Storytelling for Professionals
“Those who tell the stories, rule the world” — Plato
Stories are a form of engaging with people and creating compelling narratives. The reason why storytelling is so powerful is because it transforms the most boring details to something highly interesting and engaging; it creates an emotional bonding with the listener, and they are engaged throughout. When details, events, and ideas are presented in the form of a story — a part of it remains with the audience and it becomes something they take back with them.
Big brands like Walt Disney, Pixar, Amazon, Airbnb have leveraged the power of storytelling and have crafted a story behind every product and experience that they deliver to their end consumers.
Since not everyone has a background in literature or related arts, let’s start with some basics about crafting a witty and engaging narrative.
The basic template for setting up an attention-grabbing narrative includes, several key elements:
1. The ‘Premise’: in this part, the narrator sets the scene, with key plot details and some sort of background to the plot
2. The ‘Build-up’: this is the part, where the listeners are immersed into the plot, they need to be involved herein
3. The ‘Upshot’: finally, the conclusion to the narrative arrives, with a moral to the story; and something that the audience can take away with them
Now let’s tie this all together and see how someone who is narrating a pitch, can leverage this art –
The most important part of the narrative revolves around the protagonists (users). The main hero of the story would always be the user (of a system, consumer, stakeholder) i.e. the spotlight would always shine on him/her. To add some spice to the premise briefly explain the traits of this user, explain what drives the user (what motivates) and the inherent needs and desires. Our main goal herein is to make the audience feel emotionally connected to the protagonist of our story.
Now that we have set the stage, and the listeners have empathized with the protagonist — they need to feel the impediment and the pain of the character in focus. We use this build-up phase as a bridge to explain the impact of the problem. The audience needs to understand the inherent need and the importance of solving this problem.
To conclude the story and leave the audience with something, let us then connect the dots, illustrate a moral to the story, give them possible solutions and a sense of resolution. We need to make-believe that the protagonist has accomplished something and hence, need, the engrossed audience to also share a similar sentiment and feel a sense of accomplishment.
Points to remember:
· Make It Personal — Personal stories resonate emotionally with the listeners and it helps build empathy. Tweak the story, characters, plot based on your audience try to make the story as relevant to your audience as possible
· Use Anecdote and Reflection — make it a fluid narrative, sequence the events, build suspense, carry the listeners and audience through your story, remind people about the context
· Include Emotions — Get emotional, nothing engages an audience as much as an emotional quotient, the higher their resonance with the emotions of the protagonist the more will they be engaged
· Include a Call to Action — Give something that the audience can implement, something actionable, something that they could relate to.
This entire concept will bring everyone together and bind them together in those moments, this will in turn help you as a narrator get everyone to rally around a singular idea to then address the problem with a heightened perspective
This comes briefly from my experience being involved in Design Thinking workshops and product thinking sessions. Please feel free to share this with your friends/colleagues/connections and to follow me on LinkedIn
