The Art of Storytelling in Business

I love stories. I mean who doesn’t? We’ve all enjoyed listening to stories narrated by our grandparents, parents, or even friends. Stories are powerful. Stories emotionalize information. What if you could use the very same strategy to get your business message across?

With more than 3 billion people having access to the World Wide Web, we have the capability to attract the attention of these people with a few taps on our phones. Getting our message across has never been easier. This is a major upside but it does have a downside too. Even though attracting the attention of a user is simple, making them care about your business is difficult to achieve. With the growing number of businesses in the online world, many individuals ignore businesses online.

So how do you tell your business story effectively?

Paint your story — Give the story its background. This background will help you connect with your listener as they might have similar experiences. This would surely make the viewer the need to listen closely as it relates to their experiences very much.

Grab attention at the beginning– Always remember to get your attention before the story. Not while the story is being said else it will cause viewers to lose interest and turn their attention to something else.

Try to make it personal– When telling your story always make sure that you are not the hero. It is your customer. Give them a sense of feeling that they are the ones responsible for your company’s success.

Answer questions– You don’t have to answer each and every question posed by an individual in your story, you should instead answer questions when would be commonly asked by most people. For example “How will this product change my life/business?” is one such question asked by almost every individual when considering a product or service.

Add customer views in your story– As humans, we tend to trust a review given by another individual who is in the same boat (in this case both are customers). These views expressed by them will surely increase the sense of trust towards a product or service. After all, customers are your heroes. You wouldn’t exist if they didn’t. Give them, more prominence.

Always end with a lesson– People tend to love when there is something they can take from your story. It is important to let them know that their money is being well spent when purchasing a product or service from you. A great ending doesn’t have to be perfect. It should just be simple and honest.

Your audience has human needs that have nothing to do with your product or service, and those needs go beyond rational, economic value. It’s your job to find what they are and tell stories that speak emotionally to those needs.