I am officially in the Andy Goodman fan club after attending his “Telling Your Story” workshop hosted by OneOC. Storytelling is an integral part of our history, identity, how we remember and why we give. It is part of the human experience to tell stories. The problem he reminded us is the way we tell them. We need to do less telling and more showing.
If your goal is to educate, persuade or simply connect in a meaningful way with a particular audience, tell a better story. We need to move away from journalistic storytelling to narrative storytelling with a basic three act structure. Your story needs a protagonist (the person we follow), an “inciting incident” followed by multiple barriers the hero must face on his way to the goal. This is the rising action of the story..the “what happens next,” and ultimately there is a resolution – how the story ends.
To help you tell a better story, try answering these questions.
- What is the point you want listeners to take away upon hearing this story?
- What audience would you want to tell this story to?
- Who is the protagonist of your story?
- What does your audience need to know about the protagonist and his/her situation to understand their “world balance” as the story opens?
- What is the “inciting incident” that upsets this balance in some way?
- What is the protagonist’s goal?
- What is the first barrier standing in the protagonist’s way.
- How does your protagonist pursue the goal?
- What is the moment of truth in the story?
- What is the meaning of the story? What do you want the audience to take away?
- How does this story relate to your organization’s work?
For leaders, storytelling is the single most powerful communication tool available. Consider how to use stories to enhance your work leading others on a day-to-day basis. Goodman suggests there are six “core stories” that organizations should master.
- The “Nature of our Challenge” story
- The “How we Started” story
- Emblematic Success stories (what makes the organization unique/different)
- Performance stories – about your people (what it’s like to work here)
- The “Striving to Improve” story (lessons learned)
- “Where we are Going” story (paints a vision for people)
So don’t relegate storytelling to a place outside of work. Embrace storytelling as a powerful communication tool to advance your cause, develop your people and strengthen organizational culture.
