Storytelling Training for Leaders

We’ve run storytelling training for leaders since 1989.

Nowadays, it’s more important than ever.

Audiences need to connect with us as people.

The most effective way of doing this is by telling stories.

It’s got to be the right story, though.

It needs to be told in the right way.

The relevance of the story to the audience needs to be apparent, too.

There’s a lot that goes into this.

Let’s dive into how we can help you build your confidence and your skills.

1. The right story

Stories are designed to grab your attention.

It’s why fairytales and fables often leave children mesmerised.

Their imagination runs wild with tales of dragons and princesses.

While we’re less likely to regale with a medieval business battle, audiences love stories.

At the end of the day, we’re all big kids.

For most of us, our brains work visually.

And so, just like the fairytales, your stories also need to be full of pictures.

That’s how you can paint the right image in the minds of your audience.

So rather than:

“Our mission is to deliver a seamless hospitality experience through our holistic approach.

“This is paramount to our ongoing partnerships and stakeholder engagement.”

Yawn.

How about:

“Last week, I flew from Madrid to Miami.

“I only had to show my passport and my boarding pass once.

“When I arrived at my beachside Miami hotel, the concierge recognised me.

“My room was ready, with my favourite Modelo beer chilling in the fridge.

“This is the kind of seamless travel experience we need to deliver every day to keep our clients happy.”

2. The right delivery

Word-perfect stories sometimes fall flat.

Why?

Because the delivery was flat.

Just like telling stories to children, we need to be more enthusiastic than ever.

We need to play with our volume.

And we need to take our time over the most important parts.

From experience, people we work with often tell us they spent hours on the script.

They then rehearsed that script once or twice.

That’s exactly the problem.

Be comfortable with being word imperfect.

Audiences would far rather you were engaging.

To achieve that, you need to spend more time rehearsing.

And less time writing.

3. The right audience

Can you tell stories every single time you present in business?

No.

A board of directors or an annual general meeting are two examples of where different tactics are needed.

These audiences need facts, decisions, recommendations.

So where can you use storytelling? Everywhere else.

Conferences. Monthly updates. Team meetings. Pitches.

Chances to inspire, to encourage, to persuade.

Find every opportunity you can to tell stories.

Audiences learn more about you. They understand you better as a result.

We’ve heard leaders tell their teams about a European family vacation that went awry.

Why? To emphasise the need for proper planning.

I watched a speaker in Riyadh share his struggles with binge eating.

Why? To demonstrate why being consistently good is better than occasionally great.

And I saw a room reduced to tears by an interior designer talking about her mother’s ill health.

Why? To highlight being empathetic with design. 

All of these business points were made far more powerful with simple storytelling techniques.

Storytelling Training for Leaders: the next step

We’ve worked in 26 different countries since 1989.

You can come to our Glasgow studios or we can come to your offices.

We can also run this training online.

Let us know how many people you want to take part in the course, where, and when.

We’ll fill you in on the cost and who would run the training for you.

Take that first step today, and let us help you get from good to great.

Colin Stone is Communications Lead at Pink Elephant.

Read more about him here.

Photos in Storytelling Training for Leaders blog by Pink Elephant Communications and Digital DNA.
Storytelling Training for Leaders blog written by Colin Stone.
Storytelling Training for Leaders blog edited by Andrew McFarlan.