Stories from a research perspective is like data with a soul
Humans have told stories since we were able to write – and maybe even before that, using hand gestures before there was spoken language. Stories took many forms, from fairy tales to poems. Even music is a form of storytelling. Stories are a part of what makes us human. We relate closely to them. That’s why a compelling story can help us retain information and remember more details. Telling a story can even increase your persuasive powers by creating a positive emotional state in your audience. The better you learn how to tell a story, the more effective you will be in business and in life.
Storytelling is a powerful tool that great leaders use to motivate the masses and masterful writers harness to create classic literature. If you’re just getting started writing and telling stories, here are some storytelling tips that can help you strengthen your narratives and engage your audience:
Choose a clear central message. A great story usually progresses towards a central moral or message. When crafting a story, you should have a definite idea of what you’re building toward. If your story has a strong moral component, you’ll want to guide listeners or readers to that message. If you’re telling a funny story, you might build toward a twist that will leave your audience in stitches. If you’re telling an engaging story, try to increase the dramatic tension and suspense right up until the climax of your narrative. Regardless of what type of story you are telling, it’s important to be very clear on the central theme or plot point that you are building your story around.
Embrace conflict. As a storyteller, you can’t shy away from conflict. Great storytellers craft narratives that have all sorts of obstacles and hardships strewn in the path of their protagonists. In order to be satisfied with a happy ending, audiences have to watch the main characters struggle to achieve their goals. It’s okay to be cruel to your main characters—in fact, it’s necessary. Compelling plots are built on conflict, and it’s imperative that you embrace conflict and drama in order to become a better storyteller.
Have a clear structure. There are many different ways to structure a story, but the three ingredients a story must have are a beginning, middle, and end. On a more granular level, a successful story will start with an inciting incident, lead into rising action, build to a climax and ultimately settle into a satisfying resolution. There are many books and online resources that can help you better understand these terms and acquaint you with other storytelling techniques. Additional insights into story structure can be gleaned by exposing yourself to great storytellers in literature and film and practicing laying out your own stories on paper so you can observe their shape and structure.
Mine your personal experiences. Whether or not you are telling a real story directly based on personal experience, you can always look to your life for inspiration when coming up with new stories. Think about important experiences in your real life and how you might be able to craft them into narratives.
Engage your audience. Great storytelling requires you to connect with your audience, but much of how you captivate your audience depends upon the mode of storytelling you’re using. If you’re reading a short story in front of an audience, you might want to play around with bringing your gaze off the page every so often to make eye contact with your audience. If you’re recording a narrative podcast, so much depends upon the expressiveness of your voice and your ability to convey emotion with your tone. However you choose to tell your story, make sure to consider your audience.
Observe good storytellers. Your personal stories will always be unique and specific to you, but there’s no better way to learn how to craft and deliver a narrative than by watching storytellers you admire relate their own stories. Most of us know people who we regard as eloquent and engaging storytellers. Whether it be a family member who regales you with childhood tales around the dinner table or a local politician who excels at public speaking, chances are you’ve come across more than a handful of talented storytellers in your life. Look for good storytellers and learn through observation. How do they craft a successful story?
Narrow the scope of your story. If you’re telling a true story from your own life, it can be hard to choose the important main points that you should include. Many people have a tendency to include every detail and end up inundating their audience with facts that dilute the central story arc. Choose a clear beginning and end to your story, then write the key plot events as bullet points between them. Trust that your audience will be able to follow your story, and don’t overwhelm them with unnecessary backstory or tangential plot points.
Listen first
Whether you’re doing a sales pitch for one executive or a presentation to hundreds, before you can know how to tell a story effectively, you need to get to know your audience: Ask questions. Tell short anecdotes to help you adjust your approach. Listen to feedback. Listening takes the focus off yourself and puts it on your audience. How will your story serve them? How will it improve their lives or empower them to take action?
Read the room
You’ve taken the time to listen and build rapport before you began and you’ve structured a narrative with all the right pieces. You think you’re doing everything right – but the audience isn’t responding. Rather than powering ahead, those who know how to tell a good story read the room and gauge the audience’s reaction. Think of the great comics or performers. They’re able to assess the audience and adjust their body language, tone and even the joke or act itself so that it better connects. This takes excellent communication skills and high levels of perception – both of which are skills you can develop.
Create rapport
Listening to your audience first also helps you build rapport. Building rapport is often thought of in terms of manager/employee relationships or those between coworkers, but you can build rapport with anyone, including large audiences. It sometimes involves asking questions, but it’s often more about communicating authenticity, especially for large audiences. That’s why the best salespeople know how to tell a story first and sell second. A good story shows that they’re empathetic to the needs of the customer and builds trust – and trust is the foundation of influencing others.
Start with emotion
It’s easy for businesspeople to get caught up in statistics, graphs and charts. Information is vital, but emotion is what brings fulfillment and makes life worth living. Think about the most memorable days in your life. Chances are, they were extremely emotional: graduation, your wedding day, the birth of a child. Storytelling taps into these emotions. As Bob Iger, former CEO of Disney, has said, “People still love a good story, and I don’t think that will change.” That’s because people connect with stories in a way we don’t connect with numbers. Learn how to tell a story, and people will buy in.
Use the right structure
Emotion will draw your audience in, but you’ll need a well-constructed narrative to keep them engaged. Stories with confusing timelines, references your audience doesn’t understand or pacing that’s too fast or too slow will flop. Keep the structure straightforward, but make it vivid with detailed imagery and characters. Always have a conflict or struggle. Follow the classic “Hero’s Journey”: a call to adventure, tests and ordeals, reflection, reward and redemption. Authors and filmmakers follow this structure for a reason: it’s the best guidance for how to tell a great story.
Don’t be the hero
Your story needs a hero, but it can’t be you. We all know people who love to talk about themselves and their accomplishments – and we all know how boring those people are. Audiences won’t connect with a message whose speaker paints themselves as the savior. You can be a central figure in your story, but the character who saves the day and solves the problem must be your employees, a client or even the audience themselves. Your audience will feel more emotion and better grasp the moral of the story.
Find the “why”
The purpose of learning how to tell a great story is to help others understand unfamiliar concepts and ideas and ultimately persuade them to do something. To sum up your story, appeal to the “why” of your audience. What is their purpose for being there today? What will inspire them to take the action that you want them to take? It all goes back to how your product, idea or concept helps them avoid pain or increase pleasure. End in a way that is both emotion-focused and action-oriented, so your audience knows what to do next.
Discovering how to tell a good story is about connection. It’s about knowing your audience, your product and yourself. It involves mastering emotion, physiology and communication skills. It’s no small feat to tell a great story, but when you do, you’ll see the powerful influence you can have on the world.
Connect with the power of storytelling
Stories are one of the most powerful tools you can use to engage and connect with your audience. The power of a single story goes far beyond simply relaying facts and data and can be a highly effective tool to create customer loyalty. Stories emotionalize information. They give color and depth to otherwise bland material and they allow people to connect with the message in a deeper, more meaningful way. Those potential customers can then connect with your product, service and your entire business in a way that will make you talkably different.stories give color and depth to otherwise bland material, and they allow people to connect with the message in a deeper, more meaningful way.
Yet not all stories are equal. Simply telling a story that may elicit some emotion does not guarantee its efficacy. Tony sat down with his dear friend Peter Guber, the Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment, whose films have earned over $3 billion worldwide and 50 Academy Award nominations, to discuss the power of a great story and its ability to shape the lives of others. Here’s what Peter had to say:
Connect to emotion
So how do you harness the power of storytelling? First, it’s about finding that emotional core of your message. As Peter says, emotion combined with information becomes memorable and actionable. Confused by what that means? Think about it. Where were you on 9/11? Chances are that you can remember exactly where you were when you learned about the tragic events that transpired that day. But if you had to think where you were the day before that – that memory is probably hazier. Information attached to pain or pleasure creates an emotional connection that resonates within you — this is at the heart of the power of a great story. Be interested, not interesting, or else the audience will never take it in.
Be authentic
The next step in utilizing the power of storytelling is remaining authentic. People have a sensitive radar when it comes to those trying to manipulate or take advantage of a situation and no one wants to feel they are not in charge of their own emotions. In fact, rather than focusing on what you want to get out of telling the story, you must shift your focus to how you are going to serve your audience. It’s a pure intention where you are truly focused on improving or enhancing their lives. As Tony often says, the secret to living is giving. When you use the power of a great story to empower others, you create a solid brand for your company based on value. Once you’ve established this, it’s easy to convert more customers into raving fans and achieve huge growth.
Peter goes on to give this advice: “Be interested, not interesting, or else the audience will never take it in.”
Keeping in mind that the power of storytelling is not a monologue but a dialogue helps you give your audience proprietorship. They become emotional owners of the story you are telling. Then they become advocates — of your product, your service, your business, your brand. But you can’t get there unless you have a generous goal and listen deeply. Remember, you must focus on sharing — not selling — or your customers will tune out.
keeping in mind that a story is not a monologue, but a dialogue, helps you to give your audience proprietorship.
Know when to stop
Lastly, you must know when to move on. Don’t just fire information at an audience if the environment isn’t right. Assess the situation and see if the time is right for the power of a single story and the message it will convey. That may mean you will have to find a way to change your audience’s state before you can share the power of a great story — or it might mean you have to hold off altogether. If your audience is not in a prime state to listen to your story, then it’ll fall flat and fail to resonate within them.
Sometimes the way to get through to an audience is not to start off by sharing a story – no matter how powerful it may be. In some circumstances, you need to first listen to get to know your audience better and form a connection. Once you understand what they truly need, you can craft your story to meet that need. Don’t think the power of storytelling will get you off the hook in the listening department, however — you need to recognize moments of opportunity where you can keep your mouth shut and your ears open to learn about your customers’ stories and how you can best serve them, too.
Using the power of storytelling
How do you share your story with those who need and want to hear it? You don’t have to be a public speaker to utilize the power of a great story. Here are some ideas on how to incorporate storytelling into your messaging.
Use the power of storytelling on social media
You can tell impactful stories through social media and reach hundreds or even thousands of followers. Your stories can be in written form, such as sharing the link to a blog you recently wrote, or you can put videos on your social media channels that tell impactful stories. Remember that social media is all about giving value to your followers and that every story you tell needs to inform, entertain or impact them in some meaningful way.
Tell a great story during sales meetings or presentations
Sometimes a good sales script is all you need to positively impact a prospect and convert them into a valued client. There are other times when the power of a great story can push them over the edge and convince them that they need to do business with you. Though you shouldn’t bog down your meetings with meaningless anecdotes or rambling tales, the power of a single story that resonates with your client cannot be overlooked.
Use storytelling with your employees
How do you get your team fired up and excited about your company’s mission and core values? Depending on their role, they might not get to see how all their hard work impacts your clients or the community. Use the power of storytelling to relate recent wins you’ve experienced to them and how your business is making a difference. This reinforces that their work has meaning and they’ll likely work even harder to serve your clients.
The power of story is the most important tool in your arsenal
If done well and done correctly, the power of a great story can have a massive effect on the audience and define you as an influencer. It can inspire, enliven and create instant rapport. It can move an audience to take action and it can change lives. Never underestimate the power of storytelling and never underestimate the intelligence of your audience. Play it truthfully and emotionally, create a dialogue and you will see how the power of story may just become the most important tool in your arsenal.
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Mckinsey makes millions on a single presentation - From original tweet: source