Karen Dietz

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-18-2022

Successful businesses have discovered the power of storytelling and its ability to affect the bottom line. A good way to start building your business stories is to use the time-honored storyboarding technique. There are usually a few ways to tell the same story — the one you choose may depend on the circumstances of the telling, the audience, your intent and goal in telling it, and other factors. Sometimes it can be a challenge to “pull” stories out of your organization so that they can be structured and polished for your purposes, and you may need to use story prompts to dig out the storytelling gold that exists in any company or organization.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

You and you alone have total control over using storied approaches in your daily interactions with others, whether at work or in other social interactions. Here are ten easy things you can do to incorporate them into your work, no matter what you do. Replace questions with story prompts When you desire more specific information than a yes/no response, transform the questions you were planning to ask into story prompts to gain richer context around an issue, problem, or need and to more deeply and quickly develop rapport. Questions only allow sense-making to occur; stories provide the opportunity for meaning-making to occur, for both the teller and the listener. Listen delightedly When you hear a story — and your time allows — listen delightedly to it. That means no interruptions while it’s being told. And it means following up with thoughtful inquiries that get the person to delve into the meaning of the story for themselves. Remember to thank the person for sharing the story with you. Log stories Keep stories of your own experiences handy. Include situations involving your organization and its staff, prospects, and customers. If you want to communicate compelling stories, you first need to capture a few notes about them — and then the raw version of them when your time allows. Catalog them based on their key message, any themes and related layers of meaning in the story, and any other identifying characteristics that are important. This makes finding them easy. Bring stories back to the forefront There are two different types of back stories: those from consumers that build their reputation and yours and those inside your organization that speak to what makes it tick, what challenges it’s faced and overcome, and product and service life-cycles. Both types of stories are often hidden. Bring them forward, especially for marketing and branding purposes. They are also useful in organizational change. Use structure to critique the story There are many types of story structure. When you first capture the raw version of a story, allow it to talk to you. It will tell you which structure seems to fit best. After you take a story from raw to first draft, use this structure to identify which elements may need to be added to it. You may also need to switch the order of some of the content. Go from raw to compelling in your story Turning a draft of a story into a compelling one means getting clear on — and strengthening — its core conflict, unfolding the story arc that surrounds it, bringing characters to life, adding inner and outer dialogue, adding drama and contrast, using lots of sensory information, and paying particular attention to the opening and closing content. Craft a story as though it were being told orally. Practice and be flexible Practice a story alone and also in a story lab, with at least one other person. Doing both allows you to embed the story in your memory and get input on what works and what doesn’t. At the same time, be flexible so that when you tell a story in the work setting, you can shift it based on the reaction of the person or people who are listening to it. Easy to say . . . and hard to do! Tell a story Have a difficult concept to relay? Trouble voicing how a conflict could be successfully resolved? Or getting someone to take action when they haven’t done so and the need is urgent? Search your personal experiences and hip pocket stories for one that has a key message that fits the situation. Then tell it. For maximum impact, go beyond simply sharing an example or narrating a sequence of events. Find ways to use story triggers What symbol or object would help people who hear your story recall it and keep you at the forefront of their mind? Is it something you can give people as you tell the story or afterwards? Think about this for the projects, teams, or sales activities you’re involved with. If you give out a tchotchke, how can you attach a story to it so it triggers recall of you, the story, its key message, and action steps when used or seen by a prospect or customer in the future? Co-create the future through story Jay Heinrichs, in his “blame, values and choice” model says that focusing conversations on the past cause people to blame each other. Focusing them on the present moment may cause conflicts related to values to arise. Only when dialogue speaks to the future does arguing diminish, because choice arises. Future, vision, and dream stories all focus on the future. Co-create them with others to gain commitment to changes and the sorts of actions you’re wanting to spark.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Telecommuting and working virtually across the country or even the globe are popular and often necessary today in many workplaces. You can use storytelling to reduce the distance among virtual team members. Story prompts and triggers can be useful in bringing out these stories. Here’s how: Get to know each other. One way to do that is through a “check-in” at the beginning of a meeting. Give each member 30 to 60 seconds to tell a top-of-mind anecdote in the phone call, followed by the words, “I’m checked in.” You can also have members share a photo as a story trigger. One leader who had team members worldwide ran a short slide show depicting photos from a family reunion prior to the start of a GoToMeeting conference call. As people signed on, they couldn’t help but comment on what they were watching and share stories about their own experiences. To strengthen personal connections, try these prompts: “Tell us about a recent outing you took. Tell us about a fun time that you recently had with friends or family. Tell us about the favorite part of your last vacation. Tell us about the most interesting thing that happened to you this last week.” Go deep into topics. On the meeting agenda, include story prompts that people can reflect on in advance. These could be about some aspect of a project that everyone is working on, an issue that needs to be resolved, or something about increasing effectiveness as a team. Make sure everyone knows how important their work is to the end results — and make sure everyone knows how to listen to these stories when they are shared. Stay connected between virtual meetings. Establish a group on Yammer or LinkedIn or Facebook or another company-approved site that allows team members to interact, share stories and photos about themselves, and coordinate work. Use Google+ Hangouts or other face-to-face technologies to swap stories and build relationships. Acknowledge achievements. When celebrating birthdays and major life events and offering recognition and rewards for work well done, share a story related to these achievements. By promoting the team in this way, you’ll raise the level of team member motivation. When your team does have the opportunity to gather together in person, make sure that everyone has a chance to share at least one story about them personally to strengthen relationships. Why connecting in the workplace is important According to the book Uniting the Virtual Workforce by Kren Sobel Lojeski and Richard R. Reilly (John Wiley & Sons, 2008) some virtual work environments can create highly dissatisfied employees and terrible morale due to virtual distance. Virtual distance is created when people rely way too much on electronic tools to communicate. When this happens, their research shows a 50 percent decline in finishing projects on time, a 90 percent drop in innovation, an 80 percent drop in work satisfaction, and an 83 percent drop-off in trust. What creates these disastrous results? Simply put: the lack of connecting and communicating in ways that promote stable and trusted relationships. What happens when businesspeople can connect When companies focus on reducing virtual distance, Lojeski and Reilly demonstrated that results skyrocket: Innovation increased by 93 percent, trust improved by 83 percent, job satisfaction by 80 percent, clarity about roles by 62 percent, on time and budget performances by 50 percent, and helping behaviors by almost 50 percent. Now that’s a case for business storytelling!

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Why should you care about the title for a story? For oral storytelling, it really doesn’t matter because the title is mainly a memory aid for you only. Probably most story titles are thought up solely for this purpose. On the other hand, if you’re a blogger, journalist, professional writer, small business owner, or a branding or marketing expert who’s responsible for placing stories into a story bank or into various media, what you use as the title for a story is very important. An effective story title is all about three outcomes: getting people to read it, having it pop up in online searches (which means the title needs to be short and include useful keywords), or getting others to remember it and its key message. Given that the story may be housed within a longer article, newsletter, report, website, or blog post, you have two titles to worry about: The title for the story and the title for the larger piece. The following ideas focus on the story title, but they could also work for the broader headline title if the piece is going online. Use numbers or lists in story titles Despite how overused they are, using numbers in a story title draws attention to it. When you use this approach, though, at all costs resist the urge to reduce your story to a bulleted list. If you use a story title such as “My Amazing Adventure: Learning Five Tips for Better Storytelling” or “Ten Things I Keep Forgetting When Crafting Stories,” make sure you’re actually telling a story. Start your story title with curiosity words or a question Write a phrase that piques readers’ curiosity and makes them feel as if they’re going to miss out on something if they don’t read your story. Here’s one example: “My Discovery of the Hidden Truth About Business Stories.” Use grabber words in the title that offer a rationale for reading, such as: secrets, ways, methods, techniques, principles, reasons, lessons, ideas, and similar enticements — such as The Reason I Started a Business With $36. When crafting a two-part title to a story, have the first half create an emotional connection with your reader and the second half give a reason using words such as how/how to and why. An example is the book Wake Me Up When the Data Is Over: How Organizations Use Stories to Drive Results (Jossey-Bass, 2006). In a story title, when using how/how to and why, these words might be used in the following ways: “Why My Business Stories Spark Change” or “How I Doubled My Profits with Business Storytelling.” Questions are another way to trigger curiosity. When asked a question, people often want to know the answer. Frank Sherwood’s story “What’s It Going to Take?” is a good example. If it were used as a story title online, consider adding a few words to it to target readers and search engines. Something like “What Does it Really Take to Make a Sale?” might work. Use adjectives when writing the name for your business story Ask yourself whether your story title would benefit from interesting adjectives such as awesome, wonderful, beautiful, excellent, free, powerful, valuable, unique, easy, fun, and the like. For more ideas, check out Richard Bayan’s book Words That Sell: More than 6000 Entries to Help You Promote Your Products, Services, and Ideas (McGraw-Hill, 2006). Create urgency with your storytelling Would your story title benefit from creating a sense of urgency? Try a title like “A Surprising Way to Quickly Close a Sales Deal.” Using a title like this suggests to your reader that they read your story before they engage in an activity. Share benefits in your business story If you want someone to read your story because you want to convert them to a point of view or into a customer, consider writing a story title that includes a benefit. The story about grassroots homelessness action called “It’s Not About Shelters” could become “It’s Not About Shelters: How to Save Millions on Homelessness.” Use a line, metaphor, or theme when storytelling If there’s a line from the story that’s catchy and fits these suggestions, incorporate it into your title. Or use the theme of your story to help you write your headline. Limit story titles to 65 characters Book, article, and story titles are often longer than 65 characters. With social media, if you want the entire title to show up in Google search results and be quickly and easily shared on Twitter (think going viral), creating short punchy titles is important. Google truncates long headlines when posting search results, which means 65 characters is all you have to play with. If you want to entice people to read the story, they need to see the full title. With proper Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the full title can become searchable within a longer article. Moreover, 65 characters can easily fit into an e-mail newsletter subject line. What not to do in your business story name Never write a headline or story title that contains your key message because doing so telegraphs the ending of the story. Also never write a headline or story title like “Jane Doe Speaks About Storytelling.” That’s boring. Instead, write “Jane Doe Shares How She Learned to Create Raving Fans with Stories.” Additional resources for business storytelling To help you title your stories, check out the book POP!: Create the Perfect Pitch, Title, and Tagline for Anything by Sam Horn (Perigee Trade, 2009). You can also use a title generator, such as Tweak Your Biz Title Generator..

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Highly technical audiences like to know the science behind storytelling before accepting it as a core business practice. Sharing all kinds of data with them may be tempting, but would defeat your purpose of demonstrating how powerful stories can be. It’s not that you don’t want to share data — but you want to do it in a way that reinforces the fact that stories not only create understanding, they also create meaning and knowledge transfer. So you need to take the data and tell the story about it. Here’s an example — an exercise in storifying an academic research article called “Speaker–listener neural coupling underlies successful communication” by Greg J. Stephens, Lauren J. Silbert, and Uri Hasson (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010). You can read the article itself. It’s not a perfect story (for example, there’s no character dialogue), but it contains many of the elements needed to turn narrative into a story, something like the following: It’s been hard for me to explain the power of storytelling in scientific terms to the business world. Only recently has research proven storytelling’s value without a doubt. As you can imagine, this has been quite an issue for a practitioner like me. For years, I’ve been hoping and wishing for scientists to take brain scans of what happens to people when one person is telling a story at the very same time that someone else is listening to the story as it’s being told. Guess what? A few years ago, my wish came true. Three scientists at Princeton University took brain scans of a storyteller sharing a story. At the very same time they took brain scans of a person listening to that same story. And they did this all in real-time. For the purpose of our conversation today, let’s say Joe’s the storyteller and Ann is the listener. As Joe was sharing a story, the majority of the areas of his brain lit up. Not just a small part of his brain, but a large part got stimulated by the story. As Ann was listening to the story, the majority of her brain also lit up. This happened really fast for both of them — it took no more than a nanosecond. Before you draw any conclusions, you need to know that there was one big difference between Joe and Ann’s brain. One additional area of Ann’s brain as the listener got activated. This was the part that anticipated what was coming next. This is one reason why storytelling is so enjoyable to listeners like Ann. Imagine her sitting the edge of her chair, wondering what’s coming next. What key points do these brain scans bring out? We now know that storytelling makes an immediate and powerful connection between two people. It stimulates the majority of the brain for both tellers and listeners. And we now know that story listeners are indeed engaged. This demonstrates both the complexity and the richness of storytelling as a communication vehicle. When I first read this article, I said, “Yes! Stories forge connections.” It validated my personal experience of what I’ve seen when stories are shared between people. I suspect it validates your experiences, too. It’s great to know that science is finally able to confirm why storytelling has been our preferred way of communicating for more than 100,000 years. If this research interests you, I’ve provided the link to the article so you can check it out and confirm how stories connect tellers and listeners —and read the other insights that this article offers. It’s my hope that you too will share with others what you discover. How can you do that? The following sections contain some tips. Make it personal Begin by sharing a personal experience about the information — something that others can relate to. You can share a frustration or a desire you want fulfilled. Avoid data dumps Notice the story shared the results of the article — not its statistics or numerical data. Sharing those would’ve made it longer and more complex, possibly losing the audience in the process. Find ways to do the same with your data. That being said, there are times when you do need to share some numbers — such as reporting quarterly bottom line results. If you have to share a lot of numbers, follow the next point. Make the data small and the story big Keep the amount of data you share in the right proportion to the story. You can even open with an interesting data point, as long as you spend more time sharing the story about the data right after doing so. Think about delivering your information this way: a piece of your story and then some data, the story of the research with a bit more data, and then ending your story with perhaps another small piece of data that supports the key message, if applicable. In this way, not only have you shared a story, but you’ve added in the most essential facts to help make your point. Make it easy on your listeners Interpret the data for listeners. Tell them what it means and why you think it’s important. Sharing your story of the data will help them connect the data to an experience they’ve had. People are hardwired to take data and connect it to one of the stories running around in their heads. They do this so they can understand it and make it meaningful. Don’t make listeners work hard by just presenting the data without also presenting your interpretation. Figure out your point in sharing the data The main point about the brain research mentioned earlier is to understand what happens in the brain during storytelling — namely, that stories forge connections. Which makes storytelling a very powerful experience. Note that the story also added an action step at the end, which was an invitation to read the actual article, so that listeners could gain more insight and also share their knowledge about what they learned with others. Data is like a box of chocolates — it’s best to digest it a little at a time. Find a way to tell the story about what the data personally means to you, why you’re sharing it, what the research indicates, what to do about it, and what the opportunity might be. Then close with an action step or two. Not only will people remember the information you shared and the stories you told, they’ll be able to repeat it and walk away equipped to take action. And in the process, you build up your credibility and cement your reputation.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Organizations use and tell lots of different types of stories, many of which are listed here. Each type is appropriate for various unique uses and applications. Story prompts are things you say to someone else in order to draw out the story. Name and Definition Possible Story Prompts or Steps to Craft These Stories “Your founding” stories: Moments in your life that made a huge difference in who you are today. Sometimes people talk about these as I finally realized who I am or Here’s when I began to feel comfortable in my own skin situations. “An event surrounding your birth may be of huge significance. Enlighten me about a time like this.” “Share with me a memory about an early childhood situation that defines you to this day.” “Tell me about an event that has profoundly shaped you as a person.” “Tell me about that moment when you just knew you needed to pursue the career or business you have today.” “Organizational founding” stories: Every organization has a unique founding story about its inception and which problem it originally was focused on solving. This type of story includes stories about the founder and/or key leaders. Ask the founders: “Tell me about that moment which motivated you to start the organization. Or about a problem that you couldn’t solve that led you to start this organization. Or about an experience that compelled you to conceive this organization.” If it’s your own company: “Tell me about that moment when you clearly knew you had to open your own business. Or about an experience you had earlier in life that led you to create this organization.” If your organization has been around for a long time: If no one recalls how it started, dig into archives and old newspaper clippings. If you work for a government agency: The founding story may be buried in legislative materials or the creation of a law. Go find that stuff and piece together the story. If you can, interview those who may have been involved at the time. If the company has completely reinvented itself: “Tell me about the event or situation that was a key turning point in the organization.” For existing products and services: Figure out who was responsible for their creation. “Tell me about the situation, or series of situations, that caused you to invent XYZ.” If you’re working on a new offering or innovation: Keep track of what sparked the effort. Then craft a story about it. “What you stand for” stories: Stories that relay what you value and prize the most. They may come from experiences in your personal life or within a work setting unrelated to where you’re employed today. “Tell me about a situation that caused you to realize you hold strongly to a specific value in life.” “Paint for me a picture of a time in your life where you were very clear about what’s essential to your ethical well-being.” “Enlighten me about a time when a principle you hold became non-negotiable for you.” “What the organization stands for” stories: Stories that depict how core values are embodied in your workplace. These aren’t stories to say that your organization has values. Convey what’s done to actualize these values. If you’re an entrepreneur wanting to distill what your firm stands for: Identify up to ten values that are critically important to how you want to run your firm. Then systematically collect stories of how your organization embodies them. If you have feedback from customers, members, patients, clients, and so on: Pull out situations that appear to exemplify the values these individuals feel are important in how your organization interfaces with them. Craft stories around these experiences. If your organization has been around for several years: Ask long-tenured employees: “Tell me about a time when the business operated in such a way that what’s highly prized came to the surface.” Or: “Tell me about a time when qualities we most prize came through in our interactions with customers.” Or: “Tell me about a time when what we most prize about our business products or services was clearly demonstrated.” “What you do” stories: Stories about memorable moments in your work life that define how you spend your time told in a way that allows others to experience what you do as an individual. These stories include both successses and failures. “Tell me about a time when you were influenced by a mentor or coach and how that shaped the way you view your work.” “Paint me a picture of a memorable moment in your career that’s impacted your perception of the work that you do.” “Enlighten me about an event that’s profoundly impacted you as a person and how this is reflected in your work.” “Tell me about the personal legacy that you’re leaving through the work that you do.” “Tell me a story about your work that reflects its ultimate importance.” “What the enterprise does” stories: Stories about the why of what the organization believes in (this isn’t to make a profit). “Tell me a story about the why behind what you, as staff, are collectively paid to do as an organization.” “Talk to me about a customer challenge that demonstrates what drives your business.” “Enlighten me about a situation that demonstrates the impact your organization has on the lives of individuals or the community.” “Visualize and tell me about a specific moment in time that revealed to you and your colleagues the importance of the work you all do.” “Personal vision” stories: An image of a possible, attractive, and desirable state not yet realized. (This is a type of “future” story.) Consider journaling stories related to the following prompts. Then step back and observe what they’re telling you in sum total: Tell yourself about a time when you truly expressed your passions. Or paint a picture of what you see yourself doing for the rest of your life. Or create in your mind’s eye a story about what you envision your legacy will be. “Personal scenario” stories: Whenever you have a decision to make, you roll through multiple options. You can craft stories around these scenarios. (This is a type of “future” story) Select a complex decision that you need to make — an issue that has significant consequences or is fuzzy somehow. Brainstorm at least three options. For each option, craft the story of what the outcome would look like if it were to be realized. Then step back and figure out which story best depicts the outcome that best suits the situation. “Dream” stories: A personal story about the future of a project, business, product, service, or enterprise. (This is a type of “future” story.) If you’re a leader, your job is to offer people a dream and allow them to articulate their version of it. Sometimes these dreams emerge from seeing what’s possible in the future. Sometimes the dream comes from the past — a video of a talk from a leader who has since died, an unrealized project, archived materials, or the organization’s founding. “Organizational future” stories: The story of the future that you and your business’s customers, by being in relationship with each other, create to bring about a difference in the world. It’s a story of the better future that you’re advancing together, along with what you’re doing now to achieve it. This story is based on the organization’s vision, strategies, and goals coming to fruition at some future specified date. It expands a vision statement into a full-blown situation, with characters and conflicts that are overcome. To aid in doing this, you may want to conduct interviews with future-thinking customers, vendors, and others who know your organization, and the difference your products and services are making and could make in people’s lives. “Project-specific future” stories Similar to an organizational future story, a project-specific future story is based on what life will be like when the vision and project plan are fully implemented and operationalized. “Organizational-based scenario” stories Consider the approach used by the 2020 Media Futures Project. You can download several reports that outline their approach. “Your personal success” stories “Share with me a memory about a time when you achieved a major personal success that was unexpected.” “Tell me about a time when you set out to do something and found success beyond your wildest dreams.” “Enlighten me about a time in your personal life when you stumbled into a wildly successful situation.” “Tell me about a time when you consciously decided to become successful at something and, against all odds, reached your goal.” “Organizational success” stories If you’re an entrepreneur: Talk to your customers. Pull the stories out of them by saying: “Tell me about a significant success you were able to achieve with the assistance that you received.” If you have customers, members, patients, clients, and so on: Draw out testimonials and thank yous and turn them into success stories. You may need to re-contact these individuals for more input. If your organization has been around for several years: Go back into the archives and search for past successes that no one is talking about anymore. They are timeless. Craft stories around them and make them visible. They may be just the spark that’s needed internally to motivate a stalled team and externally to boost sales. If you have long-tenured employees: Have them tell you about a memorable success that they helped create. Or a situation that was highly successful that didn’t get enough air time. Or about a rock star employee sparking a significant business success. If you have sales professionals: Ask for their favorite success stories — the ones that turn prospects into buyers. “Overcoming personal barriers” stories “Share with me a memory about a time when you overcame a major life hurdle.” “Tell me about a time when you found yourself surrounded by so many obstacles that you thought you’d never be able to dig yourself out — but you did.” “Enlighten me about a time in your personal life when you stumbled into a wildly successful situation.” “Tell me about a time when you consciously decided to become successful at something and against all odds reached your goal.” “Overcoming organizational barriers” stories “Tell me about a time when an employee saved the day.” “Tell me about a major obstacle on a project and how it was resolved.” “Enlighten me about a situation where a group went the extra mile to satisfy a customer.” “Build me a story about a huge, unexpected challenge that arose and what was done to rectify it.” Go back through the organization’s archives and find situations where the entire firm or a single brand offering was compromised and what was done to overcome that. Then craft stories to help others appreciate these situations. “Your memorable customer” stories “Share with me a memory about an experience that made you say, ‘Wow. That was awesome service.’” “Tell me about a time when you were shocked at how a customer issue you were having was resolved.” “Enlighten me about a situation in your personal life when an employee went above and beyond the call of duty to delight you.” “Your organization’s memorable customer” stories: Stories about people you work with day in and day out and how they solved a customer’s problem, went the extra mile, overcame an obstacle to meet a customer need, and the like. These stories may also come from your customers. From employees: “Tell me about a time when a customer used our product or service and had a huge win. Or a situation where a customer used our product or service and saved the day in their company or were able to overcome a significant obstacle.” From customers: “Tell me about a time when you used our product or service and had a huge win. Or a situation where you used our product or service and saved the day in your company or were able to overcome a significant obstacle.” Stories from sponsors, funders, or supporters: Stories of how their contributions made a difference to them and to your organization and include the results that came from their support. 1. Share stories (not statistics and information) with them about how their actions led to specific results. 2. Ask them for the story of what led to their support. Listen delightedly. 3. Ask them what that support or funding has meant to them. 4. Ask them if they’d be willing to share their overall story with others so that additional people might also support your program, project, organization, or nonprofit. This story is not about the kind of support they provided or how much money they gave. It’s really about how they worked together with you to create an amazing result. “Now” stories: These stories bring together pain points, opportunities, and obstacles to heighten urgency and stimulate action right now when seeking support or funding. Gather stories from end users about their pain points. You’ll have to decide whether you start with these or with a story about the compelling business value opportunity. Be careful about how you relay data here. “Your” stories: These stories highlight why you are passionate about solving a particular problem or supporting a cause. These stories disclose the risks of not moving forward. They may include end-user input about the dangers of remaining at status quo. If people don’t know who you are and why you’re involved, they won’t know why you’re asking for resources. Nor will they have a reason to trust you. “Our” stories: These stories of inclusion put forth what you and the sponsor, supporter, or funder can accomplish together. (This is a type of “future” story.) Convey what’s made possible by working together that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. “Back” stories (from consumers): Stories that build their reputation and yours as well. Request customer stories. Reach out to folks who comment about your organization on social media. Create online communities for people to exchange stories Find existing online communities and seed them with story prompts. Seed a conversation and allow consumers to actively join in and co-create the rest of the story. “Back” stories (insider stories): Stories about what makes your organization tick and challenges it has faced and overcome — and/or stories associated with a product or service’s entire life-cycle, from beginning to end. This set of “supply chain” stories also reflects your organization’s values. Here’s how to find the story behind your product or service offering: 1. Reveal the inspiration or “a-ha” moment behind creating the product or service. Tell the story about the idea that created it or the need or issue that caused it to be brought into your business to sell. 2. Relay stories about how consumers can use the product or service in their lives 3. Tell stories about how a product is made or how a service transpires. Share pictures that document these processes. Place them on your firm’s website or in a retail store. Knowing the story behind age-old processes that are used to create the offering makes it desirable on a very different level. 4. Show the workmanship and quality inherent in the product if that’s what helps makes it special. If people only see a photo of a scarf or a pile of rugs, it might not be of interest to them or worth the money. “Target market” stories: Stories about the market segments you serve and/or stories about the prospect’s organization. Get intimate with the biggest pain points and what’s changing in the industry, the solutions that potential buyers are seeking, as well as the opportunities that exist within these segments in the future: 1. Personal stories, based on experiences you’ve had with products or services offered within the market segment — or those of your family or close friends. 2. Stories that you specifically craft after reviewing industry-specific or demographics-specific information on each target market. 3. Stories from current customers in the markets you want to continue to serve, or even one customer in a new market. Learn everything you can about the prospect’s organization in the time you have available. What’s its founding story? Are there any stories about its core values in action? What folklore is often shared about the enterprise? What stories are current in the news media? “Target audience” stories: What you know about the prospect(s) you’re meeting/chatting with What can you learn about the people you’ll be speaking to? Their likes and dislikes? Where did they grow up and go to school? Who do they know that you may also know? What hobbies do they have? Find stories that relate to what you learn. Social media sites are a great resource to find this kind of information. Reach out to friends and colleagues who may know these people. Stories about past failures (for use in prospecting) There are two types of “failure” stories: those about prospects who chose not to embrace what your organization has to offer (especially those who elected to do nothing) and those customers who didn’t fully utilize, follow, or implement what you provided to them. Why do you want to tell these stories to prospects? The first one speaks to the risks of doing nothing. The second is an opportunity for you to talk about what can happen if customers misuse a product, don’t properly implement a service, or ignore your advice. It’s also a chance to talk about how you recover customers when things go awry. Stories about pain and urgency (for use in organizational change) “Ain’t it awful” stories: These are real stories of the struggles and challenges that people face because of broken systems, inefficient processes, marketplace threats, consequences for customers, and so on. Connect these struggles to the organization’s potential fate. These stories reinforce the fact that maintaining the status quo isn’t workable. Distress about the way things currently work provides motivation, more so than the vision of what’s possible. “From the future” stories: Go into the future. Do an environmental scan looking out five to ten years. Identify trends, threats, and wildcards — highly unlikely events that would have huge impact if they were to happen. Craft stories for your change based on this information. “Change is possible” stories: Stories about people surviving a personal or organizational change that’s significant to them. “Tell me about a time when you were faced with an unexpected change in your life and what you did to get you through it successfully.” “Tell me about a time in your life when you greatly resisted a change and, when you embraced it, many opportunities presented themselves.” “Tell me about a time when a group you were part of (in the organization or elsewhere) went through a big change that no one thought could be accomplished — yet it was successful — and what made that possible.” “Identify what needs to get done to solve problems” stories (for use in organizational change) 1. Evoke stories about the challenges people face around a specific issue. 2. Learn how they currently get around or overcome those challenges. 3. Gather their best ideas to solve the problem. “Pinpoint and mitigate risks” stories (for use in organizational change) “Tell me about some of the risks you’ve experienced that we might need to address if we change XYZ. “Tell me a story about a risk you think could possibly happen during our change effort.” “Tell me about a time during another change effort at the company when you stumbled upon an unforeseen risk and what happened as a result.” “Obtain the resources you need in a change” stories (for use in organizational change) “Tell me about an experience you’re now facing with this change that requires resources that weren’t budgeted up front.” “Now that you have the resources you need, tell me about how they made a significant difference in moving this change forward.” “Tell me about a situation where you shared resources outside your group to create a win-win for everyone.” “Adapt as we go” stories (for use in organizational change) Stories about course corrections that happen once the organization gets deep into the change. “Best practice” stories (for use in organizational change) “Tell me a story about something that happened in [xx] phase of the change that really made an impact on you (or your team or department).” “Tell me about the most important (or significant or moving) story you’ve heard about this change project.” “Tell us about a situation in which you gained a personal insight about this change that will continue to influence how you approach your work long-term.” “Tell me a story about a specific action that you (or your team or department) took that really helped to solidify the change.” “Tell me about something that happened in this change that you would suggest not repeating in a future change initiative.”

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

If you want to develop and deliver a memorable story to your business audience — whether your listeners be employees, stockholders, or customers — you need to consider how to shape your storytelling. Here are some ways in which you might build your business story for maximum impact. Name Structure Comments “I’m Better Off” Main character gets in trouble, then gets out of trouble, and ends up better off for the experience. Story of struggle and redemption — of losing everything and gaining something better in return. A bankruptcy, being let go from a job, losing a home, or making major mistakes and recovering from them. “Highlight Both Loss and Gain” Main character falls in love with a business or opportunity or is doing work that fulfills their dreams — loses it when something puts those dreams on hold — and then regains it. This is a very common business story. What makes it different than “I’m Better Off” is that there’s a dream that starts the story, which is followed by loss. “The Cinderella Down-and-Out Story” The main character is in a bad spot. A special helper provides gifts, but then the character loses their good standing. Eventually that good standing is restored, and the character gains incredible bliss. The most popular story in Western civilization. In business, this could be a story of dissatisfying work and living in desperation. Then a mentor comes along and transforms the person’s life, but circumstances still hold the character back. These are eventually resolved which leads to the character’s dreams being realized. SHARES Start with a setting (“I was sitting at my desk . . .”), followed by the hindrance or obstacle that’s creating a problem. The action that was taken is given next, followed by the result. The teller then provides a statement evaluating the experience (“this made me think about . . .”), ending with suggested actions. This is a very useful structure to use when time is limited. It’s particularly helpful during interviews. Or in e-mail newsletters and on blogs where space is short. PARLAS Start by presenting the problem. Then work your way through the action taken to solve the problem, what the result was, what was learned in the process (“what I learned from this was . . .”), how that learning applies to today, and ending with suggested actions for your audience. This is a very useful structure to use when time is limited. It’s particularly helpful during interviews. Or in e-mail newsletters and on blogs where space is short. CHARQES Start with laying out the context — what was happening and why. Then the challenge is presented, what action was taken comes next, followed by the result in quantifiable numbers. After this, the teller gives an evaluation of the experience and finally provides suggested actions to take. This is a very useful structure to use when time is limited. It’s particularly helpful during interviews. Or in e-mail newsletters and on blogs where space is short. CCARLS Start with the context of the issue (similar to CHARQES). Then the challenge is presented, the action that was taken is brought in, and the result is provided — along with the lesson. Suggested actions are given at the end. This is a very useful structure to use when time is limited. It’s particularly helpful during interviews. Or in e-mail newsletters and on blogs where space is short. “Open with an Opportunity” Present a possibility — a dream, a promise — based on what’s known to be true today. Follow this with the obstacle that’s preventing this possibility from happening, how others have already helped to (partially) remove the obstacle (if indeed that’s the case), and the action steps your audience can take to overcome it. This is a powerful structure for nonprofits and companies involved in social change. “Speak to the Why” 1. State a problem that the product or service addresses. 2. The first “why” is: Why is that important? Because . . . 3. The second “why”: Why is that important? Because . . . 4. The third “why”: Why is that important? Because . . . 5. The fourth “why”: Why is that important? Because . . . 6. The fifth “why”: Why is that important? Because . . . 7. The ultimate “why” is: Because . . . Use in marketing to get at a product or service story. Example: 1. Our product makes stinky sneakers smell better. 2. Because stinky sneakers turn people off. 3. Because when they’re turned off to you, they won’t want to hang around you. 4. Because if they don’t want to hang around you, you can’t get to know them. 5. Because if you can’t get to know them, you can’t date them. 6. Because if you can’t date them, you won’t get one to marry you. 7. The ultimate “why”: If you have smelly sneakers, you’ll never find your mate (and never get married). “Leverage the Underdog” 1. Describe the significant struggle that the person has experienced. 2. Insert a hint of hope. 3. Share the moment of deliverance from the struggle. 4. Provide the key message. 5. Reference back to the implied action steps or attitudes if this can be done appropriately. 6. Show how your organization is celebrating the success. People love underdogs. Think Superman, Spiderman, and other favorite heroes who experience deliverance. Hint: We’re all heroes who’ve experienced deliverance. And many of your customers are underdogs who have overcome and persevered. Hope is the ultimate message. “Present-Future” 1. Start out by painting the picture of the current reality. 2. Introduce the first turning point — the urgent call to do things differently. 3. State what could be. 4. Outline what is (based on another part of step 1). 5. State another example of what could be. 6. Outline what is (based on another part of step 1). 7. State another example of what could be. 8. Outline what is (based on another part of step 1). 9. Introduce the second turning point — the call to action — and articulate the finish line and problem resolution. These are action steps that will resolve shortcomings in the current reality and bring about the future. 10. End on a higher plane. Have proof of a happy ending to share so folks know their hard work, dedication, commitment, and perseverance will pay off. They’ll have a greater commitment to taking action knowing it won’t be easy, but worth it. This structure is very useful when presenting a project that you want people to support or become a part of. And it’s a great structure to use when launching change.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Storyboarding is a nonlinear way to craft and learn your business stories. Here are the steps to creating an effective one. If you’ve been crafting your stories in other ways, try this approach for variety. It may stimulate a more creative flow. Steps Instructions Comments Step 1 Grab a pad of Post-It notes, a stack of 3 × 5 cards, and something to write with. If your story is very long, it can help to break up sections by using different colored 3 × 5 cards. Step 2 Start with an image or a trigger word. What’s the first image that brings your story to mind? What’s the first image you want to convey to listeners? Some images may be too complex to draw. But a simple trigger word generates an image in the mind. So feel free to generate a mix of images and trigger words. Draw the image or write the trigger word on a Post-It and stick it to a 3 × 5 card. This isn’t about art! Just scribble what you need to so you can remember the image or word. If you don’t like what you drew or the selected word, rip off the Post-It and write a new one. That’s a lot cheaper than recycling 3 × 5 cards. For stories to be authentically shared, don’t memorize them by rote. Spend time figuring out the images and trigger words you want to convey and put them in the order you want so you can share the story. Having a solid launch makes the rest of the story easier to tell. If you can see the image, you can convey it to your listeners. The job of the storyteller, when telling, is to feed the listener images to feast on. Focusing on images is an easy way to both remember the story and trigger the experience in your listeners’ minds. When you’re re-experiencing the story, your listeners can experience it with you. Step 3 Continue through the rest of the story. Keep drawing images and/or scribbling trigger words until you’ve gone through the entire story. By the end you should have a full image deck. Don’t worry about how many cards you have at this point. Just get the images down in the order you think they go in. The size of the deck can get large if it’s a long story. Rubber band sets of them together if you need to. Step 4 By yourself, review the story and eliminate extraneous details. Keep it simple. Boil the story down to its essential images. In the first pass you might create a card for every piece and detail of the story. That can easily become overwhelming. Now is the time to start winnowing down the pile to make it manageable and easier to remember. Step 5 Speak the story out loud. Rearrange the images as you need to. You may also find that an image or trigger word you discarded becomes important again. Add it back in. Likewise, some other images can be eliminated. Once you start speaking the story out loud, the order of the images may change. This is normal as you recall what happened and figure out how the story wants to be told. Step 6 Images need transitions to get the listener from one place in the story to the next. Solidify these transitions. Write them out, if necessary. These are usually very short — typically a simple sentence. It can often help to memorize these transitions. Transitions help get you to the story’s key message. If you’re clear about them, then you have flexibility in how you share your experiences. They allow you to tell the story in different ways to different audiences while still remembering the steps you took to get to the key point. Step 7 Practice, practice, practice. Practice the story out loud. Get used to hearing your story being spoken. Take your image deck out for a walk, telling your story out loud as you work through your cards. Or speak it while on a treadmill. Time your story as you practice and walk with it. Share your story with a trusted partner. In this step you’re learning to tell the story by moving from image to image, and using your transitions to get from one place to another. As you speak it out loud and with trusted friends, make further adjustments as you figure out what’s working and what you want to fix. Speaking your story out loud as you walk or use a treadmill are terrific ways to build the story into you physically, while training you to tell it in spite of distractions. This is how you begin to know physically what 10 minutes feels like. Or 3 minutes. If you only have 3 minutes or 10 minutes to share your story, building in this internal time clock is invaluable — especially when a clock or timer isn’t available. And how often do you glance at your watch when telling a story? Hardly ever. If you do this physical step, you won’t need to. Step 8 Practice and tell your story without the cards. Yeah! You’ve arrived. You know your story. You know the order of the images so you can tell it well and with confidence. Your transitions flow and the key message and following action steps are delivered flawlessly. Now you can tell that story in different ways by simply reordering the cards, finding new transitions, and maybe even sharing a different key point and/or action steps. Just keep having fun!

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

You have many opportunities to use stories in marketing your business. Figuring out what to share and where to share it are tactical feats. But tactics will only take you so far. Better to first think strategically and then build a story strategy that includes these tactics. Base the strategy on these four interconnected I’s: immersion, interactivity, integration, and impact. Immersion: Through marketing stories, you’re creating both experiences and entertainment. When hearing or reading a story, listeners become immersed in the story world being shared. What steps are you taking to invite people into your organization’s stories? In return, what are you doing to become immersed in the stories they share? Interactivity: Create situations where people can both immerse themselves in the story and interact with it to affect its outcome. How might this happen? They can write their own ending and share it (or choose a different ending), share a story from a character’s perspective, create different plots for how the story should go, or create a parody of the story to share. You can also offer interactivity through additional links, videos, maps, and the like to relay different facets of the story. Integration: Seamlessly connect stories across all marketing platforms. Don’t replicate stories in different media; share different parts of the story in different media using a unified original story line. That means you need to decide on the messages, values, and qualities that need to cross all media channels. For example: Tell the main story of a product or service in one media, stories from customers elsewhere, and employee back stories about the process in another channel. Here’s another example using the Cinderella fairy tale. Tell the popular tale on one channel. Have the Fairy Godmother tell her side of the story on another channel. On a third channel, Prince Charming delivers his take on the story. Link all stories together online so they feed each other. Are you thinking of your marketing stories in this way? What theme or themes can you use to link them together and create integration? Impact: What kinds of emotional, social, and psychological impacts are your organization’s stories having on people? Using quantitative and qualitative measuring tools is important here. Are marketing stories offering action steps for these folks to take based on what they learn by engaging with these stories? Always remember that the degree of impact connects back to the strategies and storytelling techniques being used to accomplish immersion, interactivity, and integration.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Two critical listening behaviors are: Giving your total attention to the person who’s telling you a story and not interrupting the flow of the story as it’s being told to you, even if it’s unclear or the details seem out of order. Here are a few more listening tips: Stay away from disrupting the story “Most conversations are just alternating monologues. The question is, is there any real listening going on?” — Leo Buscaglia, author and lecturer on human potential Most conversations are monologues. You aren’t really listening. You’re usually caught up in what you’re going to say in response. To truly be present in the moment, you need to quiet this internal chatter. You also need to put down your pen or stop clicking away at your keyboard as you listen to the story part of a conversation. Note taking can also be a huge distraction to the teller of the story. Immerse yourself in the total experience of the story. Listen delightedly Storytelling coach Doug Lipman calls the type of listening we’d like you to engage in listening delightedly. To listen delightedly (when you’re in person or even when using Skype or FaceTime), do all the things we’ve mentioned so far, plus the following: Make eye contact (unless this is culturally unacceptable). Lean in towards the person. Display genuine interest in your body language and facial expressions. Express emotions as appropriate (laughter, sorrow, and so on). Don’t fill the pauses with words, unless it’s to say, “Go on” or “Tell me more.” Use gestures, like hand movements, that encourage the person to continue talking. What about when you’re on the phone? Picture the other person in front of you. Don’t you dare put yourself on mute so you can multi-task. You’ll soon tune out, and the other person will know it. Respond after you’ve finished listening Let’s first talk about what you shouldn’t do right after someone tells you a story: Launch into your own story. Say, “I understand what happened. If I was in your shoes, I would have done it this way ….” Offer advice on what to do next. In each case, you’re shifting the conversation back to being about you. And you’re subtly undermining the other person and inducing one-upmanship. Instead, express some form of appreciation. It can be as simple as saying, “Thank you for sharing your story with me.” If you feel inclined, you may want to add an empathic statement. Maximize meaning and value You’re not done listening yet. There are several more steps in the process of empowering those you’ve evoked stories from to feel that they engaged in a great conversation. Ask reflective questions Reflective questions (or statements) allow you to make and gain meaning. It follows that instead of asking information questions that get you concrete facts, you need to ask questions that get at the meaning of the story for the person telling it. Here are some examples of reflective questions/statements: What do you like about that story (experience)? What do you like about how you told the story to me? What does that story (experience) mean to you? What did you learn from that experience? What are your takeaways from that story (experience)? Asking those questions/statements will help you quickly learn more about the person’s motivations and view of the world and what the individual values and cares about. Give appreciation Now is your chance to provide the teller with positive feedback about his/her willingness to share and the experience you just heard about. Tell the person Something you liked about the story. What the story means to you. How the story affected you. Parts of the story that stand out in your mind. This sort of positive appreciation continues to make the teller feel good — an important piece of empowerment. Keep in mind that launching into appreciations before asking reflective questions interrupts the meaning-making process on the part of the storyteller. When you start signaling what made the story meaningful for you, they will validate that instead of telling you what the story means to them first. Ask clarifying and information questions (optional) If you feel a strong need to do so — and if there’s time — ask any clarifying and informational questions you might have. Examples include: What were the names of the people again? When did this happen? Where were you again? This is also where you might paraphrase a portion of what you heard that you want to emphasize or gain more details about. Thank them again This is an important step to remember because of all the person has shared with you. Share a story in return (optional) If the time and situation are right, go ahead and share a story in return. Do so in a manner that continues the dialogue rather than engaging in a one-sided conversation. Once the story-sharing experience has ended, it’s time to maximize the meaning and understanding you gained from the story. Find a quiet place where you can jot down a few notes about what you’ll take away from it. Note what it was like to listen in this way. How do you feel now about the experience, what happened, and the person who told it? What insights have you gained? Especially if this experience occurred with a customer/prospect, write down everything you learned about the individual and the situation — demographics, likes and dislikes, challenges, solutions, and the opportunities before you. What material did you hear that validated what you already know? What material did you hear that was new to you? Capture all the visual language you heard, including images that stand out. Note metaphors and analogies that can be leveraged in in marketing and communication materials, product/service offerings, and so on. Record how to apply the knowledge you gleaned from the experience.