NFIB

Once Upon a Time
06/ 06/ 2002

by Ivan Sylvester

Face it--sometimes Power Point slides just don't cut it.

Whether you're talking to one client or a roomful of employees, telling a story is often a better way to make your point.

"The easiest way to get someone to learn something new is to attach it to something old he or she already understands," says Frank Carillo of Executive Communications Group, an 18-person firm in Englewood, N.J., that trains executives on oral communications.

Storytelling has moved from the children's room to the boardroom in recent years because the increased pace of life requires business owners to get their point across--whether to customers or employees--as quickly as possible.

Like many bedtime reads, though, executive storytelling is about more than entertainment. "We call it strategic storytelling because we want people to think about the point they're trying to get across," Carillo says.

Start by looking at the message you want to leave others, whether you're selling employees on a new policy or selling a client on a product. Target a key idea you want to impart, then look outside yourself for an analogy to illustrate it, says Carillo. You can use an old story, like "The Three Little Pigs," to explain that a client needs a computer firewall that's like brick to stand up to hackers. Or build on something you've heard in the news, either locally or globally.

Not only can storytelling help you get your point across, but it can also increase others' confidence in you, Carillo says. "If you're able to take something complex and make it understandable to me, I'm going to think you're pretty smart."

3 Ways To Make Storytelling Work For You:

1. Keep it short. Stories over two minutes lose the listener.

2. Have a point. Don't just be amusing or you'll come off as a joker.

3. Mix it up. Some listeners find stories too abstract to learn from, so be sure to include straight information in your presentation.

The Storytelling Foundation International at www.storytellingcenter.com has resources on storytelling and business excellence. They can be reached at 1-800-952-8392.

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This article originally appeared in the June/July issue of MyBUSINESS magazine.

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