Stories That Stick: How Storytelling Can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business

participants into groups of three and had the groups participate in a series of
online simulations where each member was assigned a role as a police officer,
fire fighter, or hazmat worker. The simulations were a mock crisis situation
wherein the members of the group were tasked with addressing “the release of
an airborne chemical on campus.”
4
Group members had to work together to
efficiently and effectively solve the problem.
To test the effects of storytelling, half of the groups watched an instructional
video that included a story about a mishap in a chemistry lab and a student who
was seriously injured because the response team did not coordinate themselves.
The control groups watched a video that simply stated the importance of
collaboration and timing but did not include a story to illustrate the importance
of those points.
In the end, the teams who were told the story were “more similar in their
view on how events should be solved than teams who were given the same
message in a nonstory format,”
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and the use of stories was the more effective
approach to getting everyone on the same page.
The results of the study aren’t surprising. Storytelling, as a method for
uniting, clarifying, and motivating groups of people, has been used for years and
for many different goals and initiatives both in and outside of business.
I was sitting in a hotel room in Philadelphia the Tuesday evening of the 2018
midterm elections. I ordered room service, sat on the bed, and out of curiosity,
changed the channel back and forth between the two major news stations for the
two different parties. And though the commentary about each nomination was
completely opposite depending on if an outcome went red or blue, one thing was
indistinguishable: both sides repeatedly mentioned the stories the various

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candidates told during their campaigns. Both sides acknowledged the power of
the stories that were told and the glaring absence when a story was not told.
Of course, political endeavors are just one way stories are used to align and
motivate. I think about the team that goes into a locker room at halftime several
points behind and the story a coach must tell to inspire a win. I think of the
hundreds of GoFundMe profiles I’ve read whose stories are designed to inspire
donations to bring dreams to life. I remember a workshop I facilitated where the
company’s number-one goal was to ensure team members followed a safety
protocol and how sharing stories of the devastating times protocol wasn’t
followed helped keep the team committed to the goal.
If you have a team to unite and, for whatever reason, are struggling to do it, a
purpose story is likely the bridge you’ve been searching for.
Alignment Around a Sensitive Subject
I spoke at the national sales conference for a large tech company. My session
was scheduled for midmorning, but I made my way to the ballroom early so I
could sit in on some of the other keynotes, namely, those delivered by the
company executives. I found one of the last remaining seats in the packed
ballroom and settled in just in time for the vice president of sales to take the
stage. He was obviously well respected, and he opened his state of the state
address with a story.
He told us that his oldest daughter was just about to graduate high school,
and he had a distinct sense that his days of imparting fatherly wisdom upon her
were quickly coming to a close. So he decided to set up a special date night just
for the two of them. The audience laughed as he described the unfolding events.
His daughter chose the most expensive restaurant in town. The first time she
came downstairs, he made her change because her outfit was inappropriate for
the restaurant she had chosen. How she sneered at the bread basket and barely
touched her meal, mumbling something about wanting to fit into her prom dress.
Undeterred, he continued with his plan to bestow wisdom. “Though I did
make a slight adjustment in that, instead of bestowing 
all
my wisdom, I would
just bestow one piece of wisdom.” The audience laughed along with him,
empathizing with the poor, clueless dad. As soon as the waiter removed the
appetizer, the man told his daughter the importance of paying attention to detail.
“In all things,” he said. “In your classes. In your work-study. In your friendships.
In your romantic relationships.” He looked at her, and she didn’t even try to
disguise her disinterest. Nevertheless, he persevered.

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Twenty minutes of the “pay attention to the details” lecture later, and he still
had no reaction from his daughter. He finally broke. “Honey,” he said, “is it me,
or are you not even listening to me?!” She gave him a deadpan stare. “I’m trying
to bestow . . .” He caught himself. “I’m trying to teach you how important the
details are, that details really matter!” He couldn’t hide his agitation. “And I feel
like you don’t even care!”
He stopped.
She stared at him.
He raised his eyebrows, signaling to her. “Well, say something.”
She rolled her eyes and said. “It’s really hard to take you seriously, Dad,
when you’re talking about how important it is to pay attention to the details, but
you are wearing two different socks.” She paused. “Just sayin’.”
The ballroom was quiet, the audience collectively shared in the pain of
falling off a self-righteous horse. The vice president smiled sheepishly and
admitted his daughter was right and, more importantly, that the company had
been guilty of a similar sin, saying one thing and doing another. “I understand
that our house can feel divided at times, that there’s the corporate office and you,
our dedicated reps. And that we at headquarters often give mixed messages. We
preach to you the importance of deepening the relationships with current clients
but then only reward you when you bring in new ones.” Even in the darkened
ballroom, I saw the reps exchanging glances.
“I want to apologize for that,” he said. “And to promise that, in the future,
we will be more consistent, that what we say will also be what we do.
“And as for my daughter,” he smiled, “something tells me she’ll be just fine
at college. With or without my wisdom.”
I couldn’t believe it. It was the perfectly executed purpose story. Not too
dramatic, totally relatable, and illustrating the point perfectly. Sure, he could
have stood on stage and talked about company initiatives or said, “We’re
committed to listening to the field more.” But much like Michael, in the story at
the beginning of this chapter, those words are risk-level-red for sounding empty
and trite.
Instead, this executive chose a story to help frame an awkward conversation.
By recounting another time when he realized his missteps, the audience was
open to hearing the message as a whole.