A Story About Stories

Stories, well planned and strategically executed, can solve business problems.

Once upon a time …

A large corporation in Southern California had a lot of mechanics, engineers and maintenance workers on site, and those people used a big variety of tools involving a wide range of risks. Injuries were common at this facility and at others like it. Death on the job was a real possibility. Every day.

To influence employee behavior – with the goal of reducing worker injuries – the company communicated regularly about the risks. They shared statistics and safety records. The talked about what had happened on site – last week, last month – and at other workplaces. “Look at this,” they said. And, “Don’t forget this!” 

The company’s communication emphasized the problems. Its goal was solving its own problem, not the readers’ problems.

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Stories can create moments of change. And all you need is a moment – to increase curiosity, to share insight, to make a human connection. But each story needs to be created and delivered for a reason. That’s the important part, the reason. What is the real reason someone wants to read, watch or listen to your stories? Breaking news: The reason is not your reason. It’s about them and their need. You’ve heard that before, but you need to understand that it’s true.

Back to my story

The Southern California company communicated its own reason. It wanted to reduce workplace injuries. But the workers, the readers of this regular communication? They wanted to go home at the end of the shift. They wanted to play with their kids. Go out for pizza. Ride their motorcycles. And they wanted to return to work so they could keep getting paid.

That’s a different reason than the company’s. And it required a communication style that was personal, empathetic, human.

I redesigned that communication plan to focus on the workers as people, not as statistics or employees or injury data. Sure, we still showed some charts and tables. But presented in a human context, the data meant something to the audience. The company was trying to influence human behavior at the workplace every day. I helped them do that by creating and sharing stories about those actual humans. Similar storytelling work can be done for nearly any company, no matter the product or service you sell. No matter the problems you are trying to solve.

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The stories I create and share are your stories of delivering solutions, effecting positive changes, improving lives. The best stories connect with people and make them want more stories, they raise questions, they make people curious.

Elevator Pitch

You know the old Elevator Pitch exercise. Imagine you’re alone in an elevator when a potential customer enters, and now you have 60 seconds to tell your story. What do you say? You say just enough to make them curious. If you talk about yourself, your products, your services, they’re unlikely to show interest. But if you share a story about solving their problem, you might get a “Call me next week and let’s talk more.”

Elevator or not, your ability to earn someone’s attention increases when you use well-designed stories.