Hi Everyone, welcome to my column… “Storyline.” You’ll see regular posts on the Kann Advisory Group website. The focus is on communication, storytelling and building a strong brand for better leadership. So here we go !
I hear some version of the following all the time:
• “We don’t tell our story well enough”
• “We need to do a better job of telling our story”
• “[COMPETITOR] is telling their story better than we are”
This goes for organizations as well as individual leaders, but we’ll focus here on storytelling for leadership.
So, what’s the solution?
How can leaders do a more effective job of storytelling to their teams? The answer depends on a lot of factors: the organization itself, the audience, the strategy and tactics to be employed.
But good leadership storytelling has at least five characteristics:
1. It’s Authentic.
Sometimes we overthink our approach. We try to get too cute or fancy and the story we try to convey to our audiences looks and feels phony. Too polished, too contrived.
The answer? Just be real. The more plain spoken and simple a message is, the more effective it often is.
Motel 6 got a lot of mileage out of Tom Bodett’s ad-libbed “we’ll leave the light on for you.”
Bodett’s relaxed and friendly voice, along with the folksy background music, helped connect with the motel’s target audience.
2. Use Details That Help Paint a Picture.
Include names, places and emotions.
Sports, in particular, have an endless array of names, events, emotions and visuals to draw from. Use them to create a vivid and memorable narrative.
And every one of us has a unique, personal story to share.
3. Remember That It’s Not About You.
Make someone else the hero of your story.
Maybe it’s your fans or customers. Maybe it’s your employees. In college athletics, maybe it’s your student-athletes.
It might seem counterintuitive to try to take the focus off the organization, but doing this sometimes brings the attention right back to the organization.
4. Delivery Is Important.
Yes, it has to be authentic, but you do need to execute on your storytelling plan and that can take some rehearsing.
Practicing your delivery and testing your tactics doesn’t make you inauthentic.
Don’t deliver a good story poorly because all the audience will remember is the clunky presentation.
5. Know Your Audience.
We’ve all been part of audiences listening to a speaker who just doesn’t get who he or she is talking to.
Do some research before you get up to share a story in front of a particular audience. Know what they value or what they fear. Familiarize yourself with their demographics.
Try to deliver a message that will resonate.
Here’s My Takeaway
Effective leadership storytelling is essential for effective leadership.
It tells your audience you understand them. An emotional connection is made and that brings people closer together.
And that helps build good teams.
I hope you’ll connect with me at justin@kannadvisory.com to learn more about our ElevateU collegiate life skills program, and the other offerings from Kann Advisory Group.
