We’ve all been there, right? Around a dinner table. On the phone with a friend. Maybe in the checkout line at the grocery store?
Totally captivated while listening to a great story.
Why captivated?
Because we all LOVE stories!
So why don’t more Yoga teachers tell their stories on Instagram to help sell their yoga offerings? If people love stories, why wouldn’t you be doing so? That’s why I’m sharing 5 ways to tell your story on Instagram so that you can relate to your audience and sell how effective yoga is, without being salesy.
- Show Your Human Side
People connect with people, not yoga poses. So to connect with your audience, you gotta show your personal side. The goal is to create a personal brand that resonates with your audience and to do that, you gotta tell stories. The place for you to do this is in Instagram Stories. You can share things like:
- What you’re doing at that moment
- What you’re learning about
- A look behind the scenes
You wanna find a balance, not too many personal details but enough that your audience feels like they’re a part of your world.
- Share Your Origin Story
To stand out amidst the other yoga teachers on Instagram, share your origin story AKA what led you to become a yoga teacher, share your core values and what you stand for. For example, if you’re a yin yoga teacher known for supporting women with hormonal imbalances, use Instagram to share information that compliments that message.
Here are some ideas:
- How you discovered you had a hormone imbalance and what you did
- Your journey with medication
- How you transformed your body through yoga
Every piece of content you post, no matter how small, is a way to strengthen the story you’re telling.
When you do this you build your credibility and make your content more relevant to your audience.
- Work in a Narrative
As you post your image, video, or Reel, write a caption that tells a simple narrative. The mistake a lot of Yoga Teachers make is putting the end first. For example, sharing the benefits of yoga and leaving out what brought them to yoga in the first place. Weave storytelling into your captions because the truth is, your audience is often where you were when you started your journey. Your story will help them see what’s possible.
Here’s the structure of a good caption, use this as a guide.
- Start your captions with a strong hook or an engaging first line that tells people why they should care, what this caption is about and why they should keep reading.
- Describe the story in a little more detail
- Use a bridge phrase “I’m sharing this so that…” or “know that” and then re-direct the story back to your audience and make it about them.
- Finish with a CTA so that you direct your audience to a new piece of content, a DM or to take the next steps.
The concept of a “story” is so simple, but sometimes it can feel hard to break down & understand. So if creating stories feels complicated, focus on the basic elements of stories & try to incorporate them into your content.
Here’s what every story needs:
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Relatable Characters
One of the reasons you want to share a personal side of your business is that it makes you relatable. That’s why every good story has relatable characters with personalities and interests. Hone in on traits your audience has and show how you compliment that through the content you create and share.
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Tell Your Story
One of the most underrated tools in storytelling is pacing. For example, first, this happens, then this, then this. Structure each story with a beginning, middle and end.
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Conflict
Whether we like it or not, we are creatures that thrive with a bit of drama, and the stories that captivate us the most are the ones that include a conflict and how you resolved it (spoiler alert, in this case, you resolve your conflict with Yoga!)
So whether you’re sharing about the traffic on your way to teach at your local studio or behind-the-scenes challenges in trying to maintain your own practice, sharing details about the ‘conflict’ associated with your work will draw your audience in.
So there you go lovely yogi, that’s your digital storytelling strategy all wrapped up and ready to go. One word of advice, start using them today! As a yoga teacher, when you find a way to incorporate narrative into your content, you find a way to make yourself relatable, interesting, & worth following.
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