Stories have a direct influence on our emotions. They can calm us down, but they can also stir us up and make us laugh or cry. These stories not only have their place at bedtime, but can also become an important building block in corporate management. Most large companies and corporations have long had something like a core story, which acts as the DNA in corporate communications and also plays a central role in content marketing. In addition, the many aspects of business storytelling can be profitably integrated into corporate management.
The term storytelling in a business context means putting facts into a narrative context. In this way, goals and values can be communicated in an understandable way and internalized by everyone involved. Instead of text-heavy slides, stories can convey information much more effectively. Stories can also create connections. If all listeners are involved, they become part of a whole.
An important aspect: stories are remembered. They create a connection between the information to be conveyed. Storytelling has been used successfully in marketing and sales for years to increase interest in products and services. If you buy a table made from old wooden planks from sailing ships, you are also buying the stories of the sailors. This story alone increases the value of an item. Ultimately, stories arouse curiosity and generate attention - also in customer discussions, meetings and presentations. You can also make use of all these characteristics of a good story for successful business management.
Imagine a speaker who reads out facts to an audience and another who conveys these facts in an exciting way in the form of stories. Facts can be conveyed much more effectively in the form of stories and reach the audience on an emotional level. Good stories are remembered, while bare facts fade the moment an audience leaves the room.
If you want to successfully lead a team, a department or an entire company, you should master the tools of business storytelling. This skill is required at many levels - in meetings, for formulating a press release, for presentations to customers and business partners and also for writing a blog or news article. Business storytelling ensures that you can convey your message in the best possible way. You can weave facts into a coherent context and ensure that these facts also resonate with the audience or readership on an emotional level,
You can integrate the power of stories into your company management in many different ways. We have compiled some approaches for storytelling integration in the area of corporate management below:
There are very different formats for business storytelling, which you can select individually depending on the respective area of application. One of the most complex methods is the hero's journey, which we would like to introduce to you in more detail below. However, there are also simpler alternatives in business storytelling, which we will show you in compact form below.
As early as 1949, storytelling guru Joseph Campbell developed a concept called "The Hero's Journey", in which he laid the foundations for successful business storytelling to this day. He adapted narrative patterns from well-known myths, legends and religions and recognized a fixed pattern in which 7 characters appeared:
- The Hero (An average character with whom the recipient can identify)
- The Herald (The harbinger who decisively changes the course of the story)
- The Mentor (A supporter of the hero)
- The Threshold Keeper (Someone who tries to persuade the hero to leave) - The Trickster (A troublemaker who often acts as the hero's sidekick) the hero to leave)
- The Trickster (A troublemaker who often acts as the hero's sidekick)
- The Shapeshifter (A character who changes their role several times during the course of the story)
- The Shadow (An evil character who must be defeated by the hero)
Once these characters are occupied, the hero's journey can begin. The hero moves through the following 12 stages, which we will only briefly outline here for the sake of clarity.
The hero benefits from his experience and integrates his experiences into his new life.
How can this journey be used for business storytelling and what does it have to do with your role in leadership? A little inspiration: Your customer or employee becomes a hero who has a deficit in life and wants to face this challenge. A product or brand becomes a mentor with whom the hero can solve their problem. He experiences a transformation and takes his experiences with him into his everyday life.
A very impressive example of the successful implementation of business storytelling is Nike's "Want It All" campaign. It follows a young man on his very personal journey to becoming a professional basketball player without focusing on the product being advertised. It is worth taking the 2 minutes to watch the commercial for your own business storytelling concept. The core message of this commercial to Nike customers is: it is not the shoe that is the hero, but the person wearing it. The story triggers an emotional appeal in the viewer and wants to prove that there is a hero in every one of us. Who doesn't like to hear that, right? The identification potential here is 100%.
Even if the hero's journey in business storytelling appears very complex at first glance, it has a decisive added value for corporate communication. Stories like this are remembered by recipients for a very long time. Listeners, readers or viewers identify with a hero because in business storytelling the hero is usually a normal and average person without any special talents or skills. The story then turns them into a hero. Potential customers are not addressed on a rational level - by listing the product benefits - but on an emotional level.
If the hero's journey is too complex for you and you are looking for alternatives, there are many other business storytelling methods you can use. We have picked out five other variations of business storytelling as examples that you can also use successfully for your corporate communication.
This business storytelling method focuses on a problem, which is the engine that drives the story forward. There are various ways to implement this.
- V-formula by Dave Lieber
This formula alludes to the phoenix from the ashes story. The problem is overdramatized, the hero gets into a deep crisis and is redeemed by a product.
- Dale Carnegie's Story Formula
This formula approaches business storytelling from a personal perspective. A hero experiences a precarious event and manages to pull himself out of the misery. In the third part of the three-part structure, the advantages of his actions are highlighted.
- Before and after bridge
The idea behind this formula: The state before using the product is shown, followed by the improved state after using the product and, in the third part, the presentation of the product.
- Actual-vision contrast by Nancy Duarte
This business storytelling scheme is particularly suitable for presentations. The current quantity status is shown, then the vision and in the third part the realization of the vision through the product. This turns the product into a hero because it makes visions come true.
- The golden circle by Simon Sinek
This scheme is recommended if the brand mission of a company is to be presented. The short formula for the three-part structure is:
1. presentation of the company's mission.
2. how the company fulfills its mission.
3. what does the company do specifically?
- Star-Chain-Hook
This scheme is ideal for the design of landing pages and sale pages. The first step is to present the USP of a product or brand. Then a chain of arguments is developed and finally a call-to-action is formulated.
The common feature in the application of all these schemes is that a mental movie is triggered in the recipient. It is a special form of argumentation that creates suspense and is therefore remembered for a long time.
Business storytelling is much more than just telling stories to entertain customers, employees and business partners. It is about communicating content and the philosophy of a company. The aim of business storytelling is primarily to strengthen a company's image, retain employees and, as a second step, increase sales. There are several factors that are decisive for the successful use of business storytelling.
Every story that the company tells must also fit the company and the corporate context. Good business storytelling fits in with the goals and values that the company represents and therefore remains credible. The less the stories match the company's philosophy, the less positive impact they will ultimately have.
Stories that are taken from real life work best in business storytelling. The recipients should be able to identify with the protagonists. This creates a bond - with employees and also customers of a company. In addition, the stories should not be too over the top or exaggerated. Life itself always writes the best stories.
Stories in business storytelling do not necessarily have to be fictional. Insight stories are exciting for all stakeholders. A quick glance at the morning team meeting can literally tell volumes. Perhaps there are many sustainable products on the table and there is no plastic to be seen anywhere - this alone communicates a great deal about the company's philosophy and attitude towards sustainability.
Stories in business storytelling should always be designed in such a way that they have added value and solve a problem or at least make life a little easier. It is precisely these stories that resonate and are remembered.
Business storytelling is primarily aimed at the emotions, but must not lose sight of the facts. The great art of business storytelling is to convey facts on an emotional level.
Scientific methods now exist for integrating storytelling into the business context and corporate management. "Story construction" was developed to convey desired messages and thus initiate change processes in companies.
To implement this storytelling methodology, real-life incidents from everyday business life are first collected. This can be achieved, for example, with workshops, interviews or questionnaires that are sent to all participants. The collected stories are then broken down into individual components. These collected components are used to construct new stories that convey the desired values and messages. There is a special substance behind these new stories, as they all have a real background. The newly constructed stories are distributed via various channels such as the intranet or the company newspaper. With this method, it is important that the creation of the newly constructed stories is communicated transparently.
If you need support with storytelling or would like to know exactly how to do it, please contact us!