Stories

Few things are as entertaining and memorable as a good story.

Did you hear the story about the man who was seduced in a bar, taken back to his hotel room, only to wake up the next morning in a bathtub of ice with a note to go to the emergency room as both of his kidneys had been stolen?

Did you hear the story about a boy who kept calling for help because a wolf was attacking his village, but every time the villagers came to help they found the boy was lying, so when a wolf finally did come, and he called for help, no one came, so the wolf ate him?

The story of the stolen kidneys teaches us not to trust strangers we might meet at a bar and the story of the boy who cried wolf teaches us not to trigger false alarms.

Stories help us remember important points while providing a bit of entertainment. A good story can be cute, surprising, funny, scary, thought-provoking, inspiring, motivating, or all of these and more. If you want to make a point that sticks in the mind of your audience, few things work quite as well as a story to capture and hold your audience's attention and leave them with an important point to reflect on for days, weeks, months, or even for the rest of their life.

Unfortunately, not many of us can come up with a good story, and those that can go on to be Hollywood screenwriters or New York Times bestsellers. If you're not a professional screenwriter or bestselling author, what can you do?

As it turns out, just about every professional storyteller relies on the same general structure for storytelling. This structure is so popular it has a name: "The Hero's Journey," and you can find this storytelling technique used to tell the story of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Simba in the Lion King, Sarah Connor in Terminator, Frodo in the Lord of the Rings, Ellen Ripley in Aliens, as well as just about every superhero origin movie including Iron Man, Wonder Woman, and Thor.

The Hero's Journey has several stages: Our hero or heroine starts out in the ordinary world doing normal things. They then have an opportunity to go on an adventure, but they refuse to go. They then meet a mentor that helps convince them to go on the adventure. During the adventure, they undergo trials and tribulations, while making both enemies and allies. They then prepare to take on their most difficult challenge, and after overcoming that challenge, they earn a reward. They then start their journey home, during which they encounter their greatest and final challenge, that has far-reaching consequences, which causes them to change. Finally, they return home, a better version of themselves, bringing the story to a satisfying conclusion.

If you look for this pattern, you will see it everywhere in storytelling. It is a formula that can be studied, learned, and applied anytime you want to enhance your communication by telling a story.

Let's say you had to give a speech recognizing an employee for their new promotion. The typical corporate speech would go something like this. "I would like to announce that Casey Smith has been promoted to Regional Sales Director over the Northeast. Please join me in congratulating Casey with a round of applause, and we wish Casey well in their new role."

The crowd stands, claps, sits down, and promptly stops caring about Casey's promotion. Casey feels like their promotion wasn't worth much, as it barely got a mention, and everyone else wonders if it's worth the effort to get a promotion if all they'll get for acknowledgment is a few trite pleasantries.

Now, let's apply the Hero's Journey to Casey's promotional speech, and see if we can make any improvements:

"Two years ago, I had a young member of our sales team come to me and tell me they were bored, and that they were looking for a challenge. I told them, 'We need someone to take over the International Bank Corp contract, as the customer was unhappy and thinking about canceling.' This salesperson said that they were worried about taking on a customer as large and important as IBC, but I suggested they talk with some of our senior account managers before deciding if it was too big for them to take on. Apparently, whatever was discussed got this person fired up, and they said they wanted to take on the challenge of winning the customer back. For the next two years, they had meeting, after meeting, after meeting with IBC, winning over detractors and strengthening relationships. Finally, they got a chance to give a presentation to IBC's board of directors, and it was really tough. They got hit with every question about our company and product offering for three hours straight, and they never even took a bathroom break. We couldn't tell if the meeting went well or not, but IBC's CEO called for a one-on-one meeting, and after several hours of negotiation, we won a contract renewal that was five times what we thought was possible. Now it is my sincere pleasure to present Casey Smith with the title of Regional Sales Director over the Northeast in recognition of their accomplishments. Casey will be moving to our New York office next month, to assume responsibility for International Bank Corp, as well as our other biggest customers in that region. Please join me in a round of applause."

Which version do you like better? Which version made Casey feel more appreciated? Which version was more motivating to the other employees? While the version based on the Hero's Journey was longer, it was far more meaningful and memorable, and would serve to inspire future sales leaders. This is the power of storytelling: even the most mundane, forgettable, and ordinary information can be communicated in a way that is magical, memorable, and extraordinary.