Quote:
“Storytelling is an ancient and honorable act. An essential role to play in the community or tribe.” – Russell Banks
“People don’t really buy your product, solution, or idea, they buy the stories that are attached to it.” – Michael Margolis
Intuitively, it’s easy to believe in the power of a good story. Take a look at your book collection at home, your movie collection, the collections of books and movies your friends and families compile. What do you see?
Compelling stories.
There’s a growing trend that is recognizing the importance of stories within the context of the human experience. This goes beyond the seemingly superficial perspective of “entertainment” for the sake of entertainment. It’s true we are entertained by great stories (Hollywood can attest to that), but the root of storytelling actually goes all the way back to the roots of human civilization. Stories form the basis of our understanding of the world around us.
We’ve collectively been raised on a steady diet of stories, tales, myths, legends, yarns, chronicles, and anecdotes. From nursery rhymes to multi-million dollar blockbusters, there’s a story for everyone.
So, have you considered the story that is your business?
My background is largely accounting and finance, so I have always struggled in holding people’s attention when I talk about my work. Apparently, there’s a widespread belief that accounting is boring! It's shocking, I know. One day, I finally realized why. We weren’t providing a story. We provide financial reports, tax returns, and cashflow statements, but generally these are seen as cold, lifeless documents. So, how do you change that?
How do you turn this:
Into this:
Well, it goes without saying that the internet offers tons of resources on stories and storytelling. As fast as you can say, “Google” you’ll have your choice of millions of entries.
That said, all the resources in the world can’t distill what your story is, only you can. Furthermore, your story is not a static picture; it’s a dynamic flowing entity, it changes over time. Plus, you may want to focus on different elements of your story for different audiences.
So, how to get started? How do I look past the numbers?
Ira Glass, the award winning host of This American Life on Chicago Public Radio (and son of an accountant), provides some tips:
1. Start with an action; the sequence of events
2. Raise a question right from the start (the bait). Constantly raise questions.
3. Answer the question and continue doing so along the way.
4. Repeat
5. Moment of Reflection (the “why”) – Why does it matter?
So, what else might help?
Who is your audience?
Who are the characters?
What’s the theme? Is it adventure, mystery, suspense, romance? Is it a caper?
Start by asking yourself these questions. Be specific. Give your financials or your business story some life using the tools of the storytelling trade.
It’s often been said, if you want to be a writer, to start by “writing what you know”. John Grisham is a perfect example. As a trained lawyer, it’s little wonder that the majority of his books centers on lawyers. But, you’ll notice he doesn’t write in legalese. He writes in a language that everyone can understand.
So, write what you know in a language your audience understands.
Sage advice.
by Geoff Devereux, Community Advocate, Indicee
