Most everyone will agree that storytelling is important for professional success. When I recently surveyed some working professionals MBAs (read: folks with jobs), they rated it a 6.3 (out of a 7 point scale) with a stdev: 0.7, n=62.
No pushback here. Storytelling matters. It connects people and builds rapport. Unfortunately, storytelling gets a bad rap because we have all seen people – much less talented, lazier, less principled than us – get ahead because they were good “talkers”. So, yes, storytelling can be used for both good and evil. Sticking with the idea that we should use our powers for good. . .
What are the inputs to good story telling?
Engineers understand process. What’s an input (ingredient) and what’s an output (results). I crowd-sourced answers to this question. Some of the common themes included:
- Bring the problem to the forefront; create a story line with an underdog protagonist
- Know your audience – who are they? their interests? familiar with the content already?
- Be the expert – know your stuff, come to the game ready to play
- Frame the story, touch on the high points, don’t drag them through noise
- Be likable. Be yourself.
- Convey a simple message that is easy to follow
- Have a point of view. Don’t waste their time. What’s In it for Me? (WIIFM)
- Create some suspense, keep them engaged, spark their curiosity
- Engage their senses – people learn differently (sight, sound, movement)
What are the outputs of good storytelling?
Design thinking asks, not what you said, not what you taught, not what they learned, but rather, how did the audience feel? After hearing thoughtful stories, how do you want the audience to feel?
- Engaged; provoked to take some action
- Inspired with more energy than they came
- Confident in the recommendation, or better informed to make choices
- With you. . . aligned. . . onboard . . .
- Curious to hear more; really start the discussion
- Thinking about their own thinking
- Feeling accountable
Storytelling is human, vulnerable
Lots of research which suggests that our caveman brains are wired for stories. Recall that books are a relative new thing (in the arc of history). We are more used to hearing words, not reading them.
NB: Don’t be a business robot. Humans make terrible robots – we are emotional, creative, stubborn, moody, loyal, and often petty. Thank goodness. Being human is perhaps the only thing that can’t be outsourced to THE machine. Go with your rare and valuable resources, my friend.
Storytelling bridges people
As Americans, it seems like we are lonelier than ever. Post 9/11, there is so much fear of others. Caffeine-infused media polarizes everything. We’re asked to make simplistic, bimodal judgments of people. Red and blue states. Lot of default choices and false equivalence. Basically, all bad.
Storytelling is a safe, fun, and reasonable middle ground. It breaks through the silos of individual experiences to transcend (big GMAT word) to a bigger truth. In the end, we discover we share a lot in common. MBA, sports, marriage life. We’ve all failed at something. We all have something to teach. Heck, we were all awkward teenagers once.
Storytelling happens all the time
Some think that “storytelling” is reserved for TED-style talks with 800 people. Not true. Storytelling happens all the time. If you are persuading anyone or anything, it’s stories. If you are walking your client back to their office from a meeting, finding smart ways to say “no” to your client, or even asking a spouse to run a half marathon. . . it’s all story telling.
1. Know your audience
This seems so basic, yet, most of us are wildly insensitive to this fact: it’s not about you, it’s about them. How long is the talk? How many people ? How informed are they? Is the talk first thing in the morning (before coffee), or right after lunch? Is it the end-of-the-quarter when people nervous about hitting sales targets? Who are the opinion leaders in the room? Who are the meeting terrorists?
Are you a finder, minder, or a grinder? Who are you speaking to?
- If I am a minder speaking to a grinder – want to give clear directions, set (high) expectations, motivate them to do great (often tedious) work. Help them understand WHY this is important work. Demonstrate openness and create a culture of learning. Yes, I will mentor you.
- If I am a minder speaking to a finder – want to ease their concerns, cover just the basics, highlight problem areas (if any), ask how I can make their life easier, and yes, manage up.
What is your storytelling range? Can you communicate differently – as needed – to different people and different situations? If not, you may want to expand your communications toolkit. Do some improv, listen to other great speakers. Get feedback. Practice.
2. Appeal to the head, heart, and hand
In the end, you want to use stories to make a difference. Get people to act. This means that it needs to be sensible (head), motivating (heart), and doable (hand). The best client presentations are the ones when the PowerPoint never leaves your bag. You have done the pre-wiring (nemawashi), and satisfied their intellect, emotional concerns, and skeptical “how we gonna do that?” questions.
In the end, you want the client to say “Oh, that makes sense, let’s do that“
3. Structure your ideas logically
In the corporate setting, this is crazy important. Yes, I know that it sounds boring, but that’s the point. The flow of the story must be easy to follow. Diagrams help. Different shapes have stories. The audience needs to know WHERE you are headed (with the PowerPoint or verbally). Nothing is more painful that a room full of confused looks and folded arms. Ouch.
Keep it simple.
“If you cannot explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough – Einstein
The spine of your story should be obvious. This actually give you more freedom: liberty to explore, laugh, joke, walk around, illustrate, or simply pause and let the room go quiet.
4. Use examples
Great stories are specific. You want them to remember the stories long after they leave the room. Video of Toby Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic being interviewed on CBS. You’ll find that he answered questions clearly and with heart. Some feedback: he could have included a patient story .
5. Make me care
Attention span is short (more than 1/2 of the blog post readers will have abandoned this post already). We have postage stamp-sized iWatch screens with the internet strapped to our wrists. Are you more interesting than Game of Thrones? More controversial than TMZ? Doubt it. Why should I pay attention to you? Why is this relevant to my life? WIIFM?
Simon Sinek made a splash 10 years ago when he talked about WHY. If you have never watched this video, it’s worth your time. For leaders of organizations – when you get work done through people – you have to motivate the heart. The WHAT and the HOW can be looked up on the internet.
6. Invite the listeners to the table
This is a new approach for me. I generally tell stories in the classroom and boardroom – where I tend to control the environment (yes, uptight, I know). So, when Andrew Stanton, Pixar director of Finding Nemo, Wall-E, explained in his TED talk that audiences don’t want to be spoon-fed, I had to recant.
Stanton argues that “[an] absence of information pulls you in.” Hmm, it’s true. I personally need to give the audience more work to do. I need to set the metaphorical table, and have them come sit with me with their own stories, experiences. Let the audience fill in some blanks.
Yes, provide the framework of the story. Yes, paint the picture with the detailed context. Yes, keep the story line clean enough to follow. No, don’t baby the audience. Bring 80% of the puzzle to them, let them fill in the remaining 20% themselves. Leave a few things left unsaid.
7. Be (more like) you
We are all radically different. n=1, that’s what so fun about it. It’s not science, nor art. Like management, it is a practice. As a practitioner, put in the time to get better.
Technique: It is difficult – ergo – it has value. Improve your word choice. Learn witty quotations. Learn to pause when you speak. Definitely, don’t read your slides.
Personality: You can copy-cat your way to good, but great is variable. Great is you. If someone just READ your story / speech / PowerPoint / email, would they know it is you?
Point of view: Facts are cheap. Anything Google-able in 10 sections is not really worth much. Once we get past the obvious “best practices” and textbooks, the real next questions are:
- What do you think? Why do you think that?
- What evidence do you have? What would make you change your mind?
- I think something different, what’s your reaction to my point of view?
8. Bring energy and clarity
Satya Nadella, the new, and iconic leader of Microsoft, said that he looks for energy and clarity from new hires. This is exactly what powerful storytelling does. It gets you pumped up. It gets you clear.
