Storytelling Its Importance And Characteristics In Business Communication With Activity Training Ppt

Slide 1

This slide explains the meaning of a story.

Slide 2

This slide illustrates the main points of importance of storytelling in general as well as particularly for business communication.

Instructor’s Notes:

In General Communication-

• Stories grab attention: Stories can quickly grab people's attention as they create a new reality and connect emotions to it. Stories help the people see their life from different perspectives, or they usually relate to these, imagining every scenario with the motive of finding out how they have would have responded to it
• Stories make it personal, emotionally connect people, and create loyalty: Through storytelling, the speaker can formulate and frame business concepts relating them to the personal experiences of life. It provides an explanation and relevance to business statistics and helps people connect it to their life
• Stories challenge current perspective: Stories challenge current assumptions and norms when provided with new perspectives. It is experienced while rewriting the stories. Many times stories are modified or rewritten, reframing them to show a different perspective
• Stories create empathy: The success behind stories is that they create empathy with the situation and the characters involved. It is all about the experience of how people and how they relate to the story of their own life that unfolds before them. The key is that stories can simulate a natural and authentic experience
• Stories are likely to be revisited: It is evident that people usually remember the stories that bring some motivating lesson or a real-life experience, and then they revisit such stories and share them with multiple people transferring their knowledge and learning. Good stories contribute to culture and survive the test of time
• Stories inspire change: Stories can be used as an inspirational tool to motivate people to change. The speaker can make audience relate to some tragic or success stories. The Stories that that grab attention and have qualities like empathy, emotional connection, etc. motivate people to see and do things differently. The Speaker should make use of compelling storytelling techniques to encourage individuals and groups to change

In Business Communication-

• Business development: Every business idea is backed by some story- whether it's related to product development or business expansion. The story must provide context to the audience and the stakeholders to understand the worthiness of a product/service. Every story must build a connection with the audience using real-life scenarios. This makes it easier for them to understand the importance of your products and services
• Competitive advantage: Consumers are usually lost in the noise as they are exposed to too much information. A business might be offering something better than its competitors, but making decisions is more of an emotional process than a logical one. Telling a story in a presentable way can distinguish you from your competitors, providing a competitive advantage
• Marketing and advertising: Storytelling is considered a marketing strategy for businesses as people want to connect with different brands and companies. Storytelling inspires people to take action by humanizing a brand. It also helps customers to know and understand the relevance of products or services you offer
• Decision making: The reviews posted on social networks are more of stories than facts. These reviews influence the decision-making process of people, which can be a purchase decision or something else. While connecting with any brand, a person looks for multiple factors and reasons. In fact, these are looking stories that can provide answers to their diverse questions
• Stories increase employee engagement and efficiency: Employees are the company's best assets, and a company succeeds only when the employees do. Research indicates widespread non-engagement on the part of US employees. Over 70% of the US employees are not engaged or are actively disengaged from work. It is suggested that an organization should cultivate the right culture at work by using storytelling. They can share stories relating to its history, struggles, aims, and how it achieved its goals. The story should only revolve around the essential aspects that should be communicated to the employees and why that aspect is relevant for them. This initiative will not only encourage their behavior, but also motivate them to work efficiently and effectively

Slide 3

This slide mentions the main features of a good story.

Instructor’s Notes:

• Audience specific: To know more about your target audience, informal conversations are  best. Building on this knowledge,  a speaker can always prefer storytelling to glean out their needs and requirements. The closer your story is to audience’s concerns, the better it is for all stakeholders
• Contextualize the story: An individual, while sharing a story must make sure that he/she contextualizes the story. To contextualize means to analyze an event in terms of concepts surrounding it. For Example, when reading a novel written during women’s civil rights movement, it’s advised to keep feminist perspectives in mind
• Humanize the story: To humanize means to make a story friendlier and relatable to humans. Humanization makes the concept more understandable and refined so that people find it easy to relate and appreciate
• Make the story action oriented: Being specific reduces the chances of confusion. While recounting a story, the speaker should prefer giving practical advice and clear direction. The message then hits home and empowers audience; it also helps them take action and make their own story
• Keep it humble: A story should be kept humble i.e., it should not include elements like excessive pride. It should simply provide a motivating and encouraging lesson which people can relate to their life

Slide 4

This slide illustrates an activity that the trainer can use to discuss some stories or experiences of the target audience. This activity will help the trainer to grab attention and energize the crowd.

Instructor’s Notes:

After this activity, participants will realize that it's easy to connect with and remember stories rather than concepts. To send a message that a person should relate to, it should “preferably” be in the form of a story.