‘Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever’- An old proverb.
Why Storytelling?
Have you ever wondered why human beings are in love with the stories?
Do you remember the story of The Rabbit And The Tortoise, or The Thirsty Crow, which you heard as a child? The moment you read this sentence, you must have visualized a part of that story in your mind. Such is the power and impact of stories in our lives, they stay with us forever.
Human beings are hardwired for stories as it connects with both sides of our brain i.e. the left side, which caters to logic, reasoning, and the right side, which caters to feelings and creativity.
Impact of Storytelling
Such is the impact of stories, that the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Ms Indra Nooyi, has started The PepsiCo Women’s Inspiration Network for women across the organization to share their inspirational stories. She truly believes that stories have the power to inspire people with lessons learnt.
When a powerful communicator imbibes a well woven story in business situations, it connects people deep within. Storytelling can be used in every business scenario. Whether you are selling a product to your customers, or launching a new idea or introducing a new concept to your peers.
How Can Women Be Storytellers In Business Communication?
Ms Ishita is a manager in a company, who is really worried about the decreasing trend of face to face communication within the organization. She thinks more and more people are sending emails, even for small things.
Look at the unique way she conveyed this message in one of the team meeting’s. Here is what she said:
‘Last week I was in Spain for product launch meetings. On the fourth day of my trip, when I returned back from work to my hotel, I had a chat with my daughter on Skype. My daughter, during the conversation, just simply hugged the laptop and said ‘Mom, I love you’. Sometimes we can have a replacement for real things, but sometimes nothing can match what a real thing can do. I am sharing this with you, because it reminds me that every day we have the same choice in communicating with colleagues in office, we can either choose to send emails, or have a face to face communication, because sometimes only a real thing can do.’
This story created a powerful impact and a sense of belonging amongst the employees to understand each other better through increased face to face communication.
Best selling books, such as ‘License to live’ by Priya Kumar, and I have a dream by Rashmi Bansal, are woven around stories.
