Indian Talent, Global Content
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Indian Talent, Global Content |
August 2008: What's in the breeze |
The Power of Story Telling in Business Communication
I cannot remember how old I was when told my first story, but I do remember one of the first stories I was ever told. It was a bizarre and wildly imaginative tale crafted by my grandmother to drive home a point: Do not swallow your chewing gum! There was a child who always chewed gum and swallowed it and by the end of her umpteenth incident of swallowing there was a great rumbling noise in her tummy. It turned out that a gigantic bubble gum tree had sprouted up in her stomach and it was giving her an awful tummy ache! Her daddy had to finally chop it down and she emerged healthy and happy. But not before there was much tummy rubbing and groaning and many tears shed. A slightly graphic and perhaps dark story, since it involved a bit of suffering, but I loved it! Stories are so enchanting because they touch us in so many different ways and if they are any good they will have a lasting impression. Unfortunately, the power of story telling has not been explored to its full potential. There are pre-conceived notions that delegate this art to the realm of children and of books and there is not enough awareness of how it can impact people in any area of life. We are surrounded by so much information and it is becoming increasingly difficult to absorb this deluge of numbers, facts, concepts, figures and so on. However, the key to effectively disseminating information, that will impact people and help them understand it, is in presenting it in a way that will absorb them and catch their attention. What better way to do this than by weaving even the most mundane into a tale that will involve and hold your audience? Why must story telling be cast aside in a business environment, or while preaching a sermon, or while giving a history lecture, or during a dance lesson? Stories have the power to communicate the abstract, the simple, the factual, the mundane, and so much more by weaving these elements into a sequence of events that the audience feels a part of. An area where storytelling can have a huge impact is in the business arena. Here is a place where persuasion is center stage as it is the focus for any company. Whether it be selling a product to customers, or selling a new idea or plan of action to employees or a board of directors, or signing a contract with a partner or client, a story may just give you an extra edge while driving your point through. Featured in the June 2003 issue of the Harvard Business Review, is an interview with Robert McKee, one of the most renowned Hollywood screenwriters, titled “Storytelling That Moves People.” In the interview McKee highlights the power of stories and how CEOs and other executives can effectively use them. One of the main reasons he believes CEOs should use this art form is because a huge part of their job is to guide and motivate their employees. The way to do this is by “engaging their emotions”. The usual approach most corporate leaders take is what McKee calls an “intellectual process”, which most executives are trained in and conventionally use. We are all familiar with dry Power Point presentations that flash by with a list of numbers and graphs. According to McKee, if one does manage to persuade one’s employees in this way then, “you’ve done so only on an intellectual basis. That’s not good enough, because people are not inspired to act by reason alone.” He suggests the creation of scenarios of possible future events and weaving these into a story. If you have ever seen how including personal anecdotes or experiences and turning dry statistics and numbers into a compelling plot line can truly move an audience, then you will know that McKee is right. Business is not the only area where one can use storytelling. There is no limit to where it can be used. An article in the August 16, 2004 of Time Magazine titled, “The Gospel According to Spiderman”, focused on how Christians are increasingly using the medium of films to spread theological lessons. These new breed of preachers dubbed “cinevangelists” believe that using stories to preach is not new as Jesus used stories and “parables were the equivalent of movies”. The article quotes Robert K. Johnston, a professor of theology and culture at the Fuller Theological Seminary, who believes that this art form is especially important in this day and age because, “As culture has moved from a modern to a postmodern era, we have moved from wanting to understand truth rationally to understanding truth as it is embedded in story.” Movies like Shrek 2 convey a powerful message according to christianitytoday.com. “If we approach others with an aim to change them rather than an aim to know them, to love them and to exemplify a better life for them, we make ourselves ugly with arrogance in the process.” Themes like these are better understood through stories and the cinevangelists realize that a hugely popular medium like cinema can be combined with Christian teachings to have a great impact. You will notice how much more interesting and engaging facts can be when embedded within a story. Dan Brown’s, “The Da Vinci Code”, is an immensely popular bestseller. Part of the reason why his book is so popular is because he creates a nail - biting thriller story, which is interspersed with facts that have a much greater impact than if they were merely presented in a lecture on art. I am not sure how many of the facts presented in his book are actually facts, but it is still an engrossing and highly entertaining way of learning about Leonardo Da Vinci’s work, ancient symbols, goddess worship, and Christianity. Many authors choose to weave in fact with fiction to great effect. Yann Martel in his Booker Prize winning novel, “The Life of Pi”, provides a fantastic story of a young boy called Pi who is a zookeeper’s son. While we read about Pi’s traumatic struggle with his name, his love of God, and his battle on the seas, we also learn about animal behavior through Pi’s extensive knowledge as a zookeeper’s son. All these are examples of how powerful story telling is. Everyone has heard stories of some sort ever since they were children and we can all identify with this art form’s ability to move and inspire. Storytelling should be used extensively in every area of life and its potential should not be restricted. In a world where we believe reason to be all-powerful we tend to forget that a simple tale can move people far more than rationale. Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. Out of 5 “chilies”, our editorial team gave this article...
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