Who doesn’t like a good story?
People tell stories all the time; they gossip and tweet, post blogs and articles, lead presentations and conferences. If leadership teams are not telling a powerful story, they have lost the ability to connect and engage with their teams. Leader’s need to see what their story is or could be, tell it effectively and allow others to be part of it.
Storytelling has the power to engage, influence, motivate and inspire. It creates connections between people and can convey the culture and values of an organisation in a meaningful way. It’s at the core of bringing teams along on your business journey, uniting them behind business goals and objectives.
Our brains are built to learn from stories, they help us organise information and make sense of what’s around us. Stories are easier to remember than dry presentations. Ideas are abstract, and so are harder for us to grasp. Stories trigger an emotional response that engages the listener in a unique way. When done well, storytelling can be a very effective way to convey information in an engaged way, and when people are engaged, stories teach us too. Stories encase an idea in something we can easily understand and remember. They move us, and we remember how they made us feel. When done badly, storytelling has the ability to confuse.
Benefits of storytelling in business
- Stories capture our attention for longer periods of time enabling us to convey important information in an interesting way.
- Stories are easier to understand than dry facts allowing for better understanding.
- Stories create a human connection, they feel an emotional connection which builds trust.
- They allow you to imagine the ‘what if’, so you can convey an end goal.
- They can improve loyalty and recognition.
- Stories around your brand, your company history or company values makes people feel more connected to your business.
Storytelling makes for a more immersive learning experience. Stories resonate with people, help people connect with a topic, and have the power to inspire and motivate. As a result, people are far more likely to remember what they’ve been told. And because they engage us, stories keep us coming back.
Olivier Mythodrama has been delivering innovative and thought provoking leadership training for over 20 years. The people and organisations we have worked with describe our training as life changing. We think they’re right. We already work with some of the world’s leading businesses. Are you ready to join them?
