Supporting Your Growth as a Storyteller
All too often, the subject-matter experts we coach at Spoken with Authority believe that they need to focus on just the data and the technical details. But, as communication theorist Walter Fisher argued, humans understand the world through story. So, it’s key for even the most informational of speakers to balance facts and figures with narrative to engage listeners and help them understand and remember content.
Because storytelling is an essential communication skill, the team at Spoken with Authority recently held a book club to read, review, and discuss a range of books on the topic. Below are the highlights of our reviews. You can also read this blog post for our full reviews or view our 17-minute video discussion on the books. We hope you find a book that will help you develop as a storyteller. If you need support developing this skill, we can help! Please book a call to discuss training and coaching options.
Michele Morrissey
Everyday Business Storytelling: Create, Simplify, and Adapt a Visual Narrative for Any Audience by Janine Kurnoff and Lee Lazarus
Everyday Business Storytelling reminds us not to bury the lead, and captions we create with our visuals should be concise and in a conversational tone. We make sense of the world with storytelling. When we take what we’re hearing and connect it to what we already know, we’re motivated to action. When we make information readily available to our audience’s mind’s eye, we can create that relevance that tells us what change we need to make. This book offers information on the narrative elements of who, what, when, and how as well as how to position this information visually and organize and structure the content to capture an audience early on.
Lynne Adrine
How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from the producers of The Moth Radio Hour podcast
How to Tell a Story begins with the basics of telling stories. We, as human beings, understand and make sense of the world through stories. Even if someone wants to share something data-rich and full of details, you still want to create a vessel from which to consume and take in this information – and that is with stories. What this book does well for everyone is to tease out that we all have stories to tell even if we think we don’t. The book’s various vignettes show how we can drill down into situations that we’ve been in to find the kernel of truth to connect with our audience and make the sharing of information much more memorable. The book also makes the important distinction between anecdote and story. An anecdote can be one illustrative example of something that happened in everyday life. A story has a narrative arc. A story can take your audience somewhere and then stick the landing. Stories are transformative and can have an impact beyond the room.
Jean Costanza Miller, Ph.D.
Stories That Stick was a quick, easy read with a lot of helpful, practical advice. The core tenet is that stories help us to create attention, allow us to influence, and allow us to transform people and relationships. The author discusses the core elements of a story which would include an identifiable character, authentic emotion, a transformational moment, and specific details to which people can relate. The book provides many examples that help you find and generate your own stories. With this overall positive review, the book’s examples would be helpful to people in sales, marketing, and advertising, as well as leaders that are trying to inspire members of their organization.
Christine Clapp
Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins defines a story as “a reimagined experience narrated with enough detail and feeling to cause your listener's imaginations to experience it as real.” The book focuses on the different types of stories that a speaker or leader can tap into when creating their story repertoire. And the author argues that the most important are Who-I-Am Stories. The Who-I-Am Story is important because it strengthens the relationship between the speaker and the audience. When a speaker talks about something personal or intimate, the audience has a greater reason to trust the speaker. So, our clients that are technical experts and subject-matter experts who believe that they need to focus on just the data, the facts, and the details, it is important and appropriate to weave stories among the facts and data, even in serious situations, to build trust with your audience.
Lisa Richard
Unleash the Power of Storytelling: Win Hearts, Change Minds, Get Results by Rob Biesenbach
In Unleash the Power of Storytelling, Biesenbach understands that people are the heart and soul of storytelling. Stories are told by people, about people, and for people. Using stories to convey our message recognizes how emotion and human connection are how we reach others and bring our ideas to life. Biesenbach’s approach mirrors the way we at SWA encourage speakers to craft messages: first, know your audience and be clear about your goal. Name the challenges your audience hopes to overcome and illustrate how someone in your story worked to address that challenge. Always bring your story to resolution.
My top three tips from Rob Biesenbach:
“Choose words that stimulate the senses.” His examples include a “sharp” increase instead of a “sudden” one, “seize” rather than “take,” and “hurl” in place of “throw.”(pp. 85-86)
“Practice, practice, practice…there’s no substitute for preparation.” (p. 116)
“Keep your antennae up.” It’s never too early to begin building your own collection of stories. (Chapter 8)
Would you like to find out more about our Leadership Communication and Presentation Skills experts and our training programs or 1:1 coaching engagements? Or book a consultation with our founder Christine Clapp to discuss how Spoken with Authority can help your firm or organization.