Why you should tell M.O.R.E stories

Great presentations inform but do they inspire us to action?

As children our fondest memories are often the stories we are told; fairy tales as we lie in bed,tales from grandparents about their childhood or wise words from parents to teach life’s lessons.

As we leave this life many will recount years gone by and pass on wise words to those we leave behind.

Great generals to wise shaman throughout the ages have always known the power of mind pictures – stories. They motivate, create visions in our heads and move us to action. Indeed Plato once said “Those who tell the stories also rule society”

It can be the key to motivating staff, family and friends. The same is true in business.

Great presentations inform but do they inspire us to action? No…but the stories we tell of success and consequence paint the pictures that inspire action. They move us to gain something or avoid the pain of inaction.

Let’s look at four ideas around story telling that will help get you on the right track to tell MORE stories;

Move people. This is the point of a story – to reach someone at a deeper and more profound level and move them to action. Make sure that the story has weight and depth to evoke an emotional response. Remember, the heart buys while the brain justifies.

Open the door to the opportunity to hear and be involved in a story. You cannot force someone to share a story. You must make it compelling, intriguing, captivating. They need to be invited to join you on the journey, take their own steps and involve themselves willingly. Only that way will they join you in a discovery of the right solution.  To force them will simply mean resistance and you will be seen as someone trying to push them in a particular direction they do not want to go in.

Responsibility comes with storytelling.  Can you twist a client with stories? Can you bend a truth and hope that emotion will outweigh common sense? There are those that will try but a sales situation is an opportunity to change minds and shape decisions and with this comes responsibility. Treat the client with respect and ‘do the right thing’ by them. In the long term, honesty is still going to be your best friend.

Emotional frames are important. We react emotionally first (before we then move to the logical side of our buying decision) and so working from an emotional view point means we can set an emotionally positive frame of reference for clients. For example, we buy from people we like and trust. If we can create a positive emotional frame of reference for a client, then when we present the facts, they are seen through that positive frame work.

So stories are powerful and will emotionally involve clients on the sales journey, adding real success to your efforts.  Take the time to become good at storytelling and enjoy the results.

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