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The Significance of Storytelling

Ben DeckerPosted by Ben Decker   |   February 3rd, 2010   |   1 Comment   |  Tweet This

After writing about Compartmentalized Communicating, I’ve been thinking about how significant storytelling is to the successful communications experience. Nothing makes that human, emotional connection better than authentic, compelling storytelling. It was Hans Rosling’s brilliant presentation of statistics at TED India that has kept this topic on my mind.

As Hans demonstrates, telling a story can deliver your message almost effortlessly through the gatekeeper of the First Brain to the data processor of the New Brain. (More information on First Brain and New Brain is detailed in You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard and a bit in my Compartmentalized Communicating post.)

Bert wrote an excellent post on The Power of Story. It’s spot on. I’d like to add value to it with this complementary post offering a few unique resources, each providing a different perspective on storytelling.

The Moth.  A non-profit organization dedicated to the art of storytelling.  With performances selling out in less than 48 hours with absolutely no advertising other than word of mouth, the demand for storytelling speaks volumes.

“One of the hottest events in town… The Moth is an evening of

unashamedly old-fashioned storytelling…

the performances are enthralling,

funny and moving, with a typical New York intensity.”

- The Times (London)

“The success of The Moth is one example of

the phenomenon of storytelling that is gaining momentum

nationwide. In The Moth’s case, these narrative

sessions are fast becoming an institution.”

- The New York Times

“We celebrate the ability of stories to honor the diversity and commonality of human experience, and to satisfy a vital human need for connection.” – from The Moth’s Mission Statement

Experience Project. The world’s largest living collection of shared experiences, with over 24 experience categories.  Launched in 2007, boasting nearly 3.5 million experiences shared, this is place where individuals share their stories in an anonymous, comfortable and supportive place.  A unique website revealing the human hunger to share and read stories, this website is also a useful tool for communicators to search for stories and ideas from categories such as Education, Entertainment, Politics, Business, Relationships, to name a few.  From confessions to inspirational stories, the Experience Project is an excellent resource for exploring the stories that connect human experience.

Problogger.net: Why Stories are an Effective Communication Tool for Your Blog. This popular blog by Darren Rowse (@problogger) highlights for the blogging community what Decker emphasizes for communicators.  In researching the historical data for his blog, Darren learned that story blog posts were among the most popular over the last five years.  His bullet point list of why stories are valuable for bloggers applies to all communicators, aligned with  Bert’s The Power of Story blog post earlier this year.

  • Stories engage the imagination of readers [listeners]fatherchildonbeach
  • Stories go beyond facts and theories
  • Stories reveal something about yourself as a blogger [communicator] (they’re personal)
  • Stories trigger emotions and the senses
  • Stories are conversational - they stimulate others to react and tell their stories [to you, to others and in their own communications experiences]
  • Stories provide hooks for readers [listeners ] to latch onto your blogging [message] (they’re relatable)
  • Stories grab and hold the attention of readers [listeners]
  • Stories are memorable – while people don’t always latch onto facts and figures – a good story can be remembered for years
  • Stories illustrate your points in ways that can be much more convincing (and convicting) than other types of information

The common thread of these three sites is clear.  People love stories; stories connect them to each other in the most basic human way. Stories are bridges between our humanity and the objective of our presentations. Something so significant should be shared.

Photo credit:  zinkwazi


Categories: Communication Skills, Leadership and Communications, Public Speaking, SHARPs and Stories, Speakers
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You don’t take a wrecking ball…

Bert DeckerPosted by Bert Decker   |   November 10th, 2009   |   Leave a Comment   |  Tweet This

Here’s a great example of a metaphor from the halls of Congress, no less.

A few weeks ago Kelly posted on Obama’s “Grab a mop!” Here’s an example of the other side exemplifying skills with metaphors, analogies, and other good stickiness to make a point. Congressman Jack Kingston of Georgia gets prime time coverage here (not just C-SPAN) for visually using the 2,000 page Health Care bill and his phrase, “If your kitchen sink is leaking, you fix the sink. You don’t take a wrecking ball to the entire kitchen. This bill is a wrecking ball to the entire economy.”

The metaphor takes a complex idea like his view on health care and simplifies it in an instant. And it’s easy to visualize how outrageous a wrecking ball smashing through a kitchen would be — and that’s what he wanted to do.

So there you have it, another great sticky message. We look for them everywhere, just like raccoons look for snails and slugs under the grass in my backyard…  (well, that’s another story, but here are a few pics just so you don’t think I made that up. The best word pictures come from real life.)


Categories: Musings, SHARPs and Stories, Short Bits
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Are you in the weeds?

Ben DeckerPosted by Ben Decker   |   November 5th, 2009   |   1 Comment   |  Tweet This

weeds4We’ve all been there – caught up in the shrinking world of tunnel vision.  But when communicating with others, being in the weeds can lose your audience.

Last week I coached two executives, neither of whom had used video feedback before.  In both of these sessions, we addressed the need to “get out of the weeds.”  Most often, when we’re in the weeds, we don’t realize it.  Having an outside perspective (such as coaching and video feedback) is important for this very reason.  When we are passionate and invested in a message, it’s our natural tendency to share as much as we can in as much detail as we can.  The material is so important, so brilliant and so valuable that we inadvertently create information overload in our fervor.

When you present your communications experience, are you in the weeds?  Consider these indicators:

  • The verbal content of your message is cluttered with verbosity, technical jargon, industry lingo, and too much detail.
  • The visuals presented are overkill (too many slides, too much text, little or no graphics).
  • Your presentation lacks stories, anecdotes, and humor.
  • Your intensity for the material blinds you from the need to connect with and engage your audience.

The answer?  Focus on two things and two things only.

  1. Your point of view:  What is the core message you want to convey?
  2. Your audience:  What’s in it for them?  What are they looking for in your message?  How can you focus on the aspects of your message that they’ll care about?

Simplify your material.  Divorce the details that excite you but alienate your listeners.  Become a master of exclusion and a facilitator of a memorable message.  Take “you” out of the message.  Focus on your listeners, learn them and create an experience that leaves an impact on them.

Want to connect your message with your audience?  Get out your weed whacker!

Photo credit: gracieshoots


Categories: Communication Skills, PowerPoint Abuse - Avoid It, SHARPs and Stories, Speakers, Video - Use It
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Grab a mop!

Kelly DeckerPosted by Kelly Decker   |   October 29th, 2009   |   2 Comments   |  Tweet This

I know.  Another Obama post? Put your politics and feelings about health care and the economy aside to learn a great lesson here. Obama brings ideas to life with his words. He did it again on Tuesday at a rally for Senator Creigh Deeds, Virginia’s democratic candidate for governor. With the election just one week away, Obama stumped for Deeds and drew on his own experiences to inspire Virginians to action.

“When I showed up after inauguration, they had left a big mess on the floor. So I got a mop, and I started cleaning up their mess. That’s okay, I don’t mind.  But you know — you know, it does bother me when they start saying, ‘You’re not mopping fast enough.’ ‘You’re not holding the mop the right way.’ My attitude is, why don’t you grab a mop?”

He used the concrete analogy of a mop instead of what most politicians and business leaders might have said (warning: this might sound all too familiar to you):

“After inauguration, it became even more apparent that our economy is in crisis. As we strive for bipartisanship, they continuously blockade our endeavors, impeding on our progress instead of joining the effort.”

But instead, hemop drew a picture. Simply. Right away, you can see that mess and that mop. Then, he tugs at the hardworking, roll-up-your-sleeves drive in all of us – calling us to action, instead of making our eyes glaze over.

This is a quick example of the power of being concrete to drive a message home. We thoroughly explore concreteness (and all Made To Stick SUCCESs principles) in our Decker Made To Stick Messaging workshop – and find that people walk away saying that it will change the impact of their messages immediately.

Think about this the next time you chime in at a meeting and want to get your point across. What could you do to remove abstractions and make your message resonate?


Categories: Communication Skills, Political Communications, Public Speaking, SHARPs and Stories, Speakers
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Does your message stick?

Ben DeckerPosted by Ben Decker   |   October 20th, 2009   |   1 Comment   |  Tweet This

I’m thrilled to introduce @MeredithGood, one of our newest team members brought on to do program development and marketing.  She’ll be contributing to the blog from now on, starting today!

In true Decker form, we videotaped the entire Decker Made To Stick Messaging debut program so we could (what else?) give ourselves feedback!  Several participants gave us feedback, too, so we can continuously improve and evolve.  With all this video lying around, @MeredithGood put together a short testimonial (for kicks!) to give you a sense of what Decker Made To Stick Messaging is all about.

What are you waiting for? Get in on the action and register for December 2nd! Hope to see you soon.


Categories: Communication Skills, Great Books, Leadership and Communications, Public Speaking, SHARPs and Stories, Video - Use It
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Decker Made To Stick Messaging is here!

Kelly DeckerPosted by Kelly Decker   |   August 25th, 2009   |   2 Comments   |  Tweet This

@kellydecker here with a super newsworthy post…

Decker_Made_To_Stick_Messaging

Think back to a time when you’ve been so incredibly excited to give someone something that you knew they would LOVE. Maybe it was the Superman PEZ dispenser that your younger brother wanted for his 5th birthday…or your kid’s first bicycle with training wheels. Maybe even the macaroni necklace you gave to your mom for Mother’s Day. You thought about what they wanted and then went out and made it or bought it, wrapped it up, and eagerly awaited the day they would open it.

Well, we’ve been wrapping something up for you over the last couple of months, and we’re just as excited. We’re thrilled to announce a partnership with Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the fabulous, best-selling Made To Stick.

Announcing the Decker Made To Stick Messaging Program!

Together we created a program that is completely dedicated to messaging. It’ll teach you how to talk about your ideas in a way that will make them stick, and most importantly, make an impact – with your customers, co-workers, bosses (and maybe even your kids). We take our Decker Grid system to bring focus and structure to the message, and then layer on Made To Stick’s SUCCESs principles to make it good and, well…sticky.

Yes, it’s for sales and marketing types, but just as important and applicable for the techies, engineers and ops managers. You’ll learn to identify (and avoid) the dreaded “Curse of Knowledge” – the single biggest obstacle in our communications. Then, with lots of hands-on exercises, you’ll give your idea the wings it needs to fly.

The premiere program is happening October 6th in our San Francisco office – be sure to check out the promo at www.decker.com. I’ll be leading this one with Chip Heath. There’s limited seating, with phone registration only. If you’re interested, give us a ring or send an email to info@decker.com. If there’s no room, we’ll get you on the list for the next one.

Until then…start looking around. Anything sticking these days?


Categories: Communication Skills, Leadership and Communications, SHARPs and Stories, Special Event
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The Power of Story

Bert DeckerPosted by Bert Decker   |   July 5th, 2009   |   16 Comments   |  Tweet This

At a recent speech the presenter before me started out withstories a story, followed by another, and another. All linked to points. Brilliant, and so rare in business presentations today. He warmed up the audience, and I was grateful.

“Story” is the S of our SHARP principles. Story is also the primary tool in making your message stick, as in Chip and Dan Heath’s great book “Made To Stick.” And in the vernacular of Malcolm Gladwell – story makes ANY idea stick, and if you haven’t read his great book get “Blink.”

The Top Ten Reasons stories are useful and powerful:

  • They are real
  • They are short
  • They are interesting
  • They are human
  • They give third party credibility
  • They are easy to tell
  • They are memorable
  • They are emotionally connecting
  • They move people
  • They are the principle communication tool since Man began talking

What Others Say

To be a person is to have a story to tell.
-Isak Dinesen

The story is more important to me than the part.
-Catherine Deneuve

Of course it’s the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story.
-Margaret Thatcher

A compelling story, even if factually inaccurate, can be more emotionally compelling than a dry recitation of the truth.
- Frank Luntz (Communication Specialist in language – also a political consultant)

Eighty percent of our life is emotion, and only 20 percent is intellect. I am much more interested in how you feel than how you think. I can change how you think, but how you feel is something deeper and stronger, and it’s something that’s inside you.
- Frank Luntz

From Todd Paulsen, here is some of the power of story, and the reason behind it (see the complete article here):

“THE USE OF STORIES IS A POWERFUL TOOL that aids in material retention, but methodologies of inclusion are rarely discussed. The desire to share emotions and effect the emotional states of others drives us to tell and retell stories. A story is a vector that spreads the information and emotion that is contained within it. No classroom or teacher is needed past the initial storytelling. We have been doing this for years in the form of childrens stories. It has been widely speculated that the story of Hantzel and Gretel (sic) is a cautionary tale used by elders to prevent children from wandering off into the dangers of the European forests alone.”

Jesus told stories and parables. He didn’t talk in concepts – he only needed stories, and he riveted peoples attention. Sowing seeds along the path, the rich young ruler, a house built on sand, faith growing like a mustard seed, and dozens more.

Remember, people buy on emotion and justify with fact.

A great resource for getting great at telling stories is Doug Stevenson’s Story Theatre – after our “Communicate To Influence” program this is one to take – it pays as a communicator to get serious about storytelling.

Create YOUR communication experience – stories will add mightily.


Categories: Communication Skills, SHARPs and Stories
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