People remember stories
(Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash)

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” (Steve Jobs, when he was CEO of Pixar in 1994)

The Communication And Engagement Challenge — Emotions Before Logic

As business leaders, tech executives face many communication challenges. They need to create support for a new strategy, stimulate innovation, or seek board approval to invest in a major new initiative, but tech leaders risk making the mistake of treating their organizations as if they are primarily rational systems in which data drives actions and decisions. PowerPoint presentations with bullet points don’t motivate people or drive decisions.

In reality, our brains subconsciously decide based on emotion: We choose to pursue pleasure or avoid risk before we’re aware that we’ve done so. When we become aware of our choice at the conscious level, we only then start to apply logic and use our intellectual reasoning to justify the decision we’ve already made in our subconscious.

Leadership Stories Connect With Emotions To Inspire And Drive Change

Executives who connect with emotions through leadership storytelling better inspire and drive change. When leaders tell effective stories, they can create engagement and belief around their work. There’s no faster or more human way to align people to action.

Storytelling in business helps cement ideas in a way that simple facts and data don’t: We are up to 20 times more likely to remember facts if they’re part of a story. Stories pull the listener into the conversation rather than telling them what to think. Telling emotionally resonant stories makes others remember you and your story’s message. Stories have an ability to forge deeper connections between people, inspiring them to focus their attention and act. It makes it easier for them to also spread your message by retelling your story. Most leaders intuitively know that storytelling is an important leadership communication skill, yet they often forget about it. They’re not sure how to develop their stories, what makes a great story, or how to strengthen their storytelling skills.

Take The Important Steps To Effective Storytelling

The new report, Master Storytelling For Impactful Leadership, reveals what storytelling is and why it is a highly impactful communication tool. It explains the important ingredients for successful storytelling and what to do to embed storytelling as part of your leadership toolkit and mindset. The companion report, Use Leadership Storytelling To Communicate Tech’s Business Value And Inspire Action, explains how to develop your leadership stories. It provides a step-by-step guide on how to create a narrative, presentation, or other deliverable using leadership storytelling. The steps outline the key considerations and provide a structured process for you to use to develop your stories.

We hope you find these reports helpful for using the power of leadership storytelling to better communicate and connect.