Every culture tells stories as a means of preserving its way of life. In South Louisiana, the raconteurs or storytellers pass along our history, culture, and perspective to the next generations. Cajuns love to gather around campfires or sit on the porch swing and hear stories of Cajun lore passed down through multiple generations.

Storytelling — probably the oldest form of communication — can become one of the best tools you could ever apply to your leadership goals. Yep, that’s right. Storytelling can be a powerful leadership tool.

But, you might argue, business communication must be logical, linear, and objective, right? Not so. If you want to inspire, engage, and influence others (and what leader doesn’t?), aim to stir their emotions and spark a desire to take action.

Why Tell Stories in Business?
Good storytelling can make your message relevant, visual, memorable, interesting, and compelling. Let me explain how.

Relevant. Facts, figures, and statistics have no intrinsic meaning unless they’re tied to a story that gives them relevance. I’ve always been fascinated by the late Steve Jobs. He had the ability to brilliantly put technical information into terms and pictures everyone could relate to. When introducing new products, Jobs never spouted facts about features of Apple’s latest creation; he gave it context and relevance.

For instance, when introducing the iPod, instead of saying it had 30 GB of storage, he said it had enough memory for 7,500 songs, 25,000 pictures, or up to 75 hours of video. Now that “story” gave his message relevance to every potential Apple customer!

For your message to pack a powerful punch, don’t only give facts and data; provide information within a framework of context and perspective. That’s what gives it meaning and relevance for your team members.

Visual. From the time my children were young, I read aloud to them every night. Naturally, they could listen better than they could read, so we quickly advanced from picture books to what we called “chapter” books when they were still pre-school-age.

With no pictures to follow, I encouraged them to “paint a picture in their minds” of the story as I read it. You can do the same thing with your team members. Your message will be more engaging if you evoke images and pictures in the minds of your listeners.

For instance, if I were to say that Louisiana loses 25 square miles of precious wetlands every year, it’s not as visual as if I told you we’re losing our coastal wetlands at a rate of one football-field-sized area every 30 minutes. When people can visualize what you’re talking about, they can process the information more easily. Storytelling paints a verbal picture for your listeners.

Memorable. Policies and procedures may be necessary for you to have on paper, but if you want people to actually follow a certain protocol, tell them a story. If you want people to follow safety procedures, don’t put out a written policy stating they have to wear a hardhat or seat belt. Instead, at your safety meeting, show photos of your children and the families of other team members. Stress that getting home to family is the reason for working safely. Touch their emotions. Tap into their internal motivations. Tell stories that make your message memorable and they won’t forget to buckle up.

Interesting. People love listening to a good story. They enjoy hearing the “before” part of the story, the struggle, and then the “after” or resolution of the struggle. And I’m not just talking about fiction stories, either.

One of the best storytellers ever is filmmaker Ken Burns, the director and producer of many award-winning documentaries on Public Broadcasting System (PBS). Burns has a remarkable way of taking historical events and weaving together a story in such an interesting way that a boring subject becomes absolutely riveting.

Another storytelling great was legendary radio commentator Paul Harvey. Nobody could turn to another station until they heard Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story.” I had a History professor in college who was a brilliant storyteller and he had us sitting on the edge of our seats at every class.

How can you impart important information to get your point across in a more interesting way? Turn it into stories.

What About Being Objective and Factual?
I know this concept of telling stories at work seems counterintuitive, especially if you’ve always believed business communications must be objective, factual, and well, dry.

Yet as a leader, if you want to influence others, you’re miles ahead if you adapt your approach to the situation and people involved. Telling a story gives you a powerful medium for conveying your message-and can inspire more action than plain facts, data, or statistics ever could.

No, you don’t need a porch swing to become the raconteur of your organization. Simply determine how to weave your message into a story that will move your team members.

Remember, telling heartfelt stories gives your message relevance and perspective. Become a great storyteller and you’ll greatly enhance your leadership.

Action Time! What will you:

• start doing,
• stop doing, or
• continue doing or do differently

to improve your communitcation and story telling with your team members? Use the comment box below to share your action plan with us!