Is the ‘power of story’ ... just another story?

Hi

For years I’ve been writing articles about communication and then emailing them to a select list. I wanted to be as close to my audience as possible and a personal email allowed me to achieve that.

But given the growing size of my list, it’s time to formalise and streamline that process. So I’ll be sending the articles in a fortnightly newsletter format.

Anyone receiving the newsletter is a close colleague; friend; past or present client; former student in my workshops; or someone I have interviewed/profiled as a journalist.

I write across various communications topics, but everything I write will still be about one major theme: how we can use language to think clearly, communicate brilliantly, and succeed as knowledge workers, leaders and people.

In this month’s letter I look at some problems with ‘the power of story’ narrative in business, and I offer a simple solution that will make you a much better communicator and writer.

Please hit reply and email me your thoughts.

Ben

Is the ‘power of story’ … just another story?

As a boy, working on my father’s farm, I remember a particular meeting. There was obviously some deal or partnership to be struck because a major issue was trust.

After the man left, I asked my father what he thought. He told me about the conversation, then said: “But I don’t trust him … He didn’t tell any stories.”

It was the first time I realised stories were important in business.

But I remember being sceptical about whether ‘story’ – or the lack of it – was a valid reason to write off a business transaction. I was an early story sceptic … and I still am.

In the business world story has a few problems:

· It’s sold as an elixir: become a master storyteller and rule the world. Story, however, is a tactic; it’s no substitute for an effective marketing and communications strategy.

 · We’re suffering a serious story glut. Peter Brooks – the literary theorist who helped popularise the power of story – warns story has become far too dominant. He argues that simplifying everything into a narrative is dangerous, not least that it detaches us from reality. Story has increased the level of BS flying around the business world.

 · Business ‘storytellers’ also tend to labour their stories and lose the audience. People hear ‘story’ and think it’s an excuse to meander. (A story bore.)

 · Which goes to perhaps the biggest problem with story: few people are fantastic storytellers. As FT columnist Lucy Kellaway once wrote: “The trouble with stories is that to have any effect they have to be good ones — and most people are rubbish at telling them.”

The overarching problem is that the structure underlying a story – a hero thrust into a new world and forced to overcome a big obstacle – is not really suited to succinct business communication; it’s designed for novels and films. 

There is a simple way to avoid most of the problems of ‘story’ but retain their creative benefits: focus on peppering your communications with anecdotes. (My introduction about the farm, for example, is an anecdote … not a fully fledged story.)

An anecdote is a snappy, tiny story about a particular incident, a vignette.

Rather than stories, great business communicators use historical and personal anecdotes to spark interest or illustrate a main point. If you must tell a story – say in a speech – keep it short and get to your point quickly.

In business, it’s not the ‘best’ story that wins, but the pithiest. (‘Just do it’, Nike).

Ben Power

P.S. Does Trump tell many stories??