Now we reach the middle layer of the storytelling cake. In business you take on the role of leader for your market. If you want people to follow you, they need to know you and why you are in business. Telling your personal or keynote story is the best way to establish leadership in your field.
I’ve already covered the different types of personal story you might tell. Your story must engage your market’s interest, be structured for emotional impact and resonate with your market’s values.
In this post, I focus on why storytelling is essential and how to get your message across. Every story is different and you must find your personal approach to telling your story. What do you need to bear in mind as you build your story?
Building Your Story
Trial and Error
It’s tempting to think of your story as something to polish off over an hour’s work at your desk. You may come up with an outline but it is a starting point for a lifetime’s work. The telling of the story to audiences is important. Each time you tell your story, you tell it different. You can write down the story but the story’s essence is in its telling; telling stories implies a relationship with your audience.
So, think of storytelling as trial and error. Each time you tell it, you get a better sense of what works and what doesn’t, what is superfluous and what is necessary. There is no final perfect version of the story you tell.
Your Story is Not Yours
Don’t confuse your story with your life. Your story is not the same as the story you tell. Is your story a lifetime’s task because you need to live your life to have a complete story to tell? Think of the story you tell as drawing inspiration from your life. No-one can live through what you have been through but they can be inspired by it!
Your story is not yours. It is a gift to your listeners and it is your responsibility to tell the story they want to hear, that in some way makes them better people. It doesn’t matter whether you are talking a big or a small change, your story is for them and for their benefit.
And yes there are always some for whom this is not their story. They might enjoy it but they reject your message. And that’s fine. They are not your market. They are free agents and have no obligation to you.
But it’s Embarrassing!
If it’s not embarrassing, why is it worth telling? Your embarrassment shows you emotionally engage with your story. Many people have hang-ups like yours. They need to hear whatever it is, is OK. If you offer services as a coach, as a guide for your market, what does it mean if you cannot tell your story?
Only you know your full story, you control what you tell. The more realistic your story is, the more it builds trust and interest. You don’t have to say everything, if some aspect is too hard to speak, maybe you’re not ready to speak it. Say what you can now and leave the rest for later.
So Much to Remember!
Yes, these posts taken together are a lot to remember. How can you possibly pull something together that meets all these criteria? You can’t and you don’t have to.
Find a story that might work and start to tell it. Each time you tell it, review it. From time to time, read these posts and ask yourself where your story meets these suggestions. Maybe there are aspects you don’t need to meet. Maybe at this stage you can’t see how to include something you want.
Remember telling a better story is not incremental. You are more likely to make big changes when inspiration strikes. Reviewing your story helps you work out where you need inspiration. Remember, inspiration strikes in unexpected ways.
Keep it Simple
Your aim is to tell a simple, compelling story. Adding bits on to meet some aspect of good storytelling is unlikely to work. You may find it helps to take aspects away! Does the story work without this incident? The less material, the more chance you have of sensing the shape of your story. As you become clearer about what the story is about, you can add material for longer versions of the story.
Don’t lose material you cut from the story. You need several stories apart from your keynote. So long as they support the keynote story, use them when the keynote is not appropriate.
Your Personal Story
In telling your personal story, you seek to establish yourself as a leader in your field. Your story is more important than your business message. When people appreciate your story, they want to hear your message.
To do this, focus on two aspects of your story: authenticity and inspiration.
Show people what you are really like. If you are honest telling your story, you are likely to be trusted in business. Sometimes people find it difficult to be at the mercy of strangers (friends might be worse!). It is daunting and even embarrassing (worse in retrospect!) but at the same time effective. You seek people with a problem. To hear someone speak about a problem that is rarely spoken about is very effective.
And inspiration is important because if you inspire your audience to take up the battle you took up, you have keen potential customers. With inspiration, your market can identify with a story about you. Your story of triumph over adversity becomes their story. If they identify with you, they become the hero of your story. You need time and experience to work out how to do this but it is worth the effort.
Your Story / Their Story
Here are some things to consider when telling your story in the hope it becomes their story:
- Are they able to join you on your journey and make it theirs? Too many businesses sell a product or service as a given, sometimes people want to journey with us, for a short or long period,
- You have had successes and these may be achievements your market likes to share,
- Your failures help you prove authenticity. If your market experiences similar issues, they know you understand their problem,
- In recounting the lessons you learned, you share real value with your audience,
- Can you show how your philosophy changed? How did your understanding of life or business, change as your story progressed?
- Show how your values changed. What didn’t? Not everyone shares your values but those who do engage as a result,
- Perhaps share goals and vision. This is not something I would put up front but as an outcome from a story. Just don’t ram them down peoples’ throats, especially near the beginning!
Telling Your Business Story
Your personal and business stories might be the same or distinct. Decide which is your keynote, if they are different. If you major on the personal, there may be aspects of your business story you can include.
Your Why and Your Values
Your business story should be more than an account of what you do and how you got started. Explain why you do it through your story. I’m in business because I believe business has a role building community. I want to work with people in sympathy with my why.
Also share your values. Together with your why, they help draw your potential market’s attention.
Values in What You Do
Values make sense where they contribute to what you do and the way you do it. In the first of this sequence of posts, I wrote about the need for consistency between all aspects of marketing. This must extend to how you deliver your business obligations.
To what extent do you look after your customers? Do you exceed expectations? Can you see the values you claim expressed throughout your business? If they are, you will find in your business itself means to extend your marketing.
Your customers commit to similar values and so help promote your business. If they know your story, they pass on recommendations with reliability and conviction.
You are Your Business Culture
Larger businesses develop their own culture and once developed it is hard to shift. Habits shared by large groups, are incredibly hard to change.
You see this even in small businesses. You employ 3 people to work 8 hours a day, while you do important stuff for 3 hours a day. Your staff takes their cue not from their contract of employment but from you. You set the culture of your business.
Seek congruence between how you behave and the stories you tell. But if you are self-employed with no staff, you have a degree of flexibility. You can set the tone through the stories you tell.
Finally
Here are three questions to ask of your personal or business story.
- Who are you and why do you do what you do?
- What does your business stand for and what difference does it make?
- What is going on for your customer and where does your business fit into their story?
Tell your story and then compare it with these questions. Can you make changes to improve the story and move it closer to your marketing needs?
Looking Forwards
My next post reaches the bottom layer of the cake, where we access the power of traditional storytelling. It opens up seven more posts that explores traditional stories. Your traditional story – how do you structure a story to resonate with your audience’s emotions and values?
