A few years ago, I remember sitting in on a ‘quick review’ where a business leader chairing the meeting coldly said to the presenter “I don’t want to listen to stories, get to the point”. I think what he meant was that skip the context setting and show him the numbers. The presentation went on after that, although I don’t remember what it was about.
When I finished my masters, I came across the term storytelling for business. Now of course, everyone knows what storytelling was about. We all grew up listening to stories and then narrating them to our friends and family. But this form of storytelling was different. You could use the power of stories to sell a product, position a brand or even secure funding for your next big idea.
Over time, this term became so overused that it eventually started getting a bad rap. That’s when the aforementioned review went the way it did. The content was highly forgetful but the leader’s reaction taught me something valuable. Stories are good but timing is important.
Once upon a time
Indranil Chakraborty in his book Stories at Work highlights when told right, stories make ideas memorable. Quoting neurological studies, he demonstrates the clear linkage between attention and stories, memory and their overall effectiveness. But even as attention spans grow shorter and the need to make decisions becomes frequent – storytelling still endures if done meaningfully.
In my experience, many of the naturally gifted storytellers have three common characteristics. One, they ease into the story. Their segue into sharing of an anecdote is smooth, almost imperceptible. Second, they read the room, edit their narrative ruthlessly and bring out the essence of the story best suited for the context. Third, they know when to shut up and know that every time is not a time for stories.
A few of my team members have a quirky response to moments when someone springs up a story out of context. Once someone has narrated an entire unreleated piece, with a straight face, they say “Who Asked?”. A truly humbling response to many of us, narrators who begin stories every chance we get.
But storytelling is not just only about pulling nuggets and anecdotes from your pocket and laying it on your audience. It is about identifying a coherent theme in your message and introducing it in a logical fashion. This is very similar to a good story with a beginning, a protagonist or two, a villian and of course a successful end or a cliffhanger.
Over the last 7 years in corporate, I have sat through countless presentations and meetings hoping that the speaker would just come to the point and tell me what do they need from me. I have even tried to locate the progress or at least a slide number which would tell me for how long I would have to endure and keep up my pretense of being interested. But there are a few times, when I have been at the edge of my seat, fully invested and curious about what’s coming next. Those times the narrator had something meaningful to say or at least made it look meaningful.
But then
That’s one drawback that one needs to be aware of. Masterful storytelling can often be percieved as manipulative. This is one of the reasons why many folks seem averse to the form of narration. It seems inauthentic, fake and sometimes simply out of context. At times it maybe seen as a deliberate attempt to misdirect the conversation from the real burning issue.
However, that’s a universal problem with words of any kind. If they are not supplemented by actions, words lose meaning. But in order to get to a stage of action, words are necessary. That’s just almost always the first step. In the workplace, you can’t simply move ahead without securing the necessary buy-ins from your stakeholders, no matter how driven by initiative one maybe.
And they lived happily ever after
In the end though, stories endure. Storytelling may still be controversial but the impact of stories is undisputed. Stories when told in any context have the ability to touch us emotionally. They have a power to make you feel more human, less of a resource. Sharing the why behind an action when driving change seems rational enough. But sharing the story that sparked the necessity for change – that can be transformative.
Stories of the past are also gateways to the DNA of the organisation. They often encode the key behaviours which has shaped the culture. Tales of triumph and turning around the organisation through bleak times inspire the next generations. They serve as portals into history.
Overuse of storytelling, however, must be curtailed where necessary. That’s when we turn to leaders, who once adept at using this tool, could guide and help others deploy it meaningfully.