How To Build Trust and Connection Through Storytelling with Jude Charles : Part 1 | 076

What are the three types of stories every business

should be sharing to build a strong connection with their audience?

I'm joined by Jude Charles, a master at telling compelling

stories through documentaries, but he's not just a filmmaker, he's an

author and a mentor with a mission.

So what's the secret behind Jude's approach to storytelling

that helps businesses to grow?

Find out in this episode of Architecture Business Club, the weekly podcast for

small firm founders who want to build their dream business in architecture

and enjoy more freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment in what they do.

I'm John Clayton, your host.

I know that building an architecture business can feel hard, especially

if you're a sole practitioner.

The good news is that you don't have to do it alone.

In 2024, we launched our membership community to a small group of

founding members, including architects, architectural

technologists, and interior designers.

I. We meet online each week and occasionally in person to support

each other in building our businesses and to have some fun along the way.

In 2025, we open the doors to a limited number of new members.

If you'd like to join this supportive group of like-minded

professionals, now's your chance.

Just go to architecture business club.com/waitlist, or click the

link in the show notes and enter your details so we can let you know.

How you can join this incredible group, and if you have any

questions, just email John.

That's JO n@architecturebusinessclub.com.

Now let's discuss storytelling.

For over 18 years, Jude Charles has been producing documentaries for entrepreneurs.

He has produced stories for Google, Steve Harvey, and dozens of visionary CEOs.

Jude is an author of Dramatic Demonstration.

This book is a roadmap that teaches you how to dig deep to find compelling stories

that no one else knows, and then leverage those stories to grow your business.

Jude's mission is to lead and empower entrepreneurs to have

relentless, unwavering courage to get 10 storytelling prompts.

To help you get started, head over to Jude charles.co/john to grab

a free copy of Storytelling for Design Creatives, and I'll include

a link in the show notes for that.

Jude, welcome to Architecture Business Club.

John, it is a pleasure to be here, to, um, to

have this conversation with you.

I'm really looking forward to this.

I think this is gonna be fun.

Jude, I know that in your free time you, you enjoy some

adrenaline fueled activities.

Could you tell me a little bit about the sorts of things that

you enjoy outside of work?

so I enjoy going skydiving, um, zip lining.

I mountain bike as well.

I just enjoy things that get my heart pumping.

I love to push the limits and push myself outside of my comfort zone.

And so, um, when I'm not working, oftentimes I'll try to do that.

Now, ironically, I'll also, something I'm picking up on

recently is, uh, playing golf.

I haven't always played golf, but learning a little bit about playing it now.

And so there's a little bit of both adrenaline field activities

and peaceful activities as well.

Yeah,

Oh, that's a nice contrast.

Uh, as you say, golf isn't, uh, quite as adrenaline fueled as some of those

other activities that you've mentioned.

Um, but it all sounds like a lot of fun.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I try to, you know, I, I have been doing this business, running

this business for almost 19 years now, and I, I just wanna have fun.

I wanna continue to have fun despite, you know, working long hours and, um,

working on really challenging projects.

Sometimes it's, it's still important to live life and to have fun, and

so I, I get to enjoy doing that.

Yeah, I mean, um, if it's not fun, what's the point really?

I mean, we only get one life, don't we?

So we may as well, uh, make the most of it and try and en enjoy

ourselves as much as possible.

We are gonna talk about how you can use storytelling in particular

to attract ideal clients.

So I think a good place to start would be with why is storytelling so

important, particularly in business.

Why is it so important?

You know, in business there are many other people who do what you do.

Like, for example, I'm a filmmaker, right?

And so there's many other people who are holding a video camera and, um,

helping clients tell their story.

But there's only one you, and there are many things that make you different.

But how do you communicate that?

How do you share that with people beyond just saying,

Hey, we're great at what we do.

Stories allow people to get an opportunity to meet you and to learn

more about you before they ever meet you.

Um, a story specifically is about a very specific moment in time.

So for example, I can tell you, John, that the very first time I got started

was because I was sitting in a TV production classroom at 17 years old.

And a teacher, Mrs. Donnelley, who taught me everything she knew

about video production, said to me one day, Jude, you're really,

really talented at video production.

You should start a business.

Now, John, I'm the youngest of 10 children.

Um, my father was a construction worker.

My mom worked at a chair factory.

I had no entrepreneurs in my family.

And when she said that, I had no idea what it meant to start

a business, run a business.

So I didn't answer her right away.

But Mrs. Donnelly then came into the classroom the following day and

she handed me a yellow envelope.

And I was like, what is this?

And when I looked inside John, inside of this yellow envelope was

my very first set of business cards.

Now John, I could have just easily told you, Hey, I got started at 17 and

really knew I loved video production.

And so I just got started.

Instead, I brought you into a very specific moment in time that my teacher,

Mrs. Donnelly, handed me the, these, this yellow envelope, and inside

was my very first set of business cards that allows you to learn more

about who I am, not just what I do, but who I am and the the moments and

experiences I've had in life that have led me to sitting here with you today.

I, I love that.

And that what a great example that you've just given us because as you were

sharing that story, I was visualizing it,

Mm.

like, stories are so much more memorable.

And we've been using stories for thousands of years, haven't we?

So much more impactful than just saying, yeah, I started this at 17 and you know,

A story allows you to, I love what you said about that.

You visualized it immediately because that's what a story does.

It takes you into that moment in time where it's not just words, but it's

like you can see the yellow envelope, you can see the young 17-year-old

who's trying to figure out what does it mean to start a business.

Right.

Um, and so like that's, again, that's why storytelling, and you mentioned

we've been doing it for years.

We're all storytellers.

What we're talking about today is to be more intentional with those stories

and how you use them in their bus, in your business so that people will

get to learn more about who you are.

And it's not just the thing that you do, but like where you come from

and the experiences that you've had.

And those experiences help the other person determine that you're

the right person to work with.

And so, yeah, I love, I love that.

Immediately for you it was just like, wait, I can see this.

Like I see this moment actually happening.

That's what we want to happen in business.

That's so cool.

What kind of stories do you think we should be sharing?

Yeah, every business has these three stories.

So the first story is the origin story, which is a story

like I just shared, right?

The second one is a SA success story.

So how did you work with a client or customer, and what success did they have?

Success isn't always just more money.

Sometimes that's success is a benefit that you brought to them that they

weren't even expecting to get.

And then the, the third one is a vision story.

Where is your business going?

Like, why does it exist?

Um, why should other people care about the work that you're doing?

Part of the reason that I'm doing what I'm doing with helping

entrepreneurs tell their story, creating specifically documentaries

for entrepreneurs, it's because I truly believe in entrepreneurship, but I

more than that, I believe in courage.

In 2014, I went to a leadership conference.

I've always known that leadership was important to me.

I was 25 years old at the time, and this was in Spokane, Washington.

Now John, this is in the States, so I live in Florida, but Spokane, Washington is

the furthest northwest point of America.

Florida is the furthest southeast point of America.

So John, I had this crazy idea that I would take a Greyhound

bus from northwest to southeast.

I was like, it'll never happen again.

I'm 25 years old.

Well, Jonna was the dumbest idea I've had.

Um, it was a three day trip and there were, it was just very weird, very long.

I had my phone off this entire time, coming back from this trip because

if you've ever been to a conference, you know, you have a lot of notes.

You're di you've digested a lot of information, and when I turn back on

my phone, I get to Chicago, Illinois, which is about halfway through the trip.

Second day it turned back on my phone and I get this text message from my sister.

It says, call me back.

It's urgent.

And John, I began to brace myself because at this point in 2014, this is July, 2014,

my father at the beginning of the year had been diagnosed with, uh, prostate cancer.

My mom had been diagnosed with depression and had attempted suicide.

So when I get this text message from my sister, I know it's either mom or dad.

I called my sister.

They say they found my dad unresponsive in the home, and so I know what that means.

They won't tell me that he's passed away, but I know that's what it means.

So I take the first flight back home.

My brother comes to pick me up.

He comes with his daughter, my niece, Ayana.

She's nine years old.

I hug my brother.

I don't say a word.

I hug my niece and I don't say a word, but I sit in the

backseat with my niece, Ayana.

I'm the youngest of 10.

I've already told you that.

I'm 25 years old and I feel lost because I never imagined I'd lose my dad that early.

And Ayana, who's only nine years old, as I'm looking out

the window, she looks at me.

She says, uncle.

Why did Grandpa have to die?

And I'm like, I'm looking at her 'cause I don't know how to respond to her.

And she says it again.

Why did Grandpa have to die?

Well, John tho that question rang in my ear as we get to my father's house.

We were making funeral arrangements and I got the answer to that

question on August 9th, 2014 when we went to lay my father to rest.

I Jew Charles, the youngest of 10 children, am asked by my family

to give my father's eulogy.

And I realized in that moment that leadership wasn't just important.

It was to lead and empower entrepreneurs to have relentless

courage in the same way that I needed to have courage in that moment.

To lead my family through this process is the same courage that I

bring to my work every single day.

And so that vision of like, why do you exist?

Is an important one.

It's sometimes a hard one to come up with, but it's an important one for

other people to understand that, again, what I'm doing is creating stories.

I'm film, I'm doing filmmaking, but there's a bigger vision to that.

There's a bigger idea behind it that I want people to understand

and people won't just understand it because you say the words.

I want you to have courage.

I walked you through a story, a moment in time, difficult moment in time for me

that I almost, that I did lose my father.

But it's important for you to understand why this is important to me.

Not just why this business exists and why we're doing what we're doing,

but why is this important to me?

What is the experience I went through that helped solidify it for me and

continues to, 'cause I have other moments of courage that have happened.

Those are the three stories that every business has because businesses are led

by people and we all have those moments of like when the business got started.

The people that we help, the the clients, the success stories.

Then finally the vision.

Where is this business going in the future?

That, that was a really powerful story that

you just shared there, Jude.

And a, again, a really good demonstration of how to use storytelling because,

you could position your business in such a way that's just like, Hey,

we are documentary makers, we're videographers, we're great at what we do.

You know, the usual kind of blurb that we see on a lot of, uh, service

providers websites, but I. To hear that story and to understand that vision,

those drivers, those beliefs, like why this all exists and what drives you.

That is just so much more compelling and it really allows people to connect

with you on, uh, a really personal level from somebody that they perhaps have

never met, or they don't really know, but then they might have experienced

similar things in their own life.

It might relate to their own story.

And immediately there's that connection there.

It just makes you more relatable and really supercharges that no, like, and

trust that we need to try and build up with prospective clients if we're trying

to eventually get some new customers.

And isn't that the

whole

point?

Isn't that the whole point is to build trust?

We want, in business, our greatest desire is obviously to get clients

and continue to grow the business.

But how does that happen?

That happens through trust.

That happens through connection.

And that connection is built through the stories that we tell.

It's the same way that we make friends, right?

Like.

When you meet someone for the first time and you're really trying to get

to learn who that person is or know who they are, like you are sharing

stories of like, hey, where they might ask you, where are you from?

Where are you from originally?

Right?

Or how do you, you know, what work are you doing and how did you end

up starting to do work like that?

Right?

And those are some of the same questions your clients are asking

you, potential clients are asking you.

It's like, why should I do business with you versus any and every

other option available to me?

That why?

The response to that why is stories, because they're looking to, in the

same way, you're trying to make sure they're the right fit for you.

They wanna make sure you are the right fit for them.

Again, same way we make friends in life, right?

We don't just hang out with people that we don't have similar

values or similar interests.

But how do we know if we have similar values or interests?

It's through the stories that we tell that we just naturally tell every day.

Whether it's a bad thing that happens or a good thing that happens.

We just naturally tell stories.

And in the same way that we do that in life, just every day,

we should do that In business,

What do you think holds people back from

sharing those types of stories?

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Now, back to the show.

there is this veil of perfection that has been created,

especially in the design industry.

So when we think of interior designers, architects, uh, builders,

there is this veil of you have to, it, it needs to look perfect.

And so therefore, if your work needs to look perfect, you

should look perfect as well.

And I think that level of, uh, veil perfectionism is, is what holds

people back because it, it requires a level of vulnerability and confidence

to say, no, this is who we are.

This is who I am, this is who we are.

Um, and to own that, right?

Like it's, it takes a lot for me to share a story about losing my father.

Right?

Like why would, what?

What would be the reason for that other than I do want you to feel

like you have a personal connection.

I'm, I wanna open up to you so that you're willing to open up to me.

But that's not easy.

I'm not gonna say it's easy each and every time that I tell that story

because it's, it was a difficult moment.

It continues to be difficult moment, but I think that's what holds people

back is like, we're not taught or even shown to be vulnerable.

We're taught to hold back.

We're taught to look perfect.

That's what people want.

They don't want to see the messy middle, but it's the messy

middle that makes you more human.

It's the messy middle that makes it more real.

Because as you're building a home or building a a, a office building, right?

Like there are the messy metals and, and clients wanna know how are you going

to handle the challenges that come up?

And one of the ways I'll know how you'll handle the challenges is

how you handled other challenges.

How do I know if you, how you handle other challenges unless you tell me

stories about how you've handled.

So I think, I think what stops people, what holds them back is this idea

of, you know, this vulnerability.

But I think, you know, another thing that I think about too is like, ah,

do people really need to know that?

Like, that's another question I often get is like, do people really

know this personal side of my life?

I'm not saying you need to be a complete open book and share all of your deepest,

darkest secrets, but it is important that you share and you just open up a little

bit, that little bit that you open up.

It allows people to see you as more than just the work that you do.

It allows them to see you as a human being.

And now when they're thinking to themselves, why should I work with you?

That question ends up becoming a statement that I need to work with you because it's

bigger than just the thing that you do.

Yeah, I guess it's, um, part of this, I guess, is curating.

The right stories to be sharing because you sometimes see this, like,

I, we all have those connections on social media networks who perhaps

overshare and share a little too much.

So it's finding that balance that if you are gonna share a story, not to kind of

overshare and also sharing stories that have that have a purpose behind them, that

it makes sense to share with the audience.

You've talked previously about three very specific types of stories

that are really valuable to share.

Just to swing back actually to the, the last question about what holds people

back, I had a conversation recently with a mindset expert called Mark Franklin,

and he was a recent guest on the show.

That one talks about four very specific fears that typically hold business

owners back in doing anything new, like all of those things where we.

We naturally hesitate whether it's kind of sharing a story that's maybe making

us feel a little bit vulnerable or it's a little bit personal, or whether it's

trying something new in the business.

And these are things like, I am, I'm not ready.

I'm not good enough.

I don't have the time.

What if I fail?

I think that ties in quite nicely actually with the themes of the conversation today.

So definitely worth going to check that one out.

Jude, should we tell our stories in a certain way?

Should we be following like a story framework to make them more impactful?

Does it matter the way that we share the stories?

This might be controversial, but I actually don't believe in formulas,

storytelling's formula specifically.

You mentioned curating stories and knowing the right stories to tell

whether or not we are oversharing or we're, you know, telling this

story that actually has a purpose.

There's only two things you need to think about when it comes to

storytelling, the very specific moment in time, and then the lesson that

you learned in that moment in time.

If the story doesn't have a very specific moment in time, like the two stories

I've already told you, which is the day that Mrs. Donnelley gave me business

cards, the day that I found out my father passed away, and then the day that I gave

his eulogy, if those, if there's not a moment, a moment, a very specific moment.

It's not a story.

The lesson that you learn from the story is what makes it the right

story to tell, depending on the conversation that you're having, right?

And so that's the formula.

That's it.

I think we overcomplicate the idea of the multiple steps of storytelling

or like, I think there's, there's different storytelling formulas

that have like 22 steps or like five

the Hero's Journey or,

journey, right?

mm.

While those things have their place, it over complicates it

for us everyday entrepreneurs who are already juggling a lot of different

things, focus on the very specific moment in time and the lesson that

you learned in that moment in time.

And that's what will help you continue to tell stories in your business.

Um, you know, I've given you an origin story.

I've, I've given you a vision story.

I'll give you an example of a success story.

That's unconventional.

And when I say it's unconventional, it's unconventional because it's not

just about, Hey, I made this, I helped this entrepreneur make more money.

It's something different.

So I had a project that was a husband and wife team, so builder

and, and interior designer.

And they, we were filming this docuseries, um, over multiple days.

And when I got there for the first day, on the very first day that I

go to film with a client, I like to do the interviews on that first day.

The reason being is that, that the interviews on the first day allows us to

know what to film with everything else.

So I get there and I'm setting up the interview.

Uh, the wife is ready, but I could tell the husband, the builder, he's

nervous, he's pacing, he's very quiet.

I could see it all over his face and.

The challenge with that is when someone's nervous like that, I can't put them

on camera because if they put 'em on camera, it's not gonna come out right?

And so I interviewed the wife and then when it came to the husband,

I was like, Hey, why don't you just take me to couple year projects?

I wanna see some of your projects.

And so I'm trying to warm him up.

We go to project number one, number two, number three, and then we get to lunch.

It is just me and him we're having lunch, and he finally reveals

to me, he was like, yeah, I'm really, really nervous about this.

Um, I didn't sleep last night.

And he was like, it's because of my accent.

And now John, he is from, originally, he's from Brazil, but he's been

in the United States for 20 years.

He speaks good English.

Like I don't struggle to understand him.

So I said that to him.

I was like, Hey, you know, when you're talking to me, I'm

not sitting here saying, huh?

What'd you just say?

He is like, yeah, I know.

And he was like, but I just, I still worry about it.

I still worry.

I'm not gonna say the right things.

So we're eating.

Five minutes later, he looks back up at me.

He was like, to be honest with you, I'm, I'm afraid of

embarrassing my wife and kids.

And I was, I was taken aback.

I didn't expect that at all.

And I was like, okay, I get it.

I know like, you're, you're worried you're gonna sound silly.

You might not say the right words.

It's not perfect grammar.

But I was like, what if you're embarrassing your wife

and kids by not showing up?

What if your wife has all this belief in you and she's just

waiting on you to have it?

He sat there silent.

The next day we ended up doing the interview, and at the end of the

interview, this is an hour long interview, I was like, how was it?

He was like, to be honest with you, I thought we were still warming up.

And so at the end though of that, he said, you know what you said at me, what

you said to me at lunch was the whipping that I needed to be able to do this.

And now they have a docuseries, the one that he's very proud of.

Now that's not a conventional, Hey, this client, we did a docuseries, made money,

but it's so much bigger than that to me.

What I did in at that lunchtime is I helped this client overcome his insecurity

in order to be able to do the project.

He didn't believe in himself, and that's what he needed in that moment.

I use that story.

Now, this only just happened within the last six months, but I now use that

story before I ever work with a client to ask them, Hey, what's your insecurity?

What, what are you worried about before getting on camera that I

probably should pay attention to?

Right?

Again, not a conventional way to use a success story.

We're used to, Hey, this client worked with me.

They had a really great project and, and we tell it from that perspective.

But I think there is the other side of that, which is it allows you to

know, I'm going to take my time with you, and I'm not just gonna do my

process just to do my process, because that's the way it has to be done.

I'm gonna see what you actually need.

And we work through what you need so that we can get to the finish line.

It communicates something different.

I could tell you those same things.

I could tell you, Hey, I'm gonna give you what you need to get to the finish line.

Or I could tell you about a moment in time I was working with a client

and he had a hurdle and I had to help him get over that hurdle.

Right?

And so when you talk about like storytelling formula, storytelling

framework, if I sat there and tried to think through all the different

steps, am I hitting all the steps?

You wouldn't get the story out there, but because I just thought about the

moment in time that this guy had a hurdle, I helped him overcome the

hurdle, and then the lesson I learned in that moment, or even the lesson

he learned in that moment, right?

That's what helps you tell a story and to be able to tell it over and

over so that you grow your business.

You, you just, you don't think about the formula.

You think about a very specific moment in time in the lesson you

learned in that moment in time.

I, I love how you've just made that so simple for us,

Jude, it is a formula, isn't it?

But there's only two parts to it.

It's very, very simple.

And that is something that I. We could use that in, in any manner.

That could be a story that you share.

You could use that formula in a social media post.

It could be at a presentation, it could be conversations with prospective clients.

It could be a talk that you're delivering at a conference.

Like anywhere that there's the opportunity to share an impactful, interesting,

engaging story, then, you know, you could use that really simple formula

to find the right story to share.

And already my mind is, it's bubbling away.

Now I'm thinking that, oh, how can I use this?

I'm sure I've probably got all sorts of different stories locked away

that I've not thought to share.

But if I pass it through that filter, just think about those two points,

then that's really gonna help to pick out some really great stories.

And you know, John, the, the quickest way to do that is to start

today by keeping what I call a story bank.

If you'd like to learn what a story bank is here, examples of

how other architectural designers have used storytelling and learn more about

storytelling through video, be sure to tune in to part two of my conversation

with Jude Charles in next week's episode.

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