Know Your Goal Before You Start
It’s not enough to just tell a story for the sake of hearing your own voice. You need to know your goal before you start.
The daughter of friends of mine spent her first Christmas away from her family this past year as a result of restrictions regarding COVID-19. Her parents, who live a province away, wanted make the best of it and provide some presents. They called around to a few stores in order to get all the items they were looking for. After they had explained their situation to the clerk at one store - the clerk set to work to go above and beyond. When we arrived at the store to collect the presents they brought out all of the items beautifully wrapped, prices removed, with gift receipts for the items. The staff that assisted our friends felt compassion for a family separated in this pandemic and went above and beyond what was asked. It was a simple gesture but one that didn’t go unnoticed.
It is not enough to have a story of a satisfied customer or a thrilled client if you are not able to identify the big why behind telling the story. Ultimately your goal is for people to take some action. It may be to donate money to your organization. It may be that you want people to purchase a particular product that you provide. How does telling a story move people to action.
Emotional Impact
Change happens easiest from heart -> to mind -> to action. Telling a story has a way of connecting emotionally with people. Told well, a story places the listener in the scene, smelling the fresh baked bread, hearing the crack of the tree branch, or imagining the colours of the leaves falling to the ground. The storyteller invites the listener to experience emotions of joy, sadness, longing, courage, fear, etc.
The story above invites the listener to feel the pain of separation and then the warmth of compassion from the store clerk. These contrasting emotions will naturally lead the listener to wonder which store went above and beyond.
Logical Processing
When the identity of the store is revealed the listener then processes it with their own experience with that store. This logical step is critical. If the listeners own experience is drastically contrary to what is depicted in the story, the result will likely be to reinforce the opposite and the desired action won’t occur.
If the story resonates and hold true - it can yield a more loyal customer. This is the pay-off of a goal met.
Find stories by talking to customers or clients, listening carefully to their experience.
To achieve your end goal start with the heart, which will convince the mind and move the body to action.
Cautions
Too often we try to accomplish change by arguing from a logical stance. You may have the strongest arguments and an iron clad defense. Unfortunately, the success rate using this tactic is relatively low compared to telling a story that impacts the emotion.
Shame and disgust are poor motivators. Appealing to those emotions does very little to change those who are the target of the shame and it fails to inspire the bystanders.
Fear and anger are very effective motivators, but are fall prey to manipulation and lies. People will by-pass the logical part of the process if they are motivated by fear and anger. This is how rioting is often triggered when the predominant emotions used are fear and anger. Like a match and gasoline be careful how and when you appeal to these emotions.
