Have you ever considered what do I need to do to make communications more dynamic? Making your presentations, discussions memorable and relevant to your audience is difficult. The difficulty manifests in many ways, but none are more prevalent than the different personalities absorbing your information. Different personality types and generations consume content very differently – So how can you make a significant impact? You need to be agile enough to adapt to these variables at any moment through email, phone conversation or a formal presentation. Storytelling is a great platform to address the variables as it “connects the dots”, between the rational and the emotional where the audience may not otherwise be engaged on one or the other.
“In a business context, professionals can use these types of stories to influence, educate, engage, inspire and encourage stakeholders.
Stories Generate Mental Images - Visual communication is a fundamental part of human history. Visual imagery can help capture ideas and significantly improve the ability to learn and comprehend a topic. Use and apply visually descriptive words and images.
Stories Persuade in the Absence of Facts - We live in a world where the best storytellers get what they want. They understand that the stories we hear and tell daily influence us on a very deep level. Relying solely on organizational, service or product knowledge, domain expertise isn’t enough in today’s complex business environments. Everyone needs to cut through the complexity when faced with an opportunity to persuade, if you can’t make it meaningful for your audience, what you talk about doesn’t make much difference. Stories are effective as the enable your audience to come to the desired outcomes through their own images which in turn creates relevance.
Complexity in this world is the foundation and catalyst for our reliance on a fallacy – “To mistakenly rely heavily on facts and figures when communicating meaning and context in the workplace. The truth…no one cares about your facts and figures as much as you do.”
