Unlocking the Power of Storytelling in Business
We’re in the Thunderdome of people and businesses competing for our attention. So much so that there isn’t enough attention to go around. There is now a glut of content, and we can’t keep up.
Many of us carry ‘lists of shame’, collections of films and whole seasons of shows that we mean to watch but haven’t found the time. Keeping up with what’s going on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe alone these days doesn’t leave a lot of time for much else. People are battling for our time, even if we don’t know it.
Everywhere we look, spruikers are asking us to “look over here”,
“Excuse me, sir, have you seen this YouTube video about these people digging an underground house?“
“Or perhaps sir would be interested in this 1-minute Tik-Tok on how to do crunches properly?”
“Why yes, yes, I would!”
There is no end to the new and shiny things that offer us mainlined dopamine. Our attention spans are shorter than ever, and we move on to the next thing before you can say, swipe! In fact, I can’t believe you’re still reading this.
So, how do we compete in this cutthroat landscape where profound literature goes unread while cat videos rack up tens of millions of views?
I’m not going to pretend that this isn’t a serious question with complicated answers, but I can offer you a little cheat – be interesting. Instead of being dull, try to be captivating. Spin us a yarn. Make us care about what you are saying. Let us know why what you’re saying matters.
A little secret is the tools that good films, TV and books use to hold our attention are absolutely applicable to business. It’s a very similar craft used in much the same way, yet few in the business world take the time to learn it.
Stories are the lifeblood of human connection. It’s a trope at this point to say that we’ve been doing it since sitting around campfires, but it’s not wrong. In fact, it might be, because stories are probably how we learnt to make the campfire in the first place!
Stories are how we teach, learn, inspire, and reach our fellow man, and they are no less than how we make sense of the world around us.
In the business world, storytelling shouldn’t be an afterthought or a superficial addition – it should be at the core of your strategy.
Okay, I hear you say. That’s all well and good, but how do I do that?
Understanding the DNA of a good story.
I know. Storytelling is a fancy buzzword that’s in danger of losing meaning, but it’s in my interest to prevent that. It’s a fairly simple idea to get your head around.
At its basic level, a story has some simple components: characters, conflict, and resolution or catharsis. If you think of your favourite books or films, you’ll quickly notice they all have these. And guess what? The business world is no different. It’s the same stuff. Arrange your components in an agreeable order, and you have the beginnings of a compelling story.
Find Your unique story.
This is everything. For some people, this comes easier than others, and it’s often significantly easier to see someone else’s story than it is to see your own. So ask someone. It is sometimes pejoratively called self-mythologising when applied to oneself with too much enthusiasm. Despite this, it is, in fact, not an unhelpful way to think about it.
Whether you’re refining your life story, working on your company’s, delivering dry data, or pitching for a tender, being clear on the components of the story you are telling, including the characters, the conflict and the resolution, is going to help you be in command of your material. It will give you access to the gears of the story. I guarantee your story is full of successes, failures, challenges, things at stake, villains, and allies; it just takes a particular perspective to see them.
All compelling stories are ultimately about people.
Only a little more to say here. With a human element, it is much easier to care about boring graphs.
Tell it like a pro.
A big part of what I do is help people to tell their stories well. It’s not just about what you have to say but how you say it. The goal is to inspire your audience, captivate, motivate, engage and delight; it is not to send them off to a nap or a daydream about what they’ll have for lunch.
It’s a common misconception that storytelling is an inherent talent; in reality, anyone can learn to tell stories like a pro. You can learn to use vibrant language, paint vivid pictures, play on emotions, show vulnerability, fire your listener’s imaginations, be authentic, speak clearly, etc. These are all the prized tools of the storyteller and are available to anyone interested in learning them.
Enough with the jargon
In the world of business, jargon is an endemic problem.
People think that fancy words and general jargon will get them noticed. It is quite the opposite. There is no more reliable shortcut than the overuse of jargon to remain unseen.
This language is the enemy of the captivating story. That it acts as a buffer between the speaker and the material (and the listener) may account for its prevalence. See, jargon works both ways; in certain circles, it may help you fit in with others speaking the same way, but its flip side is that it is an insulating safety vest against being seen for who you are. In some circumstances, that may sound attractive, but rest assured, this has the unwanted effect of hampering your authenticity.
It’s like an invisibility cloak that makes you seem unimpressive by wearing it.
If you want to see what I mean, the next time you’re giving a presentation full of jargon and you find yourself droning on, drop in something real, perhaps an anecdote full of heart or passion, something authentic that comes from you. Watch what happens. You will materialise to your audience like a burst of light.
I won’t name and shame, but this is an actual sentence I recently heard spoken by a startup person.
“The magic almost in every way in life is at the intersection or the balancing of the leverage point of the two dualities or polarities.”
This is precisely the kind of language that has the opposite effect to the desired one. In the immortal words of the principal in Billy Madison,
“Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.”
Consistency is key
Now that you have your story together, you must tell it consistently. The repetition of the story is what gives it its power. Think of the stories we tell ourselves; we are each busy telling ourselves stories about all kinds of things day and night. It isn’t the least bit important whether they are objectively true. In fact, they frequently aren’t. Their strength comes from their repetition.
If you are in a company, ensure everyone is singing off the same hymn sheet. Stories are powerful when they are consistent.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
Lastly, when it comes to being a compelling storyteller, there is no substitute for practice. Whether refining and drafting it or telling it to friends on the weekend. You wouldn’t expect to nail a TED talk on your first go, would you? Test it, tweak it, get feedback, and then test it again.
Another key feature of the stories that we love is that they are, in almost all cases, refined within an inch of their lives. This is the bit we don’t see.
When learning the art of storytelling, you should expect it to take time. People often think, ‘I can’t tell stories as well as x or y; therefore, I mustn’t possess the gift’, without considering that the great storytellers they look up to have devoted untold effort to become as good as they are. Yes, even the gifted ones.
—
There it is, folks. The secret to effective communication in business isn’t more jargon or a shinier PowerPoint presentation; it’s simply embracing our inherent love for a good story. We know storytelling is a skill worth learning, and its importance in standing out in the business world can’t be overstated.
In the words of Maya Angelou,
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
So, let’s make them feel something.
Book now with Story Electric for storytelling coaching sessions.