Great Stories Pull People Toward You
By Mitchell Schuckman, PCC | Founder, The Schuckman Group
"I need my people to be better storytellers." I hear this from business leaders constantly, and what they mean is they want more clients, better engagement, and a team that can walk into a room and win. So they go looking for a framework: the three-act structure, the hero's journey, the beginning-middle-end arc they half-remember from a business book or a TED Talk.
That is not the problem they actually have.
The Advice Is Pointing at the Wrong Thing
Matthew Dicks, author of "Storyworthy," argues that our lives are already full of stories. We are simply failing to notice them. He built an entire daily practice around that idea: at the end of each day, ask yourself what the most storyworthy moment was. Write it down. That is the skill, paying attention.
About a year ago, I published a book called "I'll Tell You a Great Story." It is not a book about storytelling. It is a collection of short business lessons, each told through a story I directly participated in or observed. I changed names and some of the facts to protect the people involved, but every story came from something real. I did not sit down to build narrative arcs. I sat down to describe things that I had actually experienced, and let the lesson come out of them. I had lived the stories. I just needed to notice them.
From Description to Experience
Consider this: I saw an absolutely beautiful sunset on the beach last night.
Now consider this: I watched the sun go down from a beach chair last night. I had a cold beer in my hand, salt air sitting in my nose, and the refreshing ocean breeze coming off the water. The way the sun glittered off the waves was breathtaking.
The second version is more alive. You are inviting the listener into that chair, or the chair next to yours. That is not a storytelling technique. It is a decision about what to include and what to leave out, made by someone paying attention to the person they are talking to.
Facts Don't Have to Get in the Way
There is a phrase I use often: facts don't have to get in the way of a good story. Nobody knows whether you were drinking a beer while watching that sunset, or holding an icy bottle of refreshingly crisp water. But if you know the person across from you is a recovering alcoholic, you already know which one you are holding. That is not dishonesty. That is awareness of your audience, which is the whole point.
The Part Most Teams Get Wrong
I often consult with teams trying to grow their business. They have exceptional credentials and relevant experience. Where they fall short is telling a great story that makes their audience feel what it would be like to work with them.
The first draft usually sounds like this: we deliver on time, we meet performance targets, our team has deep experience in this sector. All of which may be true. None of which puts anyone in a chair on the beach.
A much better version goes something like this: we had a client come to us after her previous firm missed a filing deadline that triggered a regulatory audit. That cost her credibility with the CFO and the board, and it cost her hundreds of hours. The first thing we did when we were hired was to map every deliverable to a date, build a review layer she could see in real time, and hit every deadline for the first twelve months. At our first annual review she mentioned she had stopped spending Sunday nights preparing for our Monday morning calls. She trusted our work and her stress level had gone way down.
If the person across from you has been spending her evenings anticipating problems that kept coming anyway, she will feel that story. She will want to work with you.
The Skill You Are Actually Building
The people who tell great stories are not more creative. They are more observant, and they know which details land with whom. You just need to be more aware of your own experiences and aware of the person in front of you.
In business, the right story told to the right person makes that person feel what it would be like to work alongside you, and pulls them to you. That’s how great storytelling can help grow your business.
The goal of a good sunset story is to get the right person sitting on the beach next to you, with the sand between each of your toes, as you watch the sun breathtakingly glitter off the waves… together.