Are you telling the right stories, the right way?
Stories have power. You see, we make sense through stories. It’s how we make meaning of life, explain how things work, make (and justify) decisions, define and teach social values, and persuade others.
As I wrote in my last post, here, leaders cultivate trust and help their employees when they clarify their values, develop their communication abilities, and connect in meaningful ways. Great leaders communicate facts, based on scientific data, through truthful stories. They make their stories compelling with five components.
5 Components of Compelling Stories
- A finely tuned beginning, middle, and end, practiced and told with the right tempo, energy, and conviction.
- A protagonist: a relatable hero. They draw your audience in from their point of view.
- A challenge: an obstacle to overcome or problem to be solved. Sometimes, this takes the form of a person, or antagonist.
- A pivotal moment: a confrontation and solution that results in real change for the hero.
- An awakening: the hero’s transformation and how it benefits the hero, and hopefully, others.
Great leaders use stories to help their employees find meaning amid chaos. They organize facts and provide context, differentiating between data and opinion, causation and correlation.
When this topic comes up in my coaching conversation, we talk about how we tell our stories constantly, even when we’re unaware of doing so.
Not only do our stories have the power to influence and/or inspire others, they also reflect and have the power to influence our own internal narrative. That’s why it’s so important that leaders share constructive stories that have purpose, truth, and hope-filled action.
What do you think? How do you tell the right stories, the right way? I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me here, on LinkedIn, or give me a call: 561-582-6060.
