Storytelling has been around since the dawn of time. From cave paintings and mythology to folklore and gossip, we’re surrounded by stories that tell us who we are, what we should care about, and what we should fear. Stories help us to grow as people. So why can’t storytelling help us to support employee growth, too?
In Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report, employee stress was at an all-time high. You know that’s not good. You’ve also surely seen calls to improve employee engagement to maximize people’s potential and help them to feel more connected at work. Yet the hard part is engaging your employees. Storytelling for employee engagement is one strategy. This article shares how to make it work for you.
We’ve written already about the value of storytelling for employee engagement. It has a beneficial impact because it:
- Triggers emotion
- Personalizes the message
- Enhances recollection
- Connects employees
- Builds brand
All of those are obviously positive benefits for your employee engagement efforts. Yet in order for it to work, you need to do storytelling well. Next, we’ll share tips to improve your use of storytelling in communicating with your teams.
1. Focus Your Message
Remember the tortoise and the hare? One reason we tell and retell that story is because it has a clear message: “slow and steady wins the race.” You want your story to have that kind of simple, straightforward takeaway.
That is harder than it sounds. You’ll need to really think about what you want your overall message to be. Try and get that down to five to seven words. Then, go back and think about a story you can tell to communicate that message. The story should be in service of the message; not the other way around
2. Be Concise
Focus your story so that all the details you share are relevant to the message. You are not writing a novel. You don’t want to keep your listeners standing up at a meeting for a three-hour marathon tale.
When shaping your story, it can help to think of “IRS.” No, not the tax collectors. This is an easy-to-remember story format to guide your writing. Make sure your story has an:
- Intriguing beginning
- Riveting middle
- Satisfying end
3. Choose Your Words Carefully
Know that words matter. If you aren’t using the right words to convey your message, you might not captivate your audience in the same way. In a Content Marketing Institute discussion of word choice, SPROUT Content co-founder Debbie Williams discussed a video called “The Power of Words,” which went viral in 2011.
She writes, “It shows a blind, homeless man sitting on a city street collecting change. Initially he held up a sign that simply said, ‘I’m blind, please help.’ The video shows most people just glancing and walking by. The turning point comes when a woman stopped and rewrote his sign to say, ‘It’s a beautiful day and I can’t see it.’” The new words make it so that the passerby can relate and sympathize with the man.
4. Make the Story Emotional
Humans respond to emotions more than facts and figures. So, you’re going to need to be willing to “go there.” You may have to get personal and be vulnerable to tell a story that has a real impact on your audience.
“Stories resonate with an audience when they take people on an emotional journey,” said Dr. Alexis Carreiro of The Pitch Prof. “Pick key moments and add specific details to help your audience feel what you want them to. Good storytellers make you think, but great storytellers make you feel.”
5. Involve Your Listener
One way to do this is to appeal to all the senses. Give vivid descriptions of the sound, feel, smell, or taste of the things you are describing. Don’t just focus on sight. This helps your listener form a picture in their mind’s eye, which hooks them into the story. Plus, it will help them to better retain the information.
You can also involve listeners by incorporating them into the story. Who doesn’t want to be the hero of the story they are hearing or reading? Using “we” and “us” helps connect listeners to what you are saying.
6. Practice in Advance
In using storytelling to connect with employees, you want to not only plan carefully, but also practice in advance. Writing in an article suggesting storytelling can help train utility field workers, safety manager Bill Spencer notes, “It doesn’t have to be scripted (in fact, it’s probably better if it isn’t), but be sure you have at least practiced it once or twice before delivering it.”
Practicing it beforehand helps you gain confidence in the story you’re telling. It will also help you deliver the message more naturally.
7. Incorporate Visuals
Where you can, add visuals to your storytelling. This can help you:
- Simplify a complex story
- Catch people’s attention
- Emphasize the key message
- Make the story memorable
The Harvard Business Review tells us that “great storytelling connects employees to their work.” Now, you have some of the tools needed to tell a great story and create that all-important connection. If you want to learn more about engaging your employees and improving EX, contact Sogolytics today!
