by Shahar Boyayan
We had a great labor day weekend! We attended a storytelling festival here in Utah. It was an amazing event attended by thousands of people. Families would be together some times with members of 4 generations, all laughing or crying with the same stories.
The power of stories in our lives is greater than we think.
Stories put the audience in a world of sensory impressions where it combines reality with the story. We feel like we lived trough the experience even if we only heard it.
When we listen to the storyteller, we get a subliminal message that he/she cares for the audience. One can say that stories equal caring.
We as business owners and leaders need to master storytelling and we need to acquire the ability to tell stories and motivate people to act.
You can tell stories with your voice, picture, packages etc.
Here are a few points to consider:
You may use stories from any source as long as you can tie them into the world of your prospect.
* Your story needs to have a point or it will be a waste of time.
* Make the story personal and add passion to it.
*Contrast what your prospect’s life was like before your service and their life after.
* Present specific, tangible benefits.
* Diagnose the pain
* Highlight the gain.
One simple way to tell a story with pictures is the before and after pictures you see in weight loss programs.
By looking at the contrast of the before and after, the story is told, it is personal, since you see the picture of the person, it shows the pain before and the gain after the product was used.
I always like to give the example of a great story told in a package using the packages of Vosges Chocolates.
In every package the company call you to use your 5 senses when trying their chocolate. You should take a look at one, because it is a very good example of business storytelling and how it can engage consumers.