5 Business Storytelling success tips

Leaders new to business storytelling often struggle with mastering techniques essential for success. So here are my top 5 business storytelling tips.

Clarity of purpose

The most important business storytelling technique is to be clear on the purpose/message of your story. To succeed, your stories must land on a message. Purpose is like the foundation block of your storytelling. Get this right, and your story is set up for success.

Does it serve the room?

Every story must be carefully designed with an audience in mind. Is it going to be for your customers, your channel partners or your suppliers? How does your story serve them? None of this is easy to do, but this guarantees that your story will resonate with your audience.

Sharp and short

A rule of thumb is stories should be under two minutes. This ensures you are punchy, and your audience stays with you. Keep your stories short, to maximise their impact. Would you rather leave people wanting more or wondering when you will be done?

Personal

A powerful business storytelling technique is to use personal stories to land a business message. It sounds counterintuitive as the field is called business storytelling, so we feel compelled to use stories about business. But nothing could be farther from the truth. The minute you share a story that starts with growing up on a farm, or being on a holiday in Canada, your audience is hooked. They are intrigued and want to know what happens next. Business stories about business are boring and predictable―a death knell for any storyteller. So go personal and reap rich rewards.

Fun

The gravitas common in company announcements, meetings and presentations is now seeping into storytelling. Except for some stories that merit a level of seriousness, the most important thing we can do is to have fun with storytelling. Share stories that you enjoy telling and that are meaningful to you.

There’s an ancient Hopi Indian proverb that says “Who tells the stories, rules the world.” So, are you ready to rule your world?

Which tip resonated with you?