Hallelujah and Peace on ya! I have seen the light...
Have you ever had the experience of someone having a spiritual awakening or religious transformation because of a chart? Exactly! But many are the time I have felt a collective moment of growth, change, or transformation in an audience after having listened to a compelling and moving story.The
power of storytelling cannot be overstated.
Stories move us, compel us, and make us take action far better than any
chart, statistic, graph, or piece of data ever could.
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| There are ZERO reported instances where a Pie Chart was a Game Changer. ZERO. |
Such
was the case with my Leader on Loan group recently. Leaders on Loan is a program with the United
Way of Denton County where local businesses “loan” their organization’s leaders
to the United Way for a nine-month program centered on professional leadership
development. I have the good fortune to
be the facilitator for the development part of this innovative program.
Three
weeks ago our LOL’ers were tasked with creating a ten-minute presentation
targeting specific aspects of the United Way to share with the group at our
next meeting. That meeting took place
just three days ago, and I am still “high” from the experience. This group of eight people were moved and
transformed from one another’s presentations in a way that no other activity we
have completed to-date has accomplished.
You see, in the context of their presentation they were told they had to
share at least ONE story. They took
their task seriously and each of them brought to their presentation stories
that humanized them in a way that we could not help but be changed for the
better. These stories revealed a part of
who they were to one another and gave them a new level of credibility that
their titles, degrees, and work history had not done.
And Now you are THREE DIMENSIONAL TO ME...
For
example, one of our LOL’ers told a story about a young boy whom a moving
vehicle struck. The damage this boy endured was unfathomable, and the response
of his community who came to his family’s rescue with love, support, food,
babysitting, encouragement, and more was a testimony to the power of what
people can do and will do when there is a need to be filled. The best stories are those where a happy
ending presents itself, and we all sighed a breath of relief when we learned
this young boy healed and grew and became a successful man both personally and
professionally. The REVELATION occurred
when we learned that this man was our very own LOL’er--Tyler Hurd. This was HIS story, and he shared it to draw
a similar distinction between his childhood community and the United Way
community.
What
did Tyler’s story accomplish? Good
question. By using this story Tyler was
able to create a parallel between his community and the good work of the United
Way. Tyler’s story also added to his own credibility. Like the president of Hair Club for Men, who
is not just the president but also a customer, Tyler’s story made him more than
a Leader on Loan. Tyler was now someone
who, through life’s circumstances, had lived out an experience where COMMUNITY
changed his life and his family’s life.
Suddenly as someone in the audience, I felt the psychological
satisfaction of knowing that Tyler knows what it feels like to NEED HELP. I felt closer to Tyler having heard this
story. Forevermore, Tyler will not just
be a guy who works at the City of Denton.
His is three dimensional to me, and I like to work with and alongside
people who are three-dimensional. I
suspect you do too.
Stories
are a universal language.
Anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, and linguists agree that
what separates us from other forms of life is not just our ability to use
language but to TELL STORIES.
A
great story lets us get to the heart of the matter.
If
you are under the impression that stories are only appropriate for the Sunday
morning church service, the inspirational speaker, or topics that are naturally
inclined toward the “touchy and feely” know this: Stories are Necessary and
good anytime, anywhere, and for any audience.
Architects
need story.
Engineers
need story,
Accountants
need story.
IT
people need story.
You
need story.
All
this begs the question: how can I tell better stories? Here are FOUR BIG ideas to get you
started.
1. Get to know TED. No, Ted is not a friend of mine. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a
genius movement of people who get together across the globe to share their
ideas in a presentation format. Their
motto is “Ideas worth spreading.” Go to www.ted.com
and start with my favorite speakers: Sir Ken Robison, Jamie Oliver, and
Benjamin Zander. STUDY them as presenters
and notice how pivotal STORY is to their presentation. (If you are like me, grab a few Kleenex
before you watch Ben Zander. I cry every
time, and I have watched this presentation about twenty times.)
2. Get more academic
about telling stories. You can view my
slide presentation on storytelling at http://www.slideshare.net/BravoCC/the-stories-wetell
to learn more about TELLING stories.
3. Learn from the
masters: Advertisers. The world of
advertising is about telling stories that stick visually, textually, and
through rich and interesting characters.
Here is my favorite from the great minds at Toyota: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4.
4. Have a storytelling
lunch and learn with your people/co-workers/team/family/colleagues. Organizationally it is essential that
everyone from top to bottom can “tell the story” of the organization. Can you tell that story? Can your people tell that story? Grab some sandwiches and drinks, get around a
big table, and spend some time telling stories.
There
are stories in you just waiting to be shared and told to others so that they
may connect to you and your purpose. As
you embrace your inner storyteller you will find that you are becoming more
successful in your pursuits. Why?
Because people want to connect to you on a human level and know that you are
real. Degrees, titles, corner office,
and fancy charts and graphs--while they serve their purpose--they fall short
when it comes time to truly connect.
Don’t abandon those things but give them context and meaning with your
story.
One
of the rock star celebrities in my former world of academia is communication
scholar Robert McGee. I love this quote:
(feel free to cut and paste and put this on your desktop!): “Stories are the
creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more
meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact.”
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