The word storytelling conjures up many images. Let’s clarify right here and now, the storytelling we are talking about is Business Storytelling. Storytelling with a purpose and for results.

Business storytelling is the practical application of appropriate, purposeful (on message) short stories in the work context. The stories support your data; they don’t take the place of data but add to it.

Here is a story shared by one of my clients.

This is a great example of a business story. Iskander was thinking about how to give her team a different way of approaching their work. While it paid to be efficient with their decision making, sometimes they needed to step back, look again and perhaps re-evaluate things.

Pass on that advice, and it is Teflon – it simply won’t stick. People will agree with the idea, then immediately forget it. It will wash over them and away with all the other instruction and communication debris that floods their day.

A good story, on the other hand, is pure velcro.  When you share a story, people connect with it in the moment. With a story, your audience thinks about what you have said — and it sparks an ‘aha’ in their hearts and minds. What’s more, they understand, remember and will often retell it.