People are intrigued when I tell them I’m an Executive Coach. Inevitably, one of the first things I’m asked about is the problems that I see most often. The truth is, my clients bring a whole range of challenges and opportunities my way, but it all boils down to the same thing: all problems are people-problems and all people-problems are really communication problems. Sometimes it’s that someone hasn’t communicated enough or it’s that the message got lost in translation. At the end of the day, my clients who are the most successful and engaged are great communicators. That’s why, in almost all of my coaching engagements, we start with storytelling as a key leadership competency. You simply cannot be an effective leader if you are not an effective communicator. Your ability to craft a compelling narrative, to connect emotionally with your team, and to inspire a future that motivates your company is a crucial skill in leadership.
Effective storytelling will help to humanize you as a leader, it’s a way to get the public to root for you, and especially in today’s climate, it’s critical for attracting top talent. Your storytelling skills will get you ahead in your board meetings and will help you to deepen relationships. In essence, storytelling is the most important tool you have in your toolkit.
The good news is that storytelling is a skill that you can improve upon; it’s not something you’re just born with. Most of us are hardwired to get a bit anxious when speaking in public; evolutionarily, our brains view sets of eyes on us as a threat, and it’s tricky to overcome this instinct. The only way to get more comfortable with speaking in public is to train your brain.
The first step in building your storytelling skills is to identify the MIT (most important thing). Do this before you even start speaking. Ask yourself, what is the point I’m trying to make here? What am I trying to accomplish? Maybe you’re proposing that we reduce the 2022 budget or perhaps you sense a few of your employees are disengaged. Crystalize the main point.
Once you have your MIT, the second step is to start with the end. We tend to overcompensate with lots of context and details because we don’t have confidence in our storytelling skills. Most of those details are really just fluff and are unnecessary. These unnecessary details can also confuse your audience about what you’re trying to say. When you start with the end, you ensure that you’ll be speaking for less time, as less explanation will be needed. When you state the MIT and then follow up with any supporting facts, data, or opinions to support your main point, you’ll see that your story will become much shorter!
Now, it’s time to practice. This is the hard part because it involves lots of repetition in order to build muscle memory. Just like one bicep curl at the gym won’t cut it, one practice round won’t be enough to train your brain. I recommend practicing your story 5-6 times using a framework called PREP. Using PREP will help instill the story structure in your brain. PREP stands for:
Point: Start with the end. People often make the mistake of telling stories chronologically, but it’s all too easy to lose your audience in details that don’t matter. Start with the point or key takeaway and build the story out from there.
Reason: What are the reasons to believe your point? Here’s where you’ll add data or your opinion. Speak in short bullet points, focusing on helping your audience process the information.
Example: Paint a picture. Cite one example that supports your key point. This is your opportunity to humanize your story and bring it to life with a customer anecdote, moment from your own experience, etc. The more specific and relatable details you can incorporate, the better: use names (whether real or fake), personal details, and any other specifics that will help drive home your key point.
Point: Make your point one last time, making sure you deliver the exact same message as clearly as you did the first time.
The PREP framework will help you compose short, snappy stories that communicate key points quickly to your audience. You might think it’s unrealistic to use an entire framework and practice a story six times before actually delivering it; can’t good leaders speak off the cuff? Yes, definitely. That’s why it’s important to spend time crafting stories with the PREP framework and to practice them. That practice ultimately eliminates the need for such intensive preparation down the line. After internalizing this storytelling model, it will become much easier to spin up great stories on the fly and it will begin to feel like second nature.
In addition to PREP, another helpful tool is to optimize any speaking opportunity by working in stories and soundbites. A story is how we bring a concept to life. It’s what gives color and texture to facts and data. For example, if you’re describing a new product launch, you might consider telling a story about Ben, a customer who will truly benefit from the new product. Tell us about Ben’s background and how he will use the new product. This will help to humanize your story. Finally, end with a soundbite. What is the headline? If we remember only one thing, what is it?
As a people manager, your job is to wake up every morning with a demonstrative point of view. Your goal is to rally your team around your vision and to help everyone see into the future with you. You get to align teams, remove obstacles, and generate short-term wins in service of that vision. For that reason, your storytelling skills must be pristine. Whether it’s during a one-on-one conversation, presenting at an all-hands meeting, or sharing at a board meeting, the factor that will determine others’ confidence in you is your ability to tell a compelling story, even about the most mundane of things.
Great stories are the essence of great leaders. Start being more thoughtful about the stories you tell today, and I promise, you’ll quickly see the payoff!
