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Do you hold Board Meetings or
meetings of the bored?
My interest in storytelling for the
corporate world began in Spain whilst working for The British Council as a
Storyteller on Tour. Most of my days and evenings were spent with young people
learning about UK culture and English as a second language. Each lunch-time (2
hours!) I was invited to tell to the Adult Learners Class – Businessmen
learning English.
At first I was taken aback to see men
in designer suits typing up the stories as I told them. They all asked
permission to use the stories as training exercises with their employees – not
for learning English but for learning business practice. They were using my
stories as a business metaphor.
Later I read Alan Kay – VP Walt
Disney Co – saying:
Scratch
the surface in a typical Boardroom and we are cavemen with briefcases, hungry
for a wise person to tell us stories.
I already knew that stories make us comfortable and when we are comfortable we listen actively. I soon realised that stories are easier to relate to than balance sheets and forecasts and therefore easier to learn from. As a corporate training tool a session from a storyteller has to be tailored to the training need. I will always consult with a client to establish exact the requirement. A Training Course could be as simple as a session on ‘presentation’ to telling stories that illustrate an organisation’s values in a way that allows everyone to be clear about where the organisation is going and how each individual can contribute. Or perhaps a course on how to use powerful visualisation and imagery to increase interest in your sales pitch, presentation, speeches, training sessions or board meetings. If we are going to get our ideas, products and concepts across to potential customers or employees we first have to get their attention... and keep it. We have to get that attention with words, visualisation and stories.
Stories coloured with emotion create a context that puts the audience in a position to understand why a point matters. You see, logic may open the mind but emotion opens the heart.
(Adapted
from Ken Falmer, Corporate Communication Consultant)
When
making a business presentation, never overwhelm your audience with facts,
figures and communication overload. Find an apt and memorable metaphor that will
give them the ability to recall the topic and salient points long after you have
walked out the door. It is the old adage, Keep It Simple, Stupid.
.
Making the simple complicated is commonplace –
Making the complex simple – that’s creativity!
Charles
Mingus
Remember that if you can ‘fire up’ your employees you please your customers. Storytelling is already used as a training tool by major corporations – IBM, CostCo, Fed-Ex, Nike, 3M, PwC, Coca Cola........
..... so why not by you?
For
details of what David James can offer email
now.
Brands
are built around stories
(Bill
Dauphinais – Price Waterhouse Coopers)
42 Cleveland Avenue
Weymouth, Dorset,
DT3 5AG
01305 778789 / 07966 514282
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