MODULE 5 | RELATE WITH A STORY
Stage 2 | Conversation Qualification
Discover. Don't convince.
FOUNDER VIDEO 5 | RELATE WITH A STORY
APPROVED STORY PRACTICE GUIDE
Learn the approved facts, attribution, teaching point, guardrails, and return question for each Stage 2 core story. Download this guide before completing the Module 5 Story Practice.
PURPOSE OF THIS MODULE
Estate planning can feel abstract.
Probate, incapacity, trust funding and family decision-making can be difficult to understand when they are explained only as concepts.
A good story can make an idea understandable.
But the story is not the conversation.
It has one purpose: help the family understand something, then bring the conversation back to them.
THE STORY IS NOT THE DESTINATION. IT IS A BRIDGE BACK TO THE FAMILY.
WHY STORIES WORK
Facts explain.
Stories help people picture what those facts could mean in real life.
A story can help someone understand why implementation matters, why delay can matter or why owning a document is not always the same as achieving the intended outcome.
But a story should never be used to make someone afraid enough to act.
HELP THEM UNDERSTAND. DON'T TRY TO MAKE THEM AFRAID.
LISTEN BEFORE YOU CHOOSE THE STORY
Do not enter a conversation thinking:
“I need to tell my probate story.”
Listen first.
What has the family actually told you?
What are they trying to understand?
What question are they considering?
Then decide whether a story would help.
Sometimes it will.
Sometimes it won't.
THE FAMILY'S CONVERSATION DETERMINES THE STORY, NOT YOUR STORY LIST.
ONE STORY. ONE POINT.
A story becomes less effective when you try to teach five lessons with it.
Choose the point.
Tell the story.
Make the point understandable.
Then stop.
60–90 SECONDS. ONE STORY. ONE POINT. RETURN TO THE FAMILY.
APPROVED CORE STORY | GRANDPARENTS' PROBATE
Teaching point:
A will may still lead to probate.
Planning is about the outcome the family experiences, not simply whether someone owns a document.
After telling the story, return attention to the family.
For example:
“How important is avoiding that kind of uncertainty to your family?”
APPROVED CORE STORY | TOM & SHEILA
Teaching point:
Good intentions and delay can leave a family unprepared when life changes unexpectedly.
The purpose is not to use someone else's difficult experience to frighten a family.
The purpose is to make the importance of completing planning understandable.
Then return to them.
For example:
“What would you want to have settled before a crisis ever happens?”
APPROVED CORE STORY | UNFUNDED TRUST / FUNDING PHONE CALL
Teaching point:
Creating a trust and implementing a trust are different steps.
Someone can have a beautifully prepared trust and still need to know whether the important assets were actually addressed.
Then return to the family.
For example:
“How confident are you that your trust has been fully implemented?”
RETURN TO THE FAMILY
This may be the most important storytelling skill in the module.
When the story ends, you should not remain the center of attention.
Ask a question that brings the conversation back to their life, their family or what matters to them.
The story might take 60 seconds.
What they say afterward may be far more important.
STORY → TEACHING POINT → FAMILY
Not:
STORY → STORY → STORY → PRESENTATION
You are having a conversation, not performing a workshop for one person.
DON'T MAKE THE STORY BIGGER THAN IT IS
A true story does not need help.
Do not add details because they make the story more dramatic.
Do not exaggerate consequences.
Do not change facts because the altered version makes the lesson stronger.
Do not present someone else's experience as something that happened to you.
IF THE TRUTH ISN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO TELL, DON'T TELL THE STORY.
NEVER USE TRAGEDY AS LEVERAGE
Some estate-planning stories involve painful circumstances.
That does not give us permission to use someone's tragedy to push another family into making a decision.
Tell the story respectfully.
Teach the relevant point.
Return the decision to the family.
A STORY CAN CREATE UNDERSTANDING WITHOUT CREATING FEAR.
ETHICAL STORY RULES
When you use a story:
Tell only stories approved for training or stories you have authority to tell.
Do not claim another person's experience as your own.
Do not embellish facts to make the consequence more dramatic.
Do not use tragedy as leverage.
End with a question that returns attention to the family.
YOU DON'T ALWAYS NEED A STORY
This matters.
C.A.R.E. includes Relate With a Story, but that does not mean every conversation requires one.
If the family already understands the point, don't tell a story merely because you learned one.
If a simple explanation would be clearer, explain it simply.
If another question is more appropriate, ask it.
USE A STORY WHEN IT HELPS. NOT BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE.
STORY PRACTICE
Choose one approved story.
Deliver it in 60–90 seconds.
Your evaluator will time the story.
Then evaluate whether it was:
Accurate
Brief
Natural
Family-centered
Free from fear amplification
Ended with a useful question
DON'T MEMORIZE SOMEONE ELSE'S PERFORMANCE
Know the facts.
Know the teaching point.
Know why the story matters.
Then learn to tell it naturally.
You do not need to copy Dr. Dave's pacing, inflection or exact wording.
You need to tell the story accurately and sound like yourself.
KNOW THE STORY. KNOW THE POINT. THEN MAKE IT YOUR OWN.
The facts stay fixed.
Your natural delivery does not have to.
PREPARE TO PRACTICE
Complete the Module 5 Story Practice in your ACA-120 Conversation Curriculum materials.
Practice one approved story until you can tell it accurately and naturally within 60–90 seconds.
Then practice the most important part:
returning the conversation to the family.
YOU SHOULD BE PREPARING TO:
- Recognize when a story would actually help.
- Select a story based on what the family has told you.
- Tell one story with one clear teaching point.
- Keep the story within approximately 60–90 seconds.
- Tell the story accurately without embellishment.
- Never use tragedy or fear as leverage.
- Avoid making yourself the center of the story.
- End with a useful question.
- Return attention to the family.
- Tell an approved story naturally rather than memorizing someone else's performance.
READY TO CONTINUE?
When you can use a truthful, brief and relevant story to make an idea understandable and then return the conversation to the family, continue to Module 6.
When prompted, use the same Stage 2 password you used to access this module.