Why Stories Work-How to Use Them for Storytelling in Business
We’re told to use storytelling in business, but why do stories work at all? What’s crazy: the concept of storytelling in business is, at this point, at least 20 years old, but we don’t seem to be getting any better at it. Why not? It goes back to why the pieces of a story are there in the first place.
Every great story has a moment of truth (also called the climax or point of no return). It’s the part of the story where the hero has to make a decision: do they go forward in pursuit of what they want or do they not? Unless a story creates a moment of truth, it’s not going to be effective, because otherwise…nothing happens (and that’s not a good story, either in business or in life).
To use this for storytelling in business, we need to understand what creates a moment of truth. It comes from a conflict between a goal and a problem, but that’s not enough. The moment of truth comes from a realization about something you believe to be true that forces you act. If this sounds like the Goal, Problem, Truth, Change, and Action from the Red Thread, you’re right.
So how do we use this to improve our own storytelling? One way is to follow the steps of the Red Thread. The other way is to simply ask questions to help the audience come to this realization themselves. If you can help them realize what their Goal is, what their Problem is, and why that problem is such a problem for them, they will create their own moment of truth. By asking a question that requires an answer, you can improve your own storytelling in business and beyond.
Resources
- How to Use Storytelling to Talk About Yourself — EP:084
- The Persuasion Formula — EP:087
- How to create a “moment of truth”
- Phil M. Jones
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#marketing #messaging #persuasion #startup #entrepreneurship #psychology
