Story, Snory?
Storytelling is a big thing now. Lots of organisations are asking me to do sessions on it. Are you finding that? Whisper it, but it’s not entirely clear what people mean by it. But ‘story’ sounds good, doesn’t it? Like purpose.
What could it mean?
Case Studies
Branding (external or internal)
Presenting Skills
Selling
Arranging the facts in a better way to persuade someone
Or all of the above? At its core is the feeling that story is a software that has been around longer than any other. Powerpoint or Excel are relative newcomers, aren’t they?
I hated writing stories at school. I couldn’t think make things up. I learned to read relatively late in life (aged 6) for an English person, because I grew up in France. Does that explain it? I don’t think so. My children are similar.
I had an epiphany when I heard Roy Apps (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roy-Apps/) speak to a writers’ group. He said writers borrow from others’ lives, remember from their own and make things up. It’s not just the latter. That makes it easier, doesn’t it? Since then, I have found so many artists and writers who have done homages or been inspired by other works of art. (Or just plained nicked stuff.)
Storytelling as part of ‘business development’ (which we used to call selling) is trending. Tell stories to engage your client, they say. There is plenty of evidence about why stories grab our imagination more than Powerpoint bullets (https://lifehacker.com/the-science-of-storytelling-why-telling-a-story-is-the-5965703).
So you might have a bank of good stories, case studies, in your back pocket to show your client why you’re the right choice for them.
But my improv training is all about making stories in real time. Could that be helpful in selling? YES, hugely.
With improv skills you can co-create stories with the client. There are three types of stories you might tell…
The Story of Before - a story that clarifies how we got here.
The Story of Now - insight into what’s going on at present.
The Story of After - how can we picture the future?
If you can conjure these narratives (they may actually only be one sentence or even a phrase or metaphor, but an evocative one) in the moment, in the presence of and with the active participation of your client, then you’ve created engagement and commitment.
In his book, To Sell Is Human, Daniel Pink cites a study in which researchers spent five years in Hollywood studying the movie pitching process - whether it be writers or producers to studio execs or agents to producers (or waiters to rich customers).
What did they learn?
Unsurprisingly, the behaviour of the ‘pitchee’ as much as the pitcher was relevant. Yes, the pitcher needs to be passionate, maybe quirky but not too slick or try-too-hard or offering too many ideas. You can lose the audience. The meeting might carry on but the pitch is dead as soon as the pitchee disengages. To do well, you have to welcome ideas and adapt your pitch. You’re not just presenting the final product. It’s not about getting buy-in to your idea immediately. It’s about offering something that grabs enough attention to begin a conversation, then to bring in the other person’s perspective and eventually arrive at something which both parties feel invested in. You may end up not selling the service or product you expected but another that more closely matches your customer’s needs.
That snappy ‘elevator pitch’ is useful only as a starter. Stuck a lift with Head Honcho, you actually want her to start riffing on your idea. It might even help if you get stuck between floors so the conversation continues. (Waiver: I am not encouraging you to arrange this.)
As so often, it’s all about learning improv skills. In case you’ve yet to attend one of my workshops, it’s not about making jokes. It’s about listening and consciously using what is given you. If you want the improv jargon, it’s about accepting the offer (which could be a word, a concept or something non-verbal like body language or vocal tone) from the other person and explicitly using that in your response, and continuing to do so every time you speak. You go on a journey together, for which both of you are responsible, yet neither of you can claim sole authorship.
Actually, humour will come too, which is a great way to create engagement. Telling a good story requires you to listen. You’re actually trying to articulate the emerging story that your client feels is theirs. As Geert Van der Elst (https://www.gelst.com/) said to me the other day, it’s in their mind that the sale happens…
PLEASE DO ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS TO SUBSCRIBE TO THIS NEWSLETTER.
Tell them that I always try to find a relevant piece of music each time. On the theme of Story, here is The Teardrop Explodes…