There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Maya Angelou, American author and poet
A leader who attended one of our workshops said to us afterwards, ‘I had 10 meetings this week, and what I realise now is that I had 10 missed opportunities to share stories’. Please don’t let that be your fate.
Once you have created your stories, you really need to get out there and start sharing them as a leader within your organisation — share them with your team members, the board, clients and stakeholders. And, guess what? Story opportunities are not going to be presented to you on a silver platter: you have to proactively find and create these opportunities. Your stories will be of no use to anyone locked away in your head.
In this chapter we are going to explore some ways in which you, as an individual, can share stories in various business contexts.
This is all about you getting out there, inspiring and making a difference by using storytelling.
Facts tell — stories sell
The very best salespeople use stories because they understand the powerful role stories play in sales — which is that stories help clients connect emotionally with you and your product. Great salespeople know that people buy on emotion and justify their purchase on logic. They understand that if you are using only facts, figures and product benefits, you are ‘telling’. If you are showing the value of these facts, figures and product benefits through stories, ...
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