For a brief time, I tried to sell life insurance. And, the operative word was 'tried' I can assure you. Although I thought I did a good job on the presentations and scripts provided by trainers, I did not make a single sale.
On the other hand, the veteran who trained me didn't spend much time with presentations or scripts. He simply told stories about clients who spared their loved ones great pain by getting proper coverage. Just as importantly, he talked about the troubles suffered by people who did not have coverage. And, he sold a lot.
Which takes us to the subject of purpose-driven story telling. I've bumped up against the idea of it as a strategic communication skill several times recently, so maybe it's time to discuss it here.
For starters, let's distinguish between stories by talkers who believe the world wants to know what they think about everything under the sun, and stories told with the express purpose of advancing an objective. Let's call the latter 'strategic stories' (and you know what we call the other kind).
You can use strategic stories to help your cause or project by figuring out, in advance, what you'll say and why you'll say it. In other words, before you make your speech or presentation, identify the stories you'll use, and know why you'll use them.
Leaders frequently use stories to add emotion to their communication. Adding emotion allows listeners to buy in with their hearts, as well as accept with their minds. One specific type of emotional charging evokes shared values or memories. For example, "I know you'll keep providing great customer service because you all did such a great job when the product recall was announced. Do you remember how the calls started coming in right after the first announcement?"
Stories can also be used to add context or background information, "I know you'd like to launch the new product line, but when I was at the industry conference a couple of weeks ago, I heard banks want to get into our business, which means...." Very often, information by itself has little meaning or impact without context. Stories buttress our arguments by explaining the rationale we used, and not just the conclusions we reached.
You can use stories as a type of proof. My life insurance experience is a pointed example. The most effective stories, of course, talk about the good and bad things that happen to survivors after an unexpected death.
Sometimes, a story can be used for self-deprecation. By making fun of myself, I can further illustrate the point I'm trying to make. For example "Did I ever tell you about the time I spilled coffee on a client while he was sitting at our boardroom table? As it turned out, it broke the ice between us and we ended up talking serious business. Now, I'm not suggesting you spill coffee on clients, too, but I would suggest that you look for ways to connect with them on a personal level."
Where can we find stories? The best ones come from our own experience, from things that happened to us and things we've done. But, don't overlook magazines, television, and other mass media. For example, you might warn against doing something by explaining what happened to characters in TV sitcoms when they did something similar. Remember, most sitcoms are morality plays in modern garb.
Which reminds me of the time when....
In summary, strategically-used stories can help us communicate more effectively by adding emotion or context, providing proof, or giving us a chance to poke fun at ourselves.
Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at:
http://www.communication-newsletter.com
Breaking Goals Down To The Basics One of the primary reasons why people fail to execute their goals is they set forth unrealistic or overly complex goals. Most of us have the tendency to look a...
Leadership Quality Through Kindness With the advent of a more troubled world, the intense focus of the corporate conglomerates on profits, the speed of communication, other technologies and a mor...
Surgery: the Ultimate Weight Loss Extreme Liposuction, tummy tucks, gastric bypass, implanted electrical devices... every day
there is another surgical "solution" to obesity. There are many reasons not...
Nights by a Pinocchio Lamp The trust factor is vital for relationships to thrive. In time, our "life stuff", different for each of us, either bonds into gold or scatters among misplaced p...
Dumb Money And Smart Money One of my goals online is to give you the total picture and tell you everything you need to succeed in your own Internet Marketing Business. This internet mark...
The Six Figure Job Search Before we start discussing how to search for a six figure salary job, let's set a goal. The goal I suggest is to double your income every five years. That may s...
Top Spyware Removers Considerations Here are four important points to consider when you are looking for a spyware protection program or want to compare removers.
Affirmations to Improve Your Life An affirmation is a positive assertion, a solemn declaration, a way to change your way of thinking. You can use affirmations to improve performance and results ...
Useless Resume Objectives What's wrong with an objective on a resume? The problem with objectives on resumes is that a typical objective is self-centered and self-serving; therefore, it ...
Preventing The Runaway Candidate Much like the runaway bride, the "runaway candidate" can have a devastating effect upon a potential employer. In today's competitive market for top candidates, ...
10 Marketing Tips for Entrepreneurs Nothing happens in business until a sale is made. Marketing is simply about getting new customers and keeping them. If you're not doing something everyday to ma...
RSS - The Intelligent Marketing Medium Are you new to RSS? If so here is a introduction to what RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is and how your website will benefit from offering an RSS feed to your ...
Do You Enable? Characteristics that you accept and are willing to ignore in
your interpersonal relationships that yield dark
consequences, somehow put the offender you enable ...
Kundalini Questions What is the difference after the kundalini awakens, and how do you know if it did?
Are You Living? This is a small article to help depressed software programmers to forge ahead in their lives...
Anam Cara - The Blessing In many cultures there was accepted the idea of "soul friendship." This was within Ancient Greece, Native American and Celtic cultures. In the Celtic culture a...
Characteristics of Contemporary Platform Beds A platform bed is any bed without a box spring. They have a low profile, for a spacious feeling in the room, and often utilize simple lines, celebrating the qui...
Print this page