The Power of Stories

I often receive the feedback that some of the most memorable elements of our workshops revolve around the stories which I tell to illustrate teaching points.

I have become increasingly attracted in the power of storytelling as a method of creating an environment for people to leave the workshop remembering more and more about the material and the purpose of the material. And I can trace my interest in the power of storytelling back to experiencing a workshop session delivered by Kindra Hall.

It was the summer of 2017 and I was attending my first National Speakers Association (NSA) conference in Florida. I was there as part of my journey to obtain my Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) accreditation.

There are only 61 CSPs in Canada and around 1,000 around the world and often think how odd it is that I, as a born introvert, am amongst their ranks. I will tell people that one of my favourite buildings in the world has the word ‘library’ on the outside and that my favourite room inside that favourite building is the ‘Reference Section.’

At the NSA conference, it is a chance to meet other would-be professional speakers but also to be exposed to the best of the best demonstrating their craft. Since I had never been to such a conference before, I had no real gauge of what to expect.

For me, it was just like going to my very first Cirque du Soleil performance. I left there with nothing but the word “WOW!” in my vocabulary.

The very first speaker to take the stage was Kindra Hall, a name that I had never heard before.

As Kindra took the stage, she introduced herself professionally. She sounded polished and prepared. She told the audience that she was going to talk about how storytelling had changed her life. She told us that she had even won an international award for storytelling. Who knew there was such a thing?

Kindra then shared a fascinating story about how she had handed in a science paper at school that was required to meet a certain amount of words and pages in length as well as teach a lesson required by the assignment criteria. The topic was gravity.

Kindra struggled with her first draft and was grossly short on the word and page count when she had finished. After being cautioned by her teacher and told to go back and ‘do it again,” Kindra decided to add a story about going to the local fair and her experience on a roller- coaster.

I have had papers rejected by teachers because of poor word or page count before so I had shared that experience with Kindra. You probably have too.

But it was way that she described that roller-coaster experience which hooked me. I have never been a fan (I have only been on two in my entire life!) but I was right there with her every word.

I sat there transfixed understanding immediately the impact of storytelling. It is the deliberate mixing of emotions with messages designed to elevate the meaning of the experience for those people hearing it.

Even writing these words now, I can still remember feeling that I was on that roller coaster alongside her as she shared her words from the stage.

I was hooked and from that point onwards, I determined to make an effort to increase the amount of storytelling that I demonstrated within our workshops in the future.

Kindra Hall's first book, Stories That Stick, has just been released, and within a few weeks of its publication, it has hit the number two list on the New York Times' bestselling list.

I thoroughly recommend you obtain a copy of it and indulge yourself in the beautiful lessons and analogies (and of course stories) that Kindra shares.

It will help you not only in your career, but dare I say in life elsewhere as well.

Anytime we can increase the understanding of our messages by the listener, it's a good thing.

And as one of the very first lines in her book that Kindra shares with the reader, the power of storytelling is irresistible to humans. And not all stories start with “Once upon a time….”

After all, if I asked you what you did on the weekend, you would end up telling me a series of stories.

We listen to stories all day long. We share stories all day long. We sometimes ‘binge-watch’ stories all day (weekend) long. The point is that we remember stories. That is just the way that we are wired.

So, go ahead, tell a story.

Better yet, tell your story.

Phil Eastwood is Senior Partner at Fiore Group Training Inc..

Fiore Group Training is passionate about Creating Incredibly Better Workplaces by focusing on the people, relationships, supervision and leadership in today’s workplaces…wherever they may be.

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