Using business storytelling is a great way to inspire an audience.
Imagine the lessons that have stuck with you most throughout your life.
Where did they come from?
Was it the times you were glued to a chair in school and told to stare blankly at the board in silence?
Unlikely.
In reality, most of the core lessons we’ve picked up have come from our friends and family.
For most of us, these people hail from different backgrounds to professional teaching and yet, it’s their message that sticks.
Why is this?
It’s simple.
Most of the time, we’re learning through the medium of stories from these very people.
Think back to when your parents would relate your sibling rivalry to their own in a bid to ease the tension at home.
Or when your grandparents explained how they faced a career shift.
Or when a friend tells you how they moved through a difficult period of stress in their life.
The next time a situation arises, your brain brings up the story you heard that moved you.
Those are the lessons you put into practice.
We often assume that stories, particularly personal ones, should be kept separate from the business world.
But when we make such an assumption, we fail to spot the power that storytelling can have.
Here are three reasons to implement business storytelling.
In any organisation, the staff are made up of different backgrounds from all walks of life.
This can make it a challenge for everyone to relate to a single topic or idea.
Business storytelling can simplify a difficult topic in a way that everyone can relate to.
Sharing your own story, or something you saw others go through, allows you to open the mind of your audience.
Because we do all share something in common: the human experience.
Any audience can understand and relate to the emotions conveyed through your story.
When presenting, it’s natural to want to cling to prepared talking points to help you feel in control.
But when we begin in such a scripted manner, it can be off-putting for our audience.
We become robotic and disengaging.
A story allows your audience the opportunity to remember the similarities they share with you.
It’s much easier for an audience to engage with a speaker they feel connected to.
By utilising business storytelling, you’re allowing that relationship between you both to flourish.
We often feel talking about ourselves and our own experiences are easier.
Why? Because we know the information inside out.
You are the expert in what you saw, how it happened and how it made you feel.
Opening with a story is a great way to ease those nerves as you head into a presentation.
Rather than focus on remembering your talking points or how you’re coming across, you’re simply just telling a story.
It’s something we do every day, and it comes naturally to us.
By kicking off in a way we feel confident, it buys us a few precious minutes to adjust to our setting and ease those initial nerves.
And business storytelling allows us to do just that.
For more help on how to introduce business storytelling to your presentations or work life, contact us today.
We’d be delighted to help you out.
Maxine Montgomery is Media & Communications Trainer at Pink Elephant.
Read more about her here.
Photos in business storytelling blog by Pink Elephant Communications and Pixabay.
Business storytelling blog written by Maxine Montgomery.
Business storytelling blog edited by Colin Stone.
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