DEVELOPMENT
How to use
storytelling to
influence up
Making real change in an organisation
requires telling a great story. It’s important
to know what to tell, who you’re telling it to,
and how to tell it says Emma Bannister.
THE EXPERT
Emma Bannister is
passionate about
presenting big, bold
and beautiful ideas.
She is the founder and
CEO of Presentation
Studio, APAC’s
largest presentation
communication agency,
and author of the book
‘Visual Thinking: How
to transform the way
you think, communicate
and influence with
presentations.’
Communicating with management is a crucial
part of most roles, whether you are trying to
improve work-flow efficiencies, pitching new
product ideas or even making the case for having
dogs in the office. Having a healthy dialogue
between executives and employees within any
organisation is extremely important when it
comes to addressing issues. To successfully
get your leaders to hear your needs and take
supportive actions to meet them, you need to
engage them in a story. The more empathetic,
succinct and compelling the story, the more
likely your chances. A well told story might mean
management are sold on increasing the budget,
hiring more staff or having Simon the poodle
in the office. Here are three storytelling ideas to
consider, as you plan your influence strategy.
Find relevance
The first thing to be aware of is that you need to
make the story relevant enough for it to matter
to your chosen audience—in this case, the
experience of your business leaders. Empathetic
language and finding common ground will help
your story be heard. Your leader has specific
interests, passions and language that are all
important to consider.
Do your research!
Who are they within your organisation? What
are they currently advocating for within your
company? If they have a public profile, what are
the things they are talking about in the media,
online and in thought-leadership? Think about
how the answers to these questions might affect
the way in which you craft the story you tell.
Where do your needs and their needs align?
Storytelling can bridge the gap between their
desires and yours, helping them re-frame their
strategy to include your proposal.
Outside of their professional life, think about
what your leaders are like on a personal level.
What kind of language do they use? Do they have
a reserved or charismatic personality? While a
little more psychological, understanding these
personal attributes will affect the way in which
you present your needs.
Cut to the chase.
Now that you have a good understanding of
your audience, it’s important to understand
what you really want. Many CEOs and managers
don’t have the time to make their way through
ambiguous pitches or hear irrelevant information.
They want a message that is clear and concise.
When constructing your story make sure you
clearly articulate the complication that you need
to resolve. Make sure you provide necessary
evidence for the problem and for why your
solution makes the most sense. At the end of
your story, give a clear call-to-action—a tangible
next step your leader can understand and make a
quick, informed decision in your favour.
Get the medium right
How you tell your story is just as important as what
the story is. An email, a personal conversation or
a letter might be the right choice. If a presentation
is called for, remember that presentations can take
many different forms, anything from PowerPoint
to an animation—even video. These are all
powerful mediums for storytelling and choosing
the right medium is crucial to the success of your
story. Working out which medium is right for
you comes back to knowing your audience and
understanding what you want to say. Do you need
internal communications software because emails
are getting too inundated? Maybe a PowerPoint
might explain your frustrations more than an email
that won’t get read. Nothing undermines your
story more than the wrong medium.
Storytelling is an effective way of getting the
attention and buy-in of your executives. Adopting
an approach that considers their story, clearly
articulates what you need and is presented in a
way that cuts through the noise, should influence
your leaders in a way that is beneficial for your
entire organisation. S
www.presentationstudio.com
Issue 3 2019 | Chief of Staff 53