you receive a teeth? No, I wrote a letter. Her name was not Suzy. Didn't give it away because she didn't want to talk to me, because if any of you have dealt with a true tried and true narcissist. They can't be confronted with any criticism of themselves. So I asked to talk to her. I was a big girl. I put my big girl panties on.
Aleya Harris [00:15:06]:
She said, no. I took them off. And it was a rough breakup. But you know what I got from that moment? Space. And you know what happens in space? You get to find yourself within that space. I could look at myself and call out the true culprit of the situation. Who was me. There are many situations and many victims who did not ask to be a victim.
Aleya Harris [00:15:39]:
But you know who did asked to be a victim? Me. By giving away my agency, by giving away my energetic sovereignty, I put myself in the role of the perfect victim. And I was tired of it. So I needed to give myself space. And in that space, I started realizing that the only voice that is equipped to tell my story is my own. It is my own. So then I said, well, she became the voice in my head. I told mine to take a backseat long time ago, right? I was like, girl, you know, you don't even know that much.
Aleya Harris [00:16:25]:
Anyways, listen to her. She knows what she's doing. So I had to kick her out, evict her from my head, and go and find out who. Who had. I really thought, what I had to say, what my voice was, how I could stand in my power. And it was. It was rough. This is not an overnight experience.
Aleya Harris [00:16:49]:
There were ayahuasca ceremonies in the Amazon that happened. I went to seminars and I talked to the people and the coaches and the gurus and the meditation and all of the things, all to do something thing that should actually be pretty darn easy. Within all of us, there is a spark, a light. I call it your radically authentic self. The undiable part. The part that knows, the part that understands your higher purpose without you having to say anything. The part that is guiding you, omnipresent part of you that has made a pure love, pure light, all you technically have to do, make a real easy for you. Just uncover that part.
Aleya Harris [00:17:29]:
You'll be fine. You're straight. I'm done. That's what I had to do. I had to uncover that part of me. I didn't have to add anything. I didn't have to get somebody else's voice. I didn't have to read any self help books, although I did.
Aleya Harris [00:17:46]:
I didn't need to, but I did. I just needed to unearth the wisdom that I already had. So I had to excavate her voice and replenish it with my own the one that was already there. And once I started to do that, I realized, you know what? I like this chick. She's pretty dope. And I wonder, if I just worked with her what we could create together. And that was my third step. I got to creating.
Aleya Harris [00:18:20]:
Who here has realized that you're a powerful creator? Yeah, man. I like this room. Yeah, buddy. I was late to the party. I had to step into that. And then I started getting curious. Well, what can I create? What can I do if it's just little old me? Don't know nothing. I'm sorry.
Aleya Harris [00:18:45]:
I was over here. Just a marketing executive with 15 years of experience under my belt and a degree from USC. Nothing. Didn't know nothing. What could I create? I created a quarter of a million dollars in six months is what I created. I built a business by unearthing that radically authentic part of me, by changing the story I told myself and by changing the role I played in that story in a storytelling framework. Have you noticed that the hero, the knight, has all the fun? He's the one that goes on all the adventures and slays the dragon and does whatever with a witch in a castle or whatever, right? Well, the damsel, what is pining away in a tower or just straight up asleep? Right? Straight up asleep. I was playing the victim role, where no transformation happens.
Aleya Harris [00:19:43]:
I needed to move from victim to hero. And now to guide the hero role, where everything happens, where transformation happens, where power is found, where adventure happens, where you get to go through the crap and you're probably going to be wrong and you're going to make mistakes. I made many, many mistakes. But you know what? You also get to come back for the happily ever after. You also get to come back from the end because you were the one who went on the journey. Victims, imposters, do not go on journeys. They're just waiting to be saved. If many of you are hearing, like, for some of you, some of you, I can tell.
Aleya Harris [00:20:29]:
I don't feel that way. I'm a badass bitch. I don't know what you talk about. I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the rest of you who maybe ever in your life have felt marginalized, have felt like you couldn't stand in your power, have felt like you couldn't tell your story, talking to you, because I felt that way. I really, truly have. And you don't need to do ayahuasca ceremonies or have all the coaching to go through it. You just need to sit with yourself and listen for that voice.
Aleya Harris [00:21:04]:
That already knows. The one that's eager, so eager to go on the journey, the one that's pushing you out of your comfort zone, the one who's saying, yes, you can do this. We can do this together. As you step into your power and realize who you are as a powerful creator, I want you to realize that life truly is a fairy tale. It is. It's a fairy tale of your own making. But don't play the damsel in distress. Don't play the one who doesn't step out and use their voice.
Aleya Harris [00:21:44]:
Play the knight in shining armor. My armor is gold and it's studded with diamonds. Play the role in your own story so that you can guide someone else on the journey of theirs. As you step into your power, I invite you today and every day to create your own happily ever after. Thank you. Bravo.
Aleya Harris [00:22:25]:
Did you pick up on the four parts? Did you see how the crisis story framework was incredibly powerful as a tool to navigate through the story? I wasn't up there just talking about myself. Yeah, sure, I was sharing a story from my life, but it was just in order to get people to believe that they were powerful creators of their own life and to step into the power of their authentic voice. That was, that was the whole reason why I was there. So if you are interested in creating your own crisis story framework, you can go to aleaharris.com crisis c r I S I S. C r I S I S. Yes, that's right.
Aleya Harris [00:23:05]:
I can spell.
Aleya Harris [00:23:07]:
And you can download the crisis story framework PDF. So then you can get the three steps of creating the crisis story, the crisis story framework itself, and you can have a better understanding of how then your crisis story can help other people. I encourage you as well, if you truly want to make a difference from the stage, to sign it for Spark the stage. Spark the stage again is the program where I take people through how they can be better speakers from the stage. If you want to be a better speaker from the stage, then I encourage you to do just that and sign up@aleaharris.com. Spark, you are just so close to being that visible entrepreneur, that visible, transformative human being that you want to be. You just might need a little bit of help to get on stage to do that. And I would love to help you.
Aleya Harris [00:24:09]:
As you will see on the page and you'll hear on my socials, people truly are transformed into higher versions of themselves through this program and thus better speakers. So I encourage you to join. Go ahead and sign up@aleaharris.com. Spark all right, well, my name again is Aleah Harris. This has been a pretty cool episode, if I do say so myself, of the flourishing entrepreneur podcast. And until next time, I'm wishing you lots and lots and lots of love, light and abundance. Bye for now.
Yuliya Patsay [00:24:47]:
Thank you for listening to this episode of the flourishing entrepreneur podcast with Aleah Harris. Vibing with what you hear, leave a five star review to spread the love and be sure to click subscribe. We wish you love, light and abundance. See you next time.
