Once Upon a Time....
When my daughter Maddie was about 4 years old, she came into my office where I was working diligently to tell me about her new friends. As it turns out these two friends were twins. One of them was 4 years old and one of them was 5 years old. I listened to her story with great interest and enjoyed the details of this new friendship through the eyes of this little person. Eventually there was a pause in her telling of the story and I told her "Maddie I think twins have to be the same age as one another". Without skipping a beat she looked at me and said "I know mom, but these are diagonal twins". Cue laugh track.
She loves that story. So do I and over the years we have told and retold that story to friends and family and even just between the two of us. It captures the innocence and joy of being a child and illustrates why shows like "kids say the darndest things" was such a big hit.
The value of a good story told cannot be measured. It connects us to the teller of the story and creates emotional responses that in turn cause us to consider or reconsider the underlying issue told in the story. Stop for a minute and think about how many stories you tell in one day and in turn how many stories are told to you. I can guarantee you that a good deal, perhaps even 50% for some people, of our communication is done through the telling of a story.
Do you tap into the POWER of your story in ways that other people want to participate in whatever it is you are selling: your friendship, your business, your product, your service? Because yes, stories do sell things. They sell ideas, points of view, they even sell the person telling the story. In our personal life many of us are far more likely to tell and share stories with our family and friends. Why not in business? The business world prefers, even gives preference to facts, figures, statistics, charts, graphs, evidence. Now, these things are in fact very important but should not be chosen in lieu of a good story.
The combination of evidence + story is where persuasion happens.
Knowing that, do you and your organization have control of "the story" of
WHO WE ARE
WHERE WE HAVE BEEN
WHERE WE ARE GOING
HOW WE ARE GOING TO GET THERE
WHY WE ARE GOING THERE
WHO IS GOING WITH US
?
To determine the answer, here are THREE questions you should be asking in your organization to determine the potency of your story:
1. Can everyone tell the story of the organization's beginnings from the top down? (do they know the mission statement for the organization is another potential question to see if your story has internal sticking power).
2. How does our story compare to that of our competition? The power of a GREAT story is that it is unique. If your story looks and sounds a whole lot like the story of your competition then you are in trouble buddy. Better get some heads around the table and have a brainstorming session to find a story that will differentiate you from everyone else.
3. Does your story match up in all contexts: internally, marketing, who customers say you are, on your website? A consistent story means branding and branding means name recognition. Name recognition means market share.
Never ever underestimate the power of STORY. The worlds greatest brands--Coke, Nike, Apple--are the best storytellers around. Become more academic about telling your story for a while until you perfect this all too important art form.
Need help? That's what Bravo CC is around for--we teach people how to stand out in a CROWDED and COMPETITIVE Marketplace. You can see our upcoming events including "Death By Presentation", a webinar AND "What's YOUR Plan BE? 2012" the workshop. Dates and details can be found HERE
Finally, take a look at this Bravo CC Slideshare presentation on STORYTELLING.
The stories we_tell
View more presentations from Libby Spears
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