Depending on your audience, you should have already thought of the exact message you're trying to convey to this audience. But you may have numerous different stories that could make that point. How do you pick the right one? You've got to ask yourself, what is this audience going to relate to? If you're talking to college kids, that's very different from retirees. In many situations, if you're talking to kindergarteners, that's different than adults in the business world.

So really ask yourself, Is this story going to resonate with this audience? Can the audience relate to my characters? Are they going to feel sympathy for the characters? Are they going to get the point? Are they even going to understand it? Ask yourself all those questions.

And if it doesn't seem like a good fit. Don't force the story. There's no such thing as a story. You have to tell it every single speech if it doesn't communicate the message you want and resonate. With the audience, it doesn't work. Any great stand up comedian will tell you.

There may be stories and jokes that work Tuesday night early in the evening because it may be a sophisticated crowd. They're not drunk at all. Very different from the crowd you speak to after 11 o'clock on a Saturday night when it's nothing but drunk college kids. It's a different audience. different stories will work. In this case, different jokes will work.

But don't assume one size fits all.