MODERN LEADERSHIP
The best way to share a success
story is to deliver it as an insight. The
renowned psychologist Gary Klein
says that an insight is an unexpected
shift to a better story. Everyone has
stories in their head. One of your
jobs is to help people find the most
beneficial one.
It’s better to offer your success
story as a hard-learned lesson
than to gloat over it like a trophy.
For example, if your customer is
resisting mortgage insurance,
you might say something like, ‘I
understand. This just feels like
another fee on top of a bunch of
others. I helped a couple about six
months ago who felt the same way.
Their names were Sally and David …’
Then you tell their story.
Crafting a success story
A good success story has a defined
structure. First, you should introduce
the characters and show how
they are like your listener. This is
important because we are more
influenced by people who are just
like us. For example, you might not
share the story of Sally and David
with a single, wealthy lawyer, but it
would be ideal for another working
couple. Don’t make up this common
ground on the fly. Rather, find a
bunch of stories that you can match
with different audiences.
And use names. People like to hear
stories about people. If you can’t
share someone’s real name, use a
pseudonym. Just make sure it’s clear
that you have made up the name,
just as I did when telling the story of
Sally and David.
Now introduce the problem the
characters faced and how they
felt about it. In the case of Sally
and David, it was the problem of
having to pay yet another fee – for
mortgage insurance – and the
frustration that caused them to resist
this. It’s important that your audience
connects with the emotions felt by
the story’s characters. You want
them to be thinking: ‘That’s just how
I feel’.
Then share the solution and how
that felt. In the story of Sally and
David, it’s Sally who feels thankful
that she and her husband said yes
to mortgage insurance. You can
imagine how relieved she felt. The
story should leave your audience
thinking, ‘If I was in that situation,
I would want to feel relieved and
thankful too’.
Granted, the story of Sally and
David is an extreme one, but it’s not
uncommon. Most times, however,
success stories are less about life
and death and more about someone
making a better financial decision,
getting something done for their
family or pursuing their desired
lifestyle. Regardless, take the same
approach: start with the characters,
share their problem and how it felt,
then share the solution and how that
felt, leaving your audience to infer
they want to feel that way too.
Finding and remembering
good stories to tell
To use this technique, you have to
notice the good stories that are most
likely washing past you right now.
Jot down important details such as
the date and people’s names and
store them where they are easy to
access. I use the smartphone app
Evernote but a trusty notebook will
also do the job as your story bank.
Of course, the best stories are the
ones you can tell off the cuff. To get
a story into your memory, first tell it
to someone who’s willing to have a
good conversation about it. Discuss
with that person what the story
means to you and listen to what it
means to them. They might say it’s
all about how a small investment
can ultimately save you hundreds
of thousands of dollars, or how
insurance means peace of mind.
This conversation helps you make
meaning of the story and triggers the
remembering process. Now just tell
the story three times and it will be
locked in.
In the case of Sally and David,
Angela saw their story as being
about how dismissing something
as ‘yet another fee’ could leave
someone uninsured and vulnerable.
Somewhere down the track, when
she’s talking to someone who’s
baulking at getting mortgage
insurance, that story will pop into her
mind and she can share it.
Shawn Callahan is business storytelling
specialist and founder of Anecdote.
Shawn works with leaders and sellers
around the world helping them find
and tell oral stories to spark action.
He is the author of Putting Stories to
Work: Mastering Business Storytelling
(Pepperberg Press). For more
information visit www.anecdote.com or
contact [email protected]
June 2016
ModernBusiness
47