Why You Should Tell More Stories

Everyone loves a good story. Therefore storytelling is a critical, but often overlooked, a skill every business owner should have. If you want to grow your business much faster, if you want to lead winning teams, or you want to leave a lasting impression upon your customers and prospects. If you want to get finance for your business, then you will need to master this particular skill. Even if you want to improve your relationships, whether it be personal relationships or professional relationships, then you need to learn this particular skill. What is this skill? It’s to be able to master impactful stories. You’ve got to learn how to become a powerful storyteller.

Telling stories is a key income producing activity

I just came back a couple of months ago, where I spent five full days with someone who’s a master storyteller. His name is Eric Edmeades and I found some incredible things. I want to share three specific things that I learned about storytelling which I want to impress upon you.

1. Stories help communicate new ideas.

Stories help connect the unknown to the known. If you think about it, most storytellers talk in terms of metaphors. All the greatest teachers have always done that. And what happens is they end up connecting what’s known to what’s not known. And in this way, you’re able to quickly get your prospect to understand new ideas and information that you want to convey. In this particular age of dramatic distraction, it helps you cut through the noise, and helps you communicate more effectively.

2. Stories foster trust

The second reason you’ve got to become a great storyteller is that there’s a chemical reaction that happens when you hook someone into a story. It takes them into a trance, and there’s a chemical reaction that happens in the brain. Oxytocin which is a neurotransmitter gets released as your audience gets into the story. Oxytocin is released when a mother’s feeding a baby or when you receive a hug from a loved one. It increases the level of trust and rapport.

So if you want to cement the bonding in a relationship, if you’re about to start a new relationship, you want to easily increase the trust and rapport, then you’ve got to be able to tell an impactful story.

3. Stories make you influential.

Evolutionary biology has made it so that the storytellers have always had a place in history, and throughout history, it’s the storytellers that have been most influential. Think about it: you see, if for example millions of years ago you were around a campfire, and you were listening to stories, and you found one particular story helped save you from being eaten by a saber tooth tiger.

Now that particular person who told you that lifesaving story is going to be ingrained in your memory. You will want to pay attention the next time that person shares a story around the campfire. That particular person is going to be very influential. So if you want to be a great influencer, then you’ve got to be a storyteller.

“Storytelling has always been the best tool to communicate ideas, persuade others, and get what you want.”
Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Local

4. Stories create a strong culture

Stories are a key component of culture. Learn to tell stories about clients, employees and key stakeholders. Telling stories at these 3 levels are a key way in which you are able to create and sustain a strong culture in your company.

These stories should highlight our key values and what behaviours do we reward. Keep a story journal and use storytelling liberally. Great businesses make great stories and great stories make great businesses!

Now there are many different types of stories that you can end up telling. But one that I want you to learn how to do is the origin story. Why is it that you do what you do? Why is it that you want to make the world a better place? Here is a great example of one of my mentees, Bhuvanaa Sreeram sharing her origin story in an awesome way:

Leave a comment below and share what’s your origin story? Why is it that you do what you do?