Storymaking & Storytelling

9th July 2024 | Barcelona

Your Upcoming Workshop On

Storytelling is a crucial skill for leaders and leadership teams to be effective business partners because it enables you to effectively communicate complex ideas, build emotional connections, and inspire action.

By mastering storytelling, you can:

Articulate strategic insights: Stories help translate operational data and insights into compelling narratives making it easier to influence decision-making.

Build credibility and trust: Well-crafted stories demonstrate your understanding of the broader business context, helping to establish you as a valuable strategic partner rather than just an executor.

Drive change and innovation: Stories can illustrate the potential impact of operational changes on business outcomes, making it easier to gain buy-in for new initiatives and challenge existing assumptions.

+ Prepare

A one-minute story on a recent challenge you had to deal with at work and what you learnt from it?

    • Why we need to be effective at storytelling

    • What and how of storymaking & storytelling

    • Storymaking: 3 cases

    • Storytelling & Feedback

    • What's Next?

  • The Science behind Storymaking and Storytelling :

    In the bustling market of our daily interactions, it's not the loudest voice that captures attention, but the one that resonates with our emotions — the one that tells a story. So why do stories work?

    1. Emotional Engagement: We are bombarded with information and so we filter most of it. We remember stories that capture our attention and connect with our emotions.

    2. Neurochemical Responses: Our brain's chemistry plays a significant role in how we process stimuli. Adrenaline prepares us for a fight-or-flight response, while oxytocin fosters social bonding and trust. Understanding these responses is crucial for crafting messages that resonate and inspire action.

    3. The Amygdala's Role: Acting as the brain's emotional sentinel, the amygdala filters every piece of information, assessing its threat level, emotional charge, and complexity. Successfully engaging the Amygdala is key to effective storytelling.

    4. Overcoming Barriers with Stories: To influence and persuade, we must bypass the amygdala's initial defenses. Stories, rich with emotional and relatable elements, provide a pathway directly to the heart and mind, encouraging empathy and understanding.

    5. Physiological Basis of Storytelling's Power: As highlighted by Professor Paul Zak, stories that capture our attention and engage us emotionally are the ones that spur us to action. This connection is hardwired into our physiology, making storytelling a potent tool for persuasion.

    6. More Than a Communication Tool: Storytelling is a skill that transcends mere information sharing. It has the power to inspire, evoke empathy, and leave a profound, lasting impact on the listener.

    7. The Transformative Potential of Stories: As leaders, our narratives are our strength. They allow us to paint vivid pictures, inspire change, and leave indelible marks on our audience's hearts and minds.

    Reflection Questions

    1. What are my strengths in story making and storytelling?

    2. What would I like to get better at?

Diagram titled 'The 5 C's Story Structure' illustrating five stages: Context, Catalyst, Complication, Change, Consequences, each with descriptions and numbered circles below.

+ Watch: