May 29, 2021
Have you ever wondered what makes famous storytellers so inspiring? Or what makes a business story stand out?
We’ve analysed some of the best storytellers in business, and below are some of the key lessons you can learn from them.
More than data and statistics, people care about vulnerability and authenticity. Sure, it carries the risk of uncertainty and emotional exposure, but it’s vulnerability that connects you with your audience.
Simply share a story about your failures, mistakes and small disasters. Talk about how the experience made you feel.
What was the turning point? What did you learn?
How did your struggles shape your future?
Your audience will be interested to know, and a curious audience is a listening audience.
A great example of a leader from whom we can learn the value of vulnerability is Scott Harrison, the founder of Charity: Water.
In a little bit over 10 years, his non-profit has raised over $300M in donations and given more than 8 million people around the world access to clean water.
No other non-profit has seen such a rapid rise in such a short time frame.
But how did he do it?
By using storytelling to inspire his audience.
Let’s watch a few minutes of the Scott Harrison and see how he uses very personal, vulnerable stories in his speech:
If there’s one thing that all famous storytellers have in common, it’s that they are not afraid to tell the truth.
“Business is tough, you need tough guys.”
“If you are not willing to risk the usual, you’ll settle for the ordinary.”
You get the point.
Dare to speak up, even though not everyone will like that. From what we’ve observed, a tough truth can be discomforting at first but rewarding in the long run.
A fantastic example of that comes from Bob Iger.
Bog Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005. Right at his first board meeting he stood up in front all the board members and said “Guys, Disney Animation is an absolute mess”.
He knew that it was not the 1st time that they had heard something like that, but he also felt that they hadn’t truly internalized it. Instead of giving them data to prove his point, he shared a story of what he meant.
He said, “Two weeks ago, I was in Hong Kong to open Hong Kong Disneyland. I remember standing on Main Street, watching the big parade happening with tons of Disney characters flowing through the streets. All these classic characters such as Pinocchio, Cinderella, and Snow White. As I watched, it struck me that something was missing.”
At that moment, he turned to the board, “What is missing here for you?”
“We haven’t had any characters for the past 10 years!”
And that was a problem because Disney was relying on revenue from new characters. New characters mean new rides, new merchandise, and new offshoot animations.
Iger changed that. Only a year after, in 2006, he purchased Pixar. Another 3 years later, in 2009, he purchased Marvel film studios, and, in 2012, Iger purchased the rights for the Star Wars movies.
Today, Disney is the most successful media company and owns the rights to some of the most popular characters of recent times – from Frozen, to Black Panther to Avengers.
Iger turned the company around by not shying away from the truth.
To listen to Iger’s full story, check out Anecdote’s podcast episode. Anecdote is a fantastic resource to build your business story repertoire.
Personal stories of tragedy can be powerful in business storytelling. It creates emotional resonance and shows resilience – while also empowering your audience to overcome inevitable tragedies and setbacks.
In her commencement address at the University of California, Berkeley, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s story of her husband’s death demonstrated both tragedy and triumph.
One key lesson we learned from her speech is that you shouldn’t be afraid to show emotion.
Sandberg inspired hope, telling the audience that “when tragedy or disappointment strikes, know that you have the ability to get through absolutely anything.”
And it wasn’t all dark and gloomy. Another lesson we learned from Sandberg is that if your story is of tragedy, you should be prepared to use humour to lighten the mood.
Anytime you want to tell a story, you want to be mindful of your audience.
Who are you trying to persuade/ influence (age, gender, education, income, etc.)?
What do they want mechanically and emotionally?
Once you know your audience, you can decide what story to use and how to tell the story.
A fantastic example comes from the former president of the United States, Barack Obama.
In 2015, 9 African Americans were tragically killed in a mass shooting in Charleston.
Shortly after incident, Barack Obama decided to fly to Charleston to give a eulogy. He arrived in Charleston in the congregation, went in front of the podium and started his eulogy.
But a few minutes in, he slowed down a little bit to observe the audience. He could tell that the audience was not as engaged as they usually were. Maybe his speech was was too general or too abstract.
And that’s when he decided to go off script.
He said, ‘These people had grace in how they lived, grace in how they saw the world. They had amazing grace. Amazing grace.’
In that moment, completely out of nowhere, he started singing the Amazing Grace.
With him, the entire congregation got up and joined him on the full song.
The mood in the church changed instantly.
What that example shows is that you always have to be mindful of your audience – even if you are the most powerful man on earth.
The best storytellers don’t just rely on the importance of their material or event to hold everyone’s attention. They understand that storytelling is not a one-man show but rather a conversation between people.
They always make the audience feel like they are taking part in a dialogue.
Take Steve Jobs, for instance. Even with an already passionate audience at an Apple Keynote, he was very keen to engage them and keep their attention.
Steve Jobs didn’t just use impact and relevance, but he also injected humour into his storytelling.
A great example of this in action was at Apple’s 2007 launch of the iPhone, when he made a prank call to a Starbucks, ordered 4,000 lattes and then hung up.
As Jobs hung up, the 4000 plus crowd erupted in laughter.
He tailored his storytelling to his audience’s knowledge, experience, and interests.
Use the lessons from this selection of famous storytellers to transform your business storytelling skills. You don’t have to infuse them all. Just start with one and note the reaction from your audience the next time you tell a story.
Interested in bringing your storytelling techniques to the next level?
Check out our storytelling keynotes, workshops, and 1:1 coaching.
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