When it comes to being an effective storyteller in business or at work, there are two mistakes leaders sometimes make. The first is leaders psyching themselves out, telling themselves “I’m an awful storyteller. So, I’m just going to stick with reporting the facts.” The second is the other side of that coin, with leaders telling themselves, “I’m already a great storyteller. So, I don’t have to prepare or practice a story. I’ll just wing it.”
The downfall of the first mistake is leaders who never give storytelling a chance, depriving themselves of a powerful tool of influence, persuasion and inspiration. The downfall of the second is leaders who tell stories regularly but not effectively, because their stories are never well thought-through or delivered and always seem to lack a relevant point, leaving an audience scratching their heads and wondering, “What the heck was that all about?”
"The fact is, stories work; but to be an effective storyteller you have to put some work into your stories to make them work for you."
Nervous storytellers will quickly realize that developing and delivering a meaningful story isn’t that complicated. More confident storytellers will learn that with a bit of strategizing and preparation, they can make a key communications strength even stronger.
Outlined below are eight ways that both types of leaders can be a more effective storyteller at work and use stories to improve the impact of their communications and their ability to engage and persuade others.
1. To be an effective storyteller, be strategic first, defining the desired impacts of your story before content.
In business, we don’t just start working on an initiative and hope that everything will unfold as it should. We strategize first, thinking about our intent and desired impact before tactics, identifying goals and objectives before activity. The same approach should be taken with business storytelling. More specifically, it’s important to first consider and identify what you need a story to do so you can find the best story to do it. To accomplish this, ask yourself the following strategic storytelling questions:
- Who’s my story for, and what’s their current situation (my audience context)?
- What do I want or need them to do (my desired action)?
- What do I think they need to think or feel in order to take that action (my desired influence)?
Thinking strategically is less about what your story is and how you’re going to deliver it (those come later). It’s about understanding why you need to tell a story and what you want it to achieve.
Continue reading: Eight Ways to Be an Effective Storyteller at Work | Bill Baker
This article was originally published on February 12, 2019, written by Bill Baker.