So Why Tell Stories, rather than just blather on in plain ordinary language?
August 11, 2009
So why should we tell stories rather than speak in plain old ordinary language? For many reasons. First of all because telling stories is more fun and we should always have fun when we’re speaking.
This post is dedicated to my new friend Jeannette Paladino, Writer in Chief at “Write, Speak, Sell.” Jeannette is a leader in helping business people to create clear and powerful communication. We share the love of storytelling and its power to communicate, so Jeannette asked me to write on the topic for her blog.
Storytelling is the oldest and most powerful form of communication on the planet. It completely bypasses the rational conscious mind and goes directly into our unconscious, which is the meaning maker of our mind.
This means that stories go in more easily and are more enduring than ordinary communication. If you want to have power in your message, you really need to tell a story.
And here is the good news. The story itself is not nearly as important as the way it is delivered. Believe it or not, that is really true. Yes it’s a good idea to have a compelling story when you can, but the communication is only in 7% in the words. You can tell a very bad story and make it compelling and you can tell a very great story and make it very bad!
The power of the story is in the delivery. If it is a written story than the power of your word is stronger but when I’m writing stories, I try to think of the words as ‘word images’. That is how you bring the power of story to life.
Words by themselves are completely boring. They are just like flat pieces of cardboard with no color on them. To make a mosaic out of them you need to create colorful images in your reader or listener’s minds eye.
So I went out on the street the other day and as stepped out the door, I smelled the taste of roses in my mind.
Now what does that mean? Absolutely nothing. But notice that it created clear images in your mind. Your brain needed to visualize the step, the door, the smell, the taste and roses, all in one short sentence. This is the same way a great story is created, from inside of the memory banks of your mind.
And you can make it up! Alot of my stories are told off the cuff. Don’t be afraid of that. Be more afraid of boring people to death with your plain old ordinary language. Yes seriously, imagine that people will start keeling over right in front of you if you don’t stop boring them with your words!
We need to tell stories for many reasons but the most important of which is that you don’t want to be boring with your words.
Jeannette and I both know that the power of effective communication is essential in the business world. If you can’t communicate clearly, people will misunderstand and have a hard time following you. So especially for leaders this is essential.
Thank you Jeannette for being out there in the world helping others to speak powerfully. In honor of you, here are my top three reasons to tell stories:
- tell stories so that people will listen to what you have to say
- tell stories so that your message will be lasting
- tell stories so that you don’t bore people with your words
Most of all tell stories because they are the most fun and enjoyable way to communicate on the planet. That’s it, enough said. Now go tell a story.
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