Below is an AI-generated transcript and therefore it may contain errors.
Francisco Mahfuz 0:05
Welcome to The Storypowers Podcast, the show about the power of stories, the hotel them and why you should be doing it too. I'm your host keynote speaker and storytelling coach Francisco Mahfuz. My guest today is Rosalia Lazzara, she is a content and brand specialist for financial services helping busy IFA and mortgage brokers get noticed by clients and generate leads online. She reached out to me saying she had an important presentation coming up, but couldn't find the right story to open it with. I told them she could hire me to get unsalted or I could do it for free if she became the second guest of the Storypowers lab where I help people solve a business communication problem through story resilience. Joyce was to come on the show, but I have a feeling she will find that the free option will actually cost her a lot more. Ladies and gentlemen, Rosalia Lazzara. Rosalia, Welcome to the show!
Rosalia Lazzara 1:02
Hi, Francisco. How are you? I am alright, I have burned a lot of my mental capacity trying to pronounce your name correctly. And I think I I said it four times. And I might have gotten it wrong twice. So it's maybe not the most auspicious start. I actually thought you said it really well. So thank you. But if it's easier for you and the listeners, you can just call me Rawls. Rawls is fine. I will try for the proper pronunciation. But
Francisco Mahfuz 1:44
Alright, so. So the first thing I wanted to ask you, is it and this is only like half joking. But isn't financial services and mortgage broking so boring, that, you know, your presentation will automatically be a hit. If you're only like, you know, if you don't put people to sleep and make them on a cube themselves? Isn't that like, substantially better than anything they will have ever seen? So hilarious. I Yeah.
Rosalia Lazzara 2:19
So I'm not going up there to talk about money or mortgages or pensions because that's exactly what I bring to the financial services industry is the human side. I want to humanise money, I want to make it normal to talk about finances without the product picture or the criteria, explanation or you know, the scare mongering that the media are putting out there. So I'm all about the personality. So yeah, you're quite right, obviously, I'll be going onstage with like a yellow dress, my big, my big hair, big personality. And that will I understand that that will make an impact in and of itself. The thing is, when you bring something like that into financial services, the challenge that I often face, and I'm trying to avoid is that I'm not, you know, big bushy tails and bright lights, but no substance. So I feel like I have a harder job than the suited and booted financial advisors because I need to almost work harder to prove myself that I have something worth value worth.
That is worth of, you know, valuable value. I can't even speak anymore. You've made my time is tying up because we I think it was all the Spanish practice that we were doing before. But yes, basically, I need to ensure that I'm adding something of value. There we go. I'm adding something of value.
Francisco Mahfuz 3:49
So let me let me put this in perhaps slightly simpler terms. What you are saying is that and I notice that my voice is out and we none of us are at our best today. My voice sounds very, very off my usual my real voice is I think it's a cold coming on. So what you're saying is that there is a chance that you are to dazzling and perhaps good looking compared to the usual person who goes up there to present and that to some degree can go against you. Because you know, you're not like an old fat white man.
Well, listen, I have done. I have done my time in the financial services industry. And I am very aware of what those those presentations look like. But for the people who haven't. The reality is that and again, I don't know if this particular conference you doing is that way but all the conferences I've ever been to. What happens is financial services, you know, they tend to Who's those conferences tend to happen in somewhat flashy locations. So the people putting them together, don't want to spend a tonne of money. So they look for sponsors, the sponsors tend to be on their financial services organisation. So it's a fund manager, it's an insurance house, whatever. So these people pay to play, you know, they, they sponsor the event, and they go and present. And they usually offer presenters, they put up a whole bunch of slides, and they just bore people to death. To the extent that I have a friend who, who worked for years and years as a leader in the banking industry. And he's now started his career as a speaker. And when he approaches conference organisers, he always says, I've spent the last 15 years going to these conferences, I have never enjoyed them. They're the most boring thing I ever do in my year, hire me, and I'll be the one person that people actually enjoy watching. And they go, is that even possible? It's like, Yes, great. That sounds exactly like will be the first conference that has ever done that.
Rosalia Lazzara 6:03
This is I haven't paid to speak. And I haven't asked to speak. They've approached me, they found me on LinkedIn. And they just said, We need a keynote speaker for this particular section in the agenda. And I actually had to message them and say, did you get the wrong person?
Francisco Mahfuz 6:22
I never asked that. I've, I have been meaning to ask this question to my wife for about 20 years. And I think it's a good thing. I did this, because, you know, you ask a question the mind, the brain has to answer, right? You don't want to force anybody to go through that mental process if they absolutely don't. Yeah, but I
Rosalia Lazzara 6:45
had to, because I just thought, well, I know of this conference, I know that this happens, I used to actually attend this conference as not my business when I was an employee, and I was a business development manager, I used to go as the lender that I was working for. So I just always saw it, as you know, the elite people in the industry that the most senior people of the industry will be speaking at this event, why on earth would they be asking me, especially because I'm not technically in the industry. And I'm actually more of a sideline catering for the industry. I'm like a third party, you know, supplier for the industry. So I never thought that without paying, I would even be considered but they approached me and said, No, we like your content, we know what you're saying is a value. But we don't have anyone in this space that we could see doing a better job like you, it's the title of the presentation is how to market your financial services business to generation Zed, who in financial services is going to talk about that, because going back to your point of you know, they're suited and booted. They say they call them PE or males, you know, financial advisor, that is like the, the negative connotation to being in financial services, you know, but most of my clients are male, like the majority of my clients are male, and they're not all pale and stale. Like that is not the image that financial services.
Francisco Mahfuz 8:19
There's also the tanned, sleek looking financial advisor, which is, which is, you know, for some, because our brains don't work the way they should, that sometimes works. But you always have to be slightly suspicious of a financial advisor that looks like they're spending one, a lot of time out in the sun, and to dressed in a very expensive and fashionable way. Because you get those. I'm not sure.
Rosalia Lazzara 8:49
Interesting, you say that because actually, a lot of the finance advisors and financial advisors I work with do have that fear of showing their personal side on social media, because they don't want to be perceived as like someone who's charging too much or taking too much holiday. But equally, I said, Well, what's the alternative? Do you want to be seen as the stress advisor who's ripping their hair out? Doesn't go to the gym and activities looking unhealthy. But which one do you want to be? Because none of the the two are actually attractive? You know, I don't want to work with someone who never takes a break and is actually overweight and unhealthy and equally, okay, I don't want to work with someone who is constantly on holiday that I can never reach. But that's not the image that it's all about how you tell the story, isn't it? So it's the story behind what you post about obviously, if you're constantly on holiday, but you are still working, I don't see any harm in that whatsoever. So it's about the lives of people you connect with as well.
Francisco Mahfuz 9:46
It's what you said. It's completely true and the coming from me this is not biassed at all, but it is the story you tell and how you spin it. I just the other day. I heard I heard the financial advisor who's also speaker it's called Sandra forte, and he was talking about how when he started in the industry he used to he was 21 and look like he was 14. And what he would say because he knew he was the elephant in the room as soon as he went to see this, you know, you people were They were always older than him. And what he said to them was, there's something I can offer you that pretty much no one else in this industry can offer you. Long term financial planning, long term financial support, and we will take a moment and go, Oh, yeah, this guy's not gonna die 20 years before we die. So that, you know, if you find a way to spin things intelligently, then that's all fine. Okay, so there's a point you kind of raised and I'm going to be in this crit now. So hopefully, this is something you can actually answer because I do think it changes the way we approach what we're doing here is this, you said you haven't paid to speak, you haven't gone after them and ask them to speak. So they have asked you to speak. So the my question here is, I don't know if you can answer it. But is, are you being paid to speak or not? No. Okay. So the reason I'm asking that I have obviously no issues that we will be paid to speak because that's a big chunk of what I do. But the reason I'm asking that is because it makes a very big difference. If you are a keynote, or what someone I've gotten to know well over the last year Tamsin Webster calls a free notre so a keynoter, you're being paid, you have a job you you deliver. And I mean, although you obviously want more business to come out of it, you don't have to, you've been paid to do that job. With a free notre, it's different. Because if you don't get some business on the back end, then you know that you've gotten no money out of the you got exposure, but you got no business out of it. So my friend, for example, that I mentioned earlier, he also made a lot of what he does is he's an executive coach on for leaders. So in the beginning, he was proposing to organisers, Lena, let me come and speak, I'll be entertaining well, and this is what we can pay. He was like, No, it's fine. No problem. Because he knew that at the end of his talk, people would come to him and say, Is there any chance I could work with you. And he started getting all his coaching clients through that. The reason that is important is because not necessarily with the first story in your talk. But with the talk in general, overall, if you are a free noter, there are some certain elements of your talk that perhaps, ideally would be there that you don't need. If you've been paid to speak, you can actually have a free note that sounds exactly like a keynote, that sounds exactly like a free note, because you still want to show your professional expertise. And you want to give people an idea of what looking at working with someone like you looks like. But it does change slightly. Because you know, if the client says you cannot do any of these things, that's a lot easier if you're a keynote than if you're a free notary, if they you know, some clients will say you cannot mention any of the services you have. You can then you still do it, but you do it in a much more skillful way. Whereas if the class is no, of course, we expect that you're going to talk about it some ways, then you can still have some room to manoeuvre with self promotion skew, for example, emotion, the tact for self promotion, but you know, it needs to be there to some degree. That's why I asked Yes.
Rosalia Lazzara 13:35
Makes complete sense. I think the the purpose of me being there is to fill a gap in their agenda, they have a very, very important agenda, which is to bring in a younger generation into financial services, but also to bring a younger generation of clients into a financial advisors business. Now, if you are 56, and you want to attract a 25 year old, the way in which you communicate to one another is going to be very different, or you have to change the way you communicate to that person. So my mission for the event is just to basically add value and give education, this is not a product pitch. I actually won't be going through any of my services, but the undertone is there, if I'm the one standing on stage, delivering a speech on how to market your services and how to engage on social media, what type of content to create, then it's a given that that is what I know how to do. And the fact that there is no other person in the room, no other competitor, at least not even been invited on stage, I will be the only one. For me. It's brand awareness. And most importantly, I call it a trust tag. So because I'm in a very serious industry of financial services, why would someone trust me with their work? Why would someone trust me with their content and their marketing and their personal branding? Well, if they've seen that I've been, you know, featured in mortgage introduced their mortgage strategy, and I've been interviewed here, and I've been a keynote speaker, a free note speaker now on there, actually, they'll be like, well, she obviously knows what she's talking about. Let's give her a call. And that's why I don't mind free speaking gigs or free speaking opportunities, because, one, I'm making an impact to that room. And you don't even know how that impact will landline, or what kind of impact you're gonna make. Because I've many times said something or posted something. And then like, a month later, I'll get tagged in something, say, oh, yeah, Roz once said, this, and it really, really helped me. I'm so grateful. You're like, wow, I didn't even realise you'd seen that. So for me, it's that primarily. And second, I actually benefit from it just from being there, just people being aware of who I am basically, that's the purpose. All right.
Francisco Mahfuz 15:55
So the reason you wanted to my help wasn't with the rest of your presentation, there are certain things about it that I think will come up normally in conversation as we're trying to figure out how to open it. But I'll park the I'm not even talking about my services. Because I have a feeling that there is a an amazing way to talk about your services without talking about your services. And I think this is something both presentations should do one way or the other. And sometimes it's just the request the change of like one line or two, that changes completely the frame of what you're sharing. But we'll come back to that. What I wanted to start with is the start, because your approach to me was very particular in what you wanted. I mean, people come to me and say, I want to get better at storytelling, I want to be able to tell my origin story, I want to have this presentation, I need help preparing it. But yours was very, very specific. You said I have this presentation. I know what I'm doing. But I want a story to open it. So if you felt confident with everything else, why did you feel you needed someone else's expertise for that particular thing? Which is the opener?
Rosalia Lazzara 17:10
So okay, good question. So I believe in two things that are related to this topic right now that you've just asked me about. Number one, doctors need doctors. So just because I know how to solve a problem for myself, or for my clients, and I am a qualified in inverted commas doctors doctor does not mean I would never ask another doctor to take a look at my problem. And I certainly won't be able to be in the operating room, under anaesthetic and operate on myself as good as I might be, I wouldn't be able to do that. So the reason I asked for external help, is because this is the biggest gig I would have ever been given in my career to date, where I'm now speaking as me as my company, I'm not a BDM anymore under someone else's brand. It's me, it's my company, it means a lot more. And I want to make a big impact with this opportunity that I've been given. So this is why I need external help. For someone who knows the same or I believe more than what I know about storytelling.
Francisco Mahfuz 18:12
I think there's a there's a distinction that I think it's important to make here. Because not everybody understands the lingo. You said BDSM that is Business Development Manager, not to be confused in any way shape, or form with BDSM. That's a completely different thing is nothing to do with what we're talking about. Okay. And I know, I know, my I know my audience, some of you are, we're thinking that exact thing, some of your thinking, How come your brain went there, but again, you know, 101 or two episodes, you should know by now that that's there isn't this sort of stuff that goes through my mind, unfortunately. So.
Rosalia Lazzara 18:48
But then the specific so the reason. So that's the reason why I came to you. And the reason I needed help with the story is because I can tell many stories, I because the second belief that I had I said I had two. The first is a doctor needs a doctor. The second is facts, tell stories sell. And I'm sure your audience will love that because that's why they follow you. But obviously if you tell a fact, it's a fact. But if you tell a story, because I love TED Talks and I've read you know talk like Ted so it kind of you know teaches you on how to engage with that person's emotions and feelings and mindset and the heart and the mind and the subconscious and the conscious mind, etc. However, because the topic of this discussion is so niche, I don't have a story up my sleeve that is relevant to this story. I've got the elephant in the room, the king and the ring. I've got my story you know where I came from, why I'm why I do what I do. I've got my why, thanks to Simon Sinek and all that kind of stuff but do not have a story about marketing, financial advisors and generation Zed that can all be mixed up all in one good story. Now it doesn't have to have those characters in it. But maybe an anecdote that I can pull similarities with, you know, and say, Look, just like the character in this story, you're the financial advisor looking to market yourself to generation Zed, and the moral of the story is, so that's what I'm struggling with making it relevant. Yeah.
Francisco Mahfuz 20:25
So based on what you said before, we know what your audience's financial advisors is mortgage brokers is people that in the main are probably a little bit older than you and I, although I'm older than you two. And people who I don't think are very converse with social media, these are probably not people who are using social media a lot to attract their clients. For anyone who doesn't know, the financial services industry tends to get business or it used to be just cold calling, want to be one of the main ways to get business and as that bid has become more difficult and more illegal in many countries, it's it's become more about even more about referrals and networking and or in a professional partnerships with accountants and lawyers and that sort of stuff. But there's an probably not people who are, who are using social media turn based on what you said, as well, I don't believe they know you. So as you get up there, they're not like, oh, it's Ross, they're like, Who is this person is more likely the reaction, then they're not right.
Rosalia Lazzara 21:27
You know, whenever I will come to a financial services room. The reaction is always like, I swear, I've seen your LinkedIn, your, your LinkedIn, so they do know me, which is why this is not the place to tell my rags to riches story, or my personal belief story. This is not a motivational speech about me and who I am. It's very much like I am the vehicle to them learning this information. Now, often I would share my personal story. But I've only got 30 minutes. And this presentation is very interactive. We're using questions. And they've got buzzers on their tables where they can answer in real time, a poll that I'm going to be putting up on the wall. And that's just to get them engaged, make sure that they're listening. But in between, I'm going to be given them top tips and hints on how to engage with generation Zed. And at the end of the presentation, I'm going to end with like a tear jerker if you like all those, so you know, I don't think I'm gonna make 56 year old men cry, but it kind of brings home that that message of like social media safety and how we should be so you know, safe, because a lot of them would have children, like, you know, daughters and sons, or they'll also have grandchildren. So it's about social media safety at the end, and also this distorted image that we see on social media that isn't reality. So that's the ending, which I'm happy to share, because we're not going to post this podcast until after the presentation. But the intro, I wanted them to kind of sit on the edge of this or just think differently so that there's the pups that the story is not who is roles and how motivational she is but more about, okay, now I get it. Now I'm thinking about social media, I hate it. I hate social media, but I'm thinking about it.
Francisco Mahfuz 23:16
Sure. Circle, I hate saying this, we will come back to or circle back, we'll come back to the to the to the to the beginning story and what that story is meant to do in general in in your particular case. But the way to start any presentation, the weights, sorry, the weight, start developing any presentation and designing and figure out what needs to be in there and what isn't, is always the end. So there's I have a good friend who has been on the podcast called Conor Neo, and he calls this point x. So at the end of my presentation, I want my audience to and that is super important for us to know from the beginning, because if you know what your objective is, then we can figure out what what would need to be the presentation. But also, what is the best way to open the presentation. That is you know, thematically in line with the rest of the stuff you're doing that the first story doesn't need to have everything. But ideally, it's not completely, you know, it's not a completely different subject than what the presentation is gonna be like or the outcome you want is going to be. So in your case, do you have that clear? So what is the outcome you want?
Rosalia Lazzara 24:25
So well, the outcome, the venue or the organisers want is for the advisors to walk away knowing how they can begin to talk to generations Ed?
Francisco Mahfuz 24:39
Okay, on social media. Yeah, on social media, basically. Yeah.
Rosalia Lazzara 24:42
All right.
Francisco Mahfuz 24:43
So the one thing that I always find a very good point to any story is is this idea of opposites of the change that happens in the story of the arc of a story or a presentation. So if by the end of your prison notation, you want them to feel like people who are motivated or capable of talking to generation Zed on social media, then in the beginning of your presentation, them, or you, or someone needs to be someone who is not capable of talking degeneration Zed, or who doesn't feel like there is a who's not doing that. Now, who doesn't, they need to be the opposite of where you want them to become by the end of the presentation. So the first thing that I have in mind when I'm thinking of what you're trying to do is say, Okay, the first story, there's a few objectives for that first story, the first one is obviously capture their attention, right, you want them 30 seconds in a minute in thinking of first paying attention to you in thinking, this is different, this is not what we usually get in this presentations. You also want them to be relating to whatever you're describing. Now, you can be that character. If that is the case, then it's great, because they're relating to the situation and to you as well. But you don't have to be, but you need to be describing something that is relatable to them. Which is why the rags to riches story that a lot of people think should always be the beginning of a presentation often is not, because it might not have anything to do with with the journey you want them to take. And the best way to make that story relatable, is to talk about the specific problem they are having. So either the problem they're having, because they don't use social media, or the problem they might have had when they tried using social media. So your beginning story might have nothing to do with social media at all. But it still needs to have something to do with a problem. They will relate to a problem to recognise as their own. Now, I think I know what the answer to that would be a rather ask you. If me and this could be one of the options, right? But if we're talking about all this financial services people, what is the problem that they will relate to, that social media might be the solution for?
Rosalia Lazzara 27:22
What is the problem that they might do have?
Francisco Mahfuz 27:26
Or or, or, or can relate to at least they either had it at some point or have it now. And social media could be the solution for the problem, or one of the solutions for the problem?
Rosalia Lazzara 27:38
Okay, so the most common problems that my clients or prospects come and talk to me about is the confidence factor, having the confidence to even post because they know that for example, video, they know the answer, they know that video is the most engaging form of content. So at some point, whether they do it alone, or they hire me, they're going to have to do videos. So the biggest barrier there is putting yourself out there on social media, because you don't know how you don't want to come across silly, you know, you want to be taken seriously as a financial adviser. But actually, that stops you from engaging on a personal level with all your clients. So it's the video confidence. It's the Do I even have time, that's the next biggest barrier. They start with that. But then when you solve the time problem, they're like, oh, yeah, but I'm still scared. Right?
Francisco Mahfuz 28:27
Okay, let me let me take let me just peel that pure layer away from the video or the social media is a way to achieve something is a way to solve a problem because their problem is not, I don't look good on video, or I don't have confidence for video. That's, that's the obstacle they come up against when they're trying to solve another problem. So what is that? What is the more fundamental problem they have, that they're trying to use social media for?
Rosalia Lazzara 28:56
Where's my next lead coming from? Yes.
Francisco Mahfuz 28:58
So that that is the problem. Because for a lot of these people, and this is true in any industry, if your business is thriving in you're not you doing what you're going to talk about, they're not going to care about the presentation, because they're already doing they might just pick up some tips, but they're not it's not a burning issue for them. If their business is thriving, without doing the stuff you're doing, they might just go Why don't care. I've got like 50 lawyers that send me leads, I've got all these referrals coming through. I don't I don't need to get on video on social media. So the problem is, one of the problems is where's my next leads gonna come from? So one way to think about that first story is okay, so this is a problem they should all relate to, and the ones who don't relate to don't care about the presentation anyway, so we don't care about them. What is the story that you know, and this is, this is where it's perfect if it's your story, like do you have a story about you suffering from the exact same thing in this in this industry? Ideally, or in any industry, where you were really struggling to get leads where you had no idea where your next piece of business was going to come from. Because that if you have that story, then this is, in a sense, my be your story. Because all you want to share is, is an episode of view kind of really in trouble or doing something silly, or whatever, when you are suffering with the thing they are suffering from, like you're trying to find leads, maybe you're making all this cold calls, you go into these networking events, in any is just miserable, right? You hate it, or it just doesn't work or you love it, it's great, but it doesn't work at all. All right, so. So that will be one of the potential ways to have the introduction stories, we can all the whole social media thing. And we can just talk about, we knew we're trying to do what they are trying to do, and it wasn't working. Okay, so we let's park that as, you know, idea story idea number one. Okay. The other approach to this is what you talked about, you talked about confidence, right? Like, I don't know if I can do this, it's kind of embarrassing. I don't know if I have time for it. So the other approach to this, and again, I think this works a lot better, if it is a personal story doesn't have to be, but it's better if it is, when have you felt like there was something you felt you needed to do, but you didn't have the confidence for it. You didn't know if you had the time for it, you didn't know if it was going to work. And if that's in financial services, that's fine. If that's with social media, that's fine. If it's with anything else in your life, that you could still talk about openly in a professional environment, then that's fine, too. It doesn't really matter. Because what you'd be trying to get across is the feeling like I feel I have to do this, but I'm not confident. I don't know if I can do it, I don't so so that'll be the other way of approaching this. I think it could be the first time you get on social media and started doing stuff, or it could just be something else. So
Rosalia Lazzara 32:07
I have been placed. So there is a story of you know, where's my next lead coming from a personal story, obviously, my own success story again, didn't I didn't want to make it about me. But I can't then use another client without their permission and expose all of their darkest secrets and fees if they don't want me to. But I know there's a way to do it anonymously. But obviously, my own story to that was, I was kicked out of the financial services industry. In the middle of a pandemic, I was put on the shelf on furlough for six months, when I had just only recently achieved a Rising Star Award and the women's recognition, financial awards. So I went from rising star to dead star, it came down dead, obliterated, like literally no more a star. So
Francisco Mahfuz 32:58
that rising star to falling star
Rosalia Lazzara 33:01
falling star. Exactly that. And that's exactly how I fell. Because, you know, I was considered to be like the next big thing. And then the first thing that my company do. However, I gotta be careful, though, because obviously, my ex company might be there, right? And then people will know where I came from. But I want to put it in a positive light to say, obviously, they were in a situation pigeonholed into making a decision fast during a pandemic that we've never experienced in our lives. So they did the best decision that, you know, they made and took the best decision they could, which was to obviously make a lot of us redundant. Now, I am so grateful to that company, for having made that decision for me, because it's a decision that I've been waiting to take my whole life to become a business owner. And I never, ever, ever have the courage to leave my job and start a business because who leaves a safe job in that matter of fact, if you're safe in anything, why would you do something that would push you out of your comfort zone and make you uncomfortable? Why would anyone do that? So because that decision was made for me, I was now free to do whatever I wanted. However, I have the next problem, which was there's no networking events that I can go to publicly, I have no word of mouth referrals coming in. Because no one knows that I have a business that I've just set up on Companies House but no one knows about. I'm invisible to everybody. People would
Francisco Mahfuz 34:28
just surely Why Why couldn't you go to networking events? I
Rosalia Lazzara 34:31
was locked down. Okay, fine. Yeah. So it was in the middle of a pandemic. So I couldn't go up and shake hands and say, Hey, I'm a business owner. So I have the struggle that most of you financial advisors in the room, I'd be thinking don't have actually you're quite settled in your little niche, you know, networking groups, you're the go to mortgage broker for this. You're the go to financial advisor for that. And people know you you've built you've been building your business for years. I don't have that you You've also got lots of referral schemes and lots of introduces I don't have that. So all I had was a company name and idea. And the internet, right? And that is how I go from, where's my next lead coming from? How am I going to pick myself back up from furlough? How am I going to deal with redundancy and mortgage on my shoulders, you know, bills to pay, and everything, but no one knows me and I have to start a business enough to start generating money. And that is why I'm so passionate about social media, because if done well and understood, right, and, you know, if you keep up with it, and you're consistent, you can actually go from invisible to buzzing, which is what we are in, you know, I wouldn't be on this stage, if two years ago, I've made a decision to quit or run away, or just get a, you know, a part time admin job. So that's one thing I could develop.
Francisco Mahfuz 35:51
So just, I'm gonna send some ideas from that story. First, when you were doing well, and you felt yourself to be a rising star, were you making use of social media back then, you're okay.
Rosalia Lazzara 36:05
So I always talk about that your personal brand needs you before you need it. So I realise that actually, when I did make the brave move to announce to my audience to make connections on LinkedIn, but of which, at the time, I only had, I'd say 500 relevant connections. Today, I have 10,000 of the right audience. But my message was going out to a few people in the industry that I would start my own business. Now, because I'd already made my face and name known on social media, albeit under a different brand and under a different name. By the time I left and was made redundant, the old label that I was carrying didn't matter anymore, because people would remember me for Ross idea. And that is what the Oh, my success do is that I didn't just become an overnight sensation on social media just like that. It's years and years of having connected and exposed myself online, right? My personal story, my wedding, my redundancy, everything, you know, is out there, like an open book. And that's what enabled people to then see me for who I really was
Francisco Mahfuz 37:15
just so I understand. Is it a big part of your of your talk? How, how they need to be building their own personal brands?
Rosalia Lazzara 37:24
Yes, because I'll be using so the slide the first few slides that I've got are is a picture of Molly Mae, Greta Thunberg. And the third picture is of all the singer. Anyway, I sing that they're all generation Zed sidewall in their 20s. And you're all millionaires, if not billionaires, right.
Francisco Mahfuz 37:47
Okay. So let me let me just go back to that story before the details started escaping me, the story is you can work as well, but we just need to be clear on the details. So if your story is that, you know, you everything was going while you were enjoying the job, you were really looking forward to it. I mean, there's some details that can be added to just make it lively. But then, you know, when you thought everything was okay, your boss called you in and you know, again, I understand the concern about the company, but I think people having been laid off at the time doesn't like as long as you're all you're sharing is, you know, we are laying off 2000 people. And unfortunately, you know, we can't keep you we'd love to, but we can keep you that's fine. Like, everybody knows that that stuff happened. And you're not going to be talking about the company, you're not saying anything disparaging about them. So I don't think there's any issue at all. The other part of it is you being locked down like most of us were in like hating on how the traditional forms of business didn't work any more for you. Like they were no referrals coming in, because you had no clients, you couldn't go out to networking events, you didn't feel that you could set up a non professional partnership, whatever, right? Essentially, you have to say, all these things that I would have normally done, I can do, or they don't work anymore, because that is essentially what you're saying to them, you know, all these things you would normally do that you have been doing. They either don't work anymore, or they don't work the way they used to, or they're not going to work with the new generation. Okay, so whatever you're doing now, it won't work forever, you have to do something different. And you experience that exact same thing. Right? The twist here is because you had like one story, which I thought could be the case is then you started using social media and it was really embarrassing, but slowly you get better at it. And now your whole business is based on it. But that wasn't the story. The story sounds like no, yes, but but not after you were laid off. So what it sounds like is you thought that you had nothing because you couldn't use this traditional methods. But actually, because you made a point of spending this time on social media Before in you had been posting about stuff and you had been, in effect, building a personal brand, when you thought you had nothing that we because the usual stuff didn't work, you actually had a brand that people trusted people, you know, felt connected to you. So changing to a different business didn't erase that people needed an adjustment period, you'd start talking about the things you are now talking about. But you didn't start from nothing, because you had the personal brand, in essence, that's the dynamic is, nobody in the room is going to be starting from nothing, they have built stuff over time with their networks with referrals, whenever, but with a new generation, maybe they are starting from nothing. Or maybe the things that they were doing don't work as well anymore. So they need something else. And because they haven't been doing what you were doing before, they don't have anything to fall back on, they have no way to reach these people. So I think that can be the story. And that that opens it up for you to like, you can do a very short version of that. And you don't have to go into detail about how well it worked. That can actually if you wanted could be like you know, chop the story off, pretty much at you know, the moment you realise your personal brand is there. And actually, your business can, you know, can can survive, and you can build on it. And if you wanted to talk more about how, how effectively that has been and sort of this is what it could look like for you. Because this is what it looks like for me with like leads coming in and stuff like that, you can have that at a later part of the talk. Because it's not important at the beginning, the beginning, you just want to say I'm one of you, I've been where you are. Now I know how much that hurts. But actually, because I kind of had done this thing without thinking that much about it, I've managed to get myself out of a hole. That is probably what you are the hole you're in now, or that you're going to be soon, I could
Rosalia Lazzara 41:58
actually say, you know, you're not in a position in the exact same way that I was because you already have like, I believe in multiple income streams or multiple channels, I don't think it's just social media that's going to change your life. But because you've already taken care of your network and your referrals, your introducers your repeat business, you already like a house. So the other the other way I wanted to explain a story was like a house. So when you build a stroke, because the house mortgages, money, you know, all links, so another idea I had was, so here's a house, and here it is on one, it's got one pillar or one solid pillar that is holding it up over time, that house will eventually fall or break away because one pillar isn't strong enough. But what happens if we build this house now with two pillars, still not going to be the best balance is still not enough? Because as we all know, the tripod effect is always the strongest. And even better for a house, we always have like four or six pillars that are in multiple, at least four. So it's going through the process of a house saying here's one pillar, here's two. But what if we could build this house on four pillars? So in your business right now, how many pillars? Okay, if we look at your pillars, like your lead generation streams, where are you currently getting leads from? So if you've got the networking sorted, that's one pillar ticked, if you've got the referrals, that's another one ticked, if you've got the repeat clients, that's another one ticked, but what about making and adding that fourth pillar to your home, making it even more stable, and extra secure, so that if one pillar dries up or gets a little bit, you know, faulty, we can be fixing that up, whilst the other pillars are still keeping up your songs at home?
Francisco Mahfuz 43:59
Yeah, and then from the point of view of a presentation, that is an interesting way to explain what you're trying to give them from the point of view of a story. I mean, it's not a story. And I don't think it does a lot of the things you wanted to do right at the beginning. And last, and this is where to a lot of people this is very counterintuitive, but like, if you genuinely had the story of you trying to build something, and being very poor at it, then then the metaphor works a lot better, because you could like, you could generally be saying like, I know, I was I was, you know, 12 and I was trying to build a tree house, whatever. And then I completely messed up because I had no understanding of what the foundation was or whatever. And then you say, in my years in the financial services industry, I have found that a lot of advisors do exactly that. When it comes to where their business comes from. In fact, I actually went through the same myself and then you could just talk about a little bit of your experience, but I think like a real life example That leads you into that analogy is way more interesting than just describing the analogy. Because if you started with like, imagine a house in house one pillar, it's kind of really boring.
Rosalia Lazzara 45:14
I mean, I can pretend to be one this weekend and do a botched job of it. But
Francisco Mahfuz 45:18
no, you don't, you don't need to, you don't need to because you have you have the personal experience in the industry. So, so that the only the only problem of not problem but the area to develop in that sort of personal story is you can't be just a whole bunch of telling and not any showing. So you know, what are the bits that you're going to show, I mean, you can have a little bit of a conversation with your boss when you get laid off. So that just brings it to life a little bit. But the other part would have to be, maybe you kind of going through, like, I'm going to try this crap, I can't do this, because we're locked down like this. Like, I can't go to a networking event. And then you started trying to figure out like you going through your options, and maybe just talking to yourself. And maybe if it's true, it's better, of course, but maybe you didn't necessarily come to the realisation that you could just keep using social media the way you were using maybe if you were talking to someone and they said, What about that LinkedIn stuff you've been doing? Can you do something with that? And you go, Oh, actually, probably can just just some type of dialogue where it's either with yourself or with a colleague or whatever, just to make it a little more like, like a story.
Rosalia Lazzara 46:36
Yeah, I mean, I was obviously very mentally disturbed by the whole process of being in lockdown and on, you know, on at risk of redundancy, because my whole family was working, my husband was working for, you know, boyfriend at the time. And it was hard to be in a household where he was on the phone all day talking to his colleagues and his mates and obviously getting paid. And I was there on Duolingo, trying to learn a new language, trying to keep myself my mind occupied and busy, because I really didn't know what was next for me. But so, so many times when I thought, oh, yeah, I'll start a new business. I would go out for a walk. And I would come back and I felt like I I felt like I had split personalities. Because I'd come back and the new Rosalia would say, you know, we'd literally be having a garden, my husband saying, Are you crazy? Why are you letting me start my own business? How could you let me do this? And he was like, but you went out really excited about your new business? What's happened? What did you encounter on your walk? I'm like, obviously, self doubt. I was like, How can you let me start my own business? I've got no money. I've got no clients, Who's going to care about what I do? What if I put myself out there in an audience of people to an audience of people that are, you know, polished serious business owners, and all of a sudden I come out with let me do your social media? Like how silly I'm not going to look, I do
Francisco Mahfuz 47:57
think you have a slightly seem to have a slightly inflated opinion of what financial advisors are actually, like, not having met hundreds of them thought if not 1000s. Over the years. I I don't tend to think of them as like, high achieving poorly high achieving sometimes, yes, polished, sleek individuals.
Rosalia Lazzara 48:18
No, really, we all have our own flaws. And they have a lot of insecurities for sure. But the way the industry you know, like it's there's so much red tape, what I mean is like, there's so much red tape, you know, the compliance, also having to announce to my ex colleagues and all the, the my ex boss and everyone who also left but you know, they were going to go on and go and get another job and paid, you know, a nice healthy salary. And I was just gonna be like, so I'm going to do social media. And I just felt like I had a very, you know, impostor syndrome, I had a self doubt of what I could achieve and what was possible to achieve. And I knew I could use social media. It was the, the answer was there in front of me the whole time. I just wasn't using it with a strategy. But the thing is about this story, while certain pain points are the same as my audience, what's slightly different is that the only pain point that I didn't experience that they are experiencing is Yeah, but how do you use it? And I don't have the confidence because I have the confidence and I know how to use it.
Francisco Mahfuz 49:28
I have I have the solution. Okay, so the first thing is, and I'm thinking of this as some of your story is the opener, but not all of it. So the pain point they will most immediately relate to is this. First of all, I'm trying to figure out where my next bit of business comes from, and I don't know. So that that is the most the most relatable part of any salesperson and financial advisors, let's be honest, are salespeople. So that is relatable. How does that make you feel is also super relatable. It's just like Like, you know, I was really good, but am I good? Am I still good? Am I gonna carry on being good? Like, how is like all my friends are doing well, my co workers, my partners or whatever, like, how am I going to look at them and go out with them and feel free to just like, go for a drink whatever this feeling of like, I'm not good enough and I cannot enjoy my life because I'm embarrassed or because I just don't think I'm worth it or whatever. So, so that feeling which I don't think you have to go at all into the whole, you know, I'm gonna start a business and all of that stuff might or might not be relatable to them. What is relatable to them is you don't know where the next leads comes from. And that makes you doubt yourself a lot. And that Nobody enjoys that feeling. So that's essentially that's the emotional pain for that opening story. And you can keep it fairly light, right? You can keep it like you're talking about like, I can do this, and I can do that. And then my partner says, oh, let's go meet everybody at the pub. And you're like, I haven't made any money in a week, like how can I go to the pub, right? Because you don't need to, you know, go into your deep, vulnerable vulnerability. But I think a lot of this stuff can be super relatable, where you because you said I isn't relatable to them that I already know how to do social media, but you understand imposter syndrome, and you just talked about it. You said, Who am I to go to these people and say I'm going to do your social media. So you know, you understand the fear imposter syndrome and feeling like who am I to be saying this things? Who am I to be showing myself as this type of person on social media in a number way? That is what they feel they feel impostor syndrome? So just because your imposter syndrome was about who you can get as a client, then there's this about who who am I to be on social media talking about financial advice or whatever? It's still a feeling of not being good enough?
Rosalia Lazzara 51:57
Absolutely. Just written down the three key points, you know, pain one, where is my lead coming from? So I have that pain they have that pain every day pain to? Am I still good? How can I carry on feeling good? You know, I'm going to embarrass myself. And I've built a business based on trusted partnerships and relationships, and referrals. How can I now add this social media, lead generation strategy to my business and still look as good as I do in my current business? And then number three is, is this actually going to work? Is this just going to be a waste of time? Am I even good enough to be on there? You know, what, how am I going to feel with my competitors? Because that's another point as well, I think paying for is definitely about competitors. Because now more than ever before, people are noticing who the stars are on social media within financial services. They're like, Oh, that guy always does it. And that and he does that. And they then have that, first of all, they that gives them the positive is, oh, but others are doing it. So it must be doable. But then the negative is all but they're better than me. And what if I'm not as good as them? And what if they just so there is competition fear element, which I also have to because I have competitors? Who, even within the financial services space are doing what I do. And sometimes they release a video out on course, that's good mine, wasn't it? You know. So we do feel that. So that could have legs. I mean, that was a story that I thought I wasn't going to use. And I specifically said I wasn't going to use it. But I guess I can now see why it's relevant.
Francisco Mahfuz 53:37
Yeah, I think so the way the way I see it, and again, a lot of this stuff is fiction in my head, right? You need to you need to correct for what is true and what works for you. But the way I see that story, and again, I'm just gonna try a version of it. Right. And some of it might work. Some of it might not. But it was something like so it was when you were laid off, that was 2020, I guess. Okay, so something like so it's 2020. And I'm working in the financial services company, and everything is going great. I've won some awards. I'm considered like the rising star of the office. So when my boss rings me up and says, Ross, can you just come into my room for a moment? I'm like, Okay, what, what project is you're gonna give me now, you know, what's what great, exciting thing. It's coming up. And then, you know, as soon as I go in, I realised something's not quite right. Because he looks kind of seriously. He's usually a really funny guy. So I kind of sit there he says, Listen, I'm not sure if you've how much you're keeping an eye on the news. But with with all this pandemic stuff going on. We're really concerned about what's going to happen with the company. And unfortunately, the leadership has decided we're going to have to lay off a lot of people off and we're going to do that on the basis of seniority. And unfortunately, you were one of the people we're not going to be able to keep And then sort of my whole world collapsed, I've just gone from like rising star to heli comic that nobody even remembers anymore in a moment in my mind. And and you know, after I went through a couple of weeks of absolute panic, I started to figuring out, okay, now there's some skills I've got if I can get my own business started, but as soon as I started thinking about that, I was like, what? How am I going to get clients? Because I always did a lot of my networking, but there's no network events were in lockdown. Right? So you know, we're gonna go network on Zoom, that's ridiculous. You know? And then I thought, Okay, well, I can reach out to my existing clients. Only problem is, I have no existing clients, because I don't even have a business name yet. And abroad. So that's not, that's not an option either. And then I just, I don't know where I'm going, I just don't have any idea where my next paycheck is going to come from. And I remember one day when my partner just just put pops his head out into the offices, as far as we're meeting the guys from the office of the pub, do you wanna? Do you want to come with us? And I think to myself, like, no, no, the last thing I want us to go spend money with a whole bunch of people who have jobs, who feel successful, no, I don't want that at all. In a way that was like, just like getting into this, like depressive state, I, I'm having a coffee with a friend of mine, you know, a virtual coffee. And she says, I've seen you haven't posted for a while, you've used to do that a lot, like you're not going to get back on on LinkedIn or something. And that's when you hit me, like, I have been putting a lot of time there. I think a lot of people know me, for me and not for the company I work for. And I thought maybe this is where my business is going to come from any worse. And I was right. And what I want to talk to you about today is and then just give a little bit of a summary of like, what the talk is going to cover. So So you know, like, if you want to bring the impostor syndrome bit, you can bring it later, when you you can either talk about yourself, or you can talk about clients, or both. Like you can say, Listen, this is what I hear from every client. And you could use specific examples without naming people or making them identifiable. But you can say, you know, and I felt that way, not so much about social media, because I had been doing it for a while. But like, who am I to go and tell people I'm going to do their social media? And the reality is, I knew a lot more than they did. And that's what was important. I do. Are you the greatest expert in the world in mortgages? Probably not. Do you know enough to help the people you're trying to help? Yes, then that's it. You only need to be as good as that. So again, you can bring that in later. But it I don't think it needs to be part of the beginning. Because the beginning you're just trying to make yourself relatable, with one big problem that they have. That could well work. That will be my suggestion based on the information I currently have.
Rosalia Lazzara 58:02
No, that's wonderful. Yeah, no, it is it is the story is a story. It's a story I already have and have used but I didn't think if that was going to be relevant for Gen Zed, or, you know, because another idea I had about because ultimately, it's about understanding. So the pain point is I'd love to market to Gen Zed, but I don't understand them, or they don't understand me or I don't understand how to communicate with them. The language is different, you know, the way I present yourself is different. So
Francisco Mahfuz 58:31
okay, so So on that on that note, so the I don't speak their language message. Again, you can do that too. And then you would need I don't know, what's your experience with foreign languages, but then it would be either a story about you learning whatever foreign language you've learned and how
Rosalia Lazzara 58:51
to tell you that one,
Francisco Mahfuz 58:52
I started out Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, I thought you had closed chapter and you already moved into different ideas,
Rosalia Lazzara 58:57
is the idea. So what I Okay, so this is a this is a wildcard which I didn't want to raise at the beginning, which is why I'm raising it now. Because only I can tell this story and it can't ever be replicated unless I meet another international speaking gentleman like yourself, but you will probably relate to this and understand. So I was going to be really brave and open up my speech by speaking Italian, but like a really quick sentence like Giles on our content. PCI DSS require like something really like Hi, I'm really happy to be here, blah, blah. And then just to make everyone go like, what, like, what is she doing? And then for me to do a sudden stop, like serious face and then be like, did you just understand anything I said, and then they'd say, No, I didn't understand what you said. And I said, Well, that's exactly how I felt when I came to the UK and was thrown in, in a school at year three stage and was suddenly having to listen and converse with them. Lots of people that were not speaking my language, you know, children were my age, were just saying stuff in my face. And I didn't understand anything they were talking about. But the worst part was, not only did I not understand what they were saying, I had lack of self expression, I couldn't express myself. Therefore, for probably best part of six months, whilst I was trying to get my ears adjusted to English, I didn't have a personality I didn't have when I was at school, I was just a foreign kid at school that just didn't understand anything that needed the extra help, that needed a teacher to sit next to them just in case I needed help. And I didn't understand how to ask for help. And at home, I was this really bubbly Italian Sicilian speaking girl who, you know, was doing half the ironing the cookie and helping grandma mom, and I had this huge energy of personality, but just could not share it with anybody. Now this might be how you're feeling.
Francisco Mahfuz 1:00:58
Okay, so on that on that one? Do you have any, anything kind of awkward or embarrassing or sad? That are funny, that happened? Because you couldn't kind of speak properly or because that's like, because then like that could work when I still have to think about the connections. But as a story, the real story is not you sharing it in very long in a long winded form the real story, is you sharing that embarrassing thing? Or that funny thing? Right? Yeah, it
Rosalia Lazzara 1:01:33
wasn't, there was a time. So then what I was going to lead into and say, so that the fact that I couldn't speak meant that when we were in the classroom, there was an exercise, I remember that, you know, the teacher who shall not be named, and was giving out pieces of paper. And obviously, I have no idea what she just said, like, I have no idea what the game is, or no idea what the exercise is, all I can see is that these white pieces of paper have got a an animal print at the top. So there's like a section with dolphins then there's one paper with paint winds, another one with like, you know, elephants anyway, there was lots of animals. And I could only judge by the actions that she was doing of what she was trying to say. So what she would do is she would hold the piece of paper up and say, bla bla, bla bla, something, because obviously I didn't understand what she was saying. And then I would notice, and I'd be looking around, and I'd noticed that people were putting their hand up when the animal that they saw that they wanted. So, you know, the girl next to me puts her hand up when she sees the penguin paper go up. And I was like, oh, okay, all right. I think I got this. So when the dolphin paper went up, I think I wanted the dolphin anyway, I think the dolphin sticks in my mind when the dolphin paper went up. I was like Eloy, you're obviously I couldn't say me or any other English words. So I was putting my hand up. And I didn't get it. I didn't get what I wanted. I ended up getting whatever piece of paper was left at the end, which was like a monkey or a skunk or something that I didn't want. And so I relate that to, if I can't speak if I can't express myself, if I can't articulate I don't win.
Francisco Mahfuz 1:03:20
Okay, so let's say it was a skunk because it's funnier. What did you have to do anything with the animal after?
Rosalia Lazzara 1:03:29
Obviously, I've deleted that event out of my head because I wasn't happy with the outcome. And that's what I wrote. Okay.
Francisco Mahfuz 1:03:37
Okay, so, so, still still not having made the connections to see if it works. But as a story, what would need to happen for that to be potentially a very good story is something needs to, like we need an after, right? So the context is, I always I often say that the story is before, but so and after, right? Before it's a little bit of context, you were this kid who didn't speak the language, and then there's this game going on. And then you put your hand up, and you get the you know, the you try to communicate to get the skunk. But something needs to happen after that, you know, makes it you know, and I get no invent stuff. But like if you could remember and it was the kids college was current, or you had to do something with a scanner that was really annoying, like a project that everybody's researching dolphins and you research and scans, whatever but we need to be something that I think is because just you know, if I don't communicate well, I don't get what I want on that basis, I don't think is as strong as if something actually happened. And again, I was just thinking of like, a lot
Rosalia Lazzara 1:04:41
of stuff that happened if you don't speak that I didn't want to make the story too long, but obviously not speaking the language properly and being the foreign child in the room that not only looks very different to the average English girl that is in chin right in the town of Hartford cheer. And so I look different at to different I didn't speak. So obviously, there's a lot of different types of bullying. Not that you could, I didn't understand it, but I could see obviously, actions speak louder than words. But what the after, I guess the the hero of the story, the little girl in me what ended up happening was because of that pain that I'd felt of no one gets me no one understands me, I don't get what I want, because I can't ask for it. What I ever ended up going to do is learn four languages, right? So okay, so this is a far fetched one, which is why I said it was a wildcard. But the reason I wanted to use potentially this story is because the pain in the room is I'm a 50, something male in financial services. And I talk about pensions and mortgages all day long. So you might as well be talking a foreign language to me, because I'm generation said, and I don't understand you, therefore, you're just talking about me, I don't get what you're saying. So we're never going to be friends. So I didn't have friends because I couldn't explain. Because people didn't know my personality. I didn't have any friends other than the one girl that bless her was told to hang around with me. She was told you're half Italian, you'll do just sit next rose, and she'll make it through the school year. What did you know that 28 years later, she's my bestest friend ever, we remain friends. So there's synergies there between lack of understanding lack of you know, you're talking mortgages and pensions to a generation Zed audience, you need to change the way you speak. Or you need to learn the skills of how to speak to that generation if you want to connect with them. Because otherwise, you'll be like me,
Francisco Mahfuz 1:06:39
the language, the language connection is not so much wild card, I think that connection, that analogy works, they have two issues is here. One, like we don't necessarily know what the story is to make it work. Because all I was looking for wasn't necessarily the fact that you now have learned for language changes was I just wanted something slightly more annoying, or more painful or funnier is the second part is great. But like if there was anything that came from there, like a nickname or something, then it's like, it's funny, but at the same time, it's sad. And then it just That's it, the story kind of ends there. And you make the analogy and you're done. But the only the only other issue is, I think it's just a question of the theme of the presentation, right? Because one thing is you want to talk to them in like you don't speak the same language as them, which is a very particular sort of metaphor for what they're doing. And that might or might not be 100% true for your audience. But knowing what I know about the financial services industry, working as an advisor, I had clients that were a lot older than me, and a lot younger than me, personally, I wouldn't relate to that metaphor. As much as I would to those the ways I've always gotten business, and those ways don't work as much anymore. And that's why I need something else. I think it absolutely would work as as like a light hearted opener, that doesn't connect perfectly with the themes of the rest of the presentation, I think you can do that. It needs a little bit of polishing on what the actual story is gonna be. But like, and again, I don't want you to create fiction, right? resists shame that there isn't like, if you had been nicknamed the skunk, there would have been a per a horrible thing, but a perfect story as as an opener of what happens when you don't speak people's language. Right? And you know, and then you could use that as a metaphor of like, you don't want to be the skunk. But I think it might, it might not work if we don't find the story that has a little bit more pain, even if it's kind of funny pain in it. Okay, so this is how I think this could go right? You can try to develop the story that we talked about that first option, you can try and think of something else that not speaking the language caused us a problem. And if it's light hearted, I think that would be better. And if you do that, you know, send me a voice message with what you think it is. And then if we think we can work on that we can do it. And the one thing I would want you to think about as well is because you said that at the end you have you have a tear jerker type of story. And I do think that emotional stories have a place into presentations, the end of it is a good place. I tend to tell when when I when I close a lot of my presentations, but the one thing I want you to be 100% on is that that story is in a sense the counterpoint to your first story. So the perfect world is that the first story brings up this problem. The last story or the way you close the presentation is sort of this is the after part, right? So it was a before and after. If your emotional story is about something great that happened because you've now changed this or a client change that then it works perfectly like that I mentioned Sandra 40 earlier on. And he opened a presentation that I've seen of him talking about how he was a terrible salesperson. He wasn't doing all the things he needed to do. And he had his stepfather who was very important for him. And he spent two years pushing back on having a conversation with his stepfather about life insurance. He eventually had the conversation, and that was his first ever client. later in the talk, he finishes the talk by saying that five months after he sold his stepfather and a life insurance policy, he came down with terminal cancer. And within a few weeks, he was gone. And because he had sold him, that policy, his family was fine in and actually, in the beginning of the story, he says on how his father was a very successful business person who died without financial matters being taken care of, and his family was left in a really difficult situation. So it is a tear jerker in it, it is a very emotional story. But it works perfectly with the theme of what he was trying to do. It wasn't a separate story. It was enough, we didn't know the first story had a continuation, but it turned out that it did. And it was a powerful point to make. So I would just think about, however you want to close, if it fits thematically with the bigger problem of the presentation and how you want to open, because if you do that, then it's just more powerful, because it gives us the gives people that feeling of closure. Okay, fine. We'll come back to the beginning, somehow. And now we are an hour done,
Rosalia Lazzara 1:11:28
the closer without going into too much, because I don't want to keep you but because the theme of the presentation is, who is generation Zed? And what are they bringing to, you know, what can they bring to financial services? How do they think what do they like? How do they want to be spoken to. So at the end, I'm going to be showing an advert by dove, which is features a little girl in dance, right? But it's all about how, you know the fakeness of social media. And she is kind of like a reverse camera where instead of putting makeup on, she's taking the makeup off and going from filtered look, right, so the filter all the way back to her her natural looking state. And the reason that was so powerful for me, because it's the way it's edited is very emotional. But it's because it speaks it links back to authenticity about being real. Just because I'm a social media manager does not mean I promote fake it till you make it. Try and be a an influencer on social media and lie about your life just to get famous, you know, that's not what I'm an advocate for. So yeah, there's lots of links to it. But yes, no, honestly, this has been really, really helpful. I feel like I could keep on talking. But obviously, we have to, we have to come to a stop. Right. And you've been phenomenal. Thank you so much for helping me with this today.
Francisco Mahfuz 1:12:49
You're welcome. And this this has been tremendous fun. I am I'm sure the presentation will be great. But I'm quite curious now to find out what it what it looks once you've done all the work. And by the way, just, you know, the very few seconds we have left. If people want to find you what's the you know, it's LinkedIn is the best place. Are you going to send them anywhere else?
Rosalia Lazzara 1:13:09
Yeah. So on LinkedIn would be the best right now? Because I'm known on there as possibly Ella Zara. So if you search that name, you'll be able to find everywhere else that I'm visible website, Instagram, etc. So yeah, maybe that's a good starting point, actually. Thank you.
Francisco Mahfuz 1:13:26
Okay, I'll make sure it's on the show notes. Because you know, if I can say your name, my audience can spell.
Rosalia Lazzara 1:13:32
That would be helpful. Yes.
Francisco Mahfuz 1:13:35
All right, everyone. Thanks for tuning in. Take care of yourselves. And until next time.
I hope you enjoy the show. And if you did, I'd love for you to subscribe and leave us a review or rating on the Apple podcasts app. It's very easy. You open the app and find this show. Then scroll down to zero. And when you see the stars tap, I'd really appreciate it and it does help other people find us. And if you'd like to get in touch or find out more about what I do, reach out to me on LinkedIn or visit my website storypowers.com
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