Create Business Stories that Click

Wow! That data was fascinating!”

Nope. Those words were never said. Data alone is dull. Data in context can be interesting. Data wrapped in story can be fascinating.

Imagine that you are giving a business presentation to prospective clients or to upper management. You want to provide information that will help them make a decision to use your product, service or process. Do you really want to give a data dump?

Your natural tendency may be to provide data, to provide the facts. Facts can persuade, but they don’t inspire people to act.  If you want people to act, tell a story. Facts tell, but stories sell.

What story to tell?

Tell a case study story.

In business, the most effective stories are often case studies that support the point you are making in the context of an individual case, showcasing key features and benefits.

How to create your case study story?

1. Pick a case study story idea that:
   1. Is true with objective facts
   2. Is relevant to your point
   3. Has a relatable hero
   4. Has a clear before (pain) and after (positive result) based on your process, product or service.

2. Write out the bare-bones version of the story in 5 or fewer sentences.

An example from my own business as a presentation coach:

A local technology firm hired me to help an engineer prepare his presentation for an upcoming conference. They were concerned that he would not represent the organization well as his presentations were meandering and he used filler words excessively. In the few hours we worked together, we focused on reducing filler words and on organizing his presentation. His conference presentation was a success!

3. Flesh out the story by adding additional details and dialogue.

Dialogue can make a story come alive. Start with just one line of dialogue, if you haven’t told stories with dialogue before.

A revised version of the previous story, with more details, and one line of dialogue:

Recently, I got a call from a local technology firm. One of their engineers was going to be speaking at a conference in a couple of weeks.

“We are afraid he is going to embarrass us. He never gets to the point and he says so many ums that it is really distracting. Can you help?”

I could help. We agreed on a single 4-hour session. And, they were right. He was so deep into details that nothing was clear. Compounding the problem was the high frequency of filler words. He had 30 ums in the first 3 minutes of his presentation. A few filler words aren’t too noticeable, but 10 ums a minute was painful to listen to!

Fortunately, the session was productive and when I called 2 weeks later to check-in, his presentation had been a success! He held the line on ums to a minimal number, and delivered an audience-focused, clear and engaging presentation as evidenced by stellar audience evaluations, and prospective client inquiries.

4. Try telling the story, or part of the story, from a slightly different viewpoint to increase emotional engagement. Try adding more details, or taking some out. Think about how you can choose details to engage the senses and emotions.

Another version of the story, starting at a different point, and with different details:

“Well, that was awful!” 

That’s what my client, Robert said, as he looked up from my iPad. He had just finished listening to my on-the-spot recording of his speech introduction.

“I had no idea I said so many ‘ums.’”

In the first 3 minutes of his speech introduction, he had said “um” 30 times.

Robert’s company had hired me to work with him on an upcoming conference presentation. One of their biggest concerns was that Robert’s excessive use of  ums would reflect poorly on the company. Robert was more concerned that this small, but frequent speech disfluency would damage his credibility as an expert.

Fast forward 10 minutes. Robert looked up from the iPad again, smiling. He had just watched himself give his 3-minute speech introduction with only 3 “ums.”

How did Robert so quickly decrease his “um” frequency?

The secret: a can of Coke.

After the first 3-minute practice of his introduction, I had him repeat it, but with one critical change. Every time he said “um,” I hit my half-drunk Coke can with a pen. At first every time I hit the can, Robert would cringe, and get flustered. But, soon, he just paused instead of saying um, to avoid the irritating sound. Then I had him give his introduction a third time, recording again on my iPad. This time I didn’t hit the Coke can. He only had 3 ums. Success! A few ums are not that noticeable, and typically not worth spending time to eliminate completely.

Two weeks later, the day after the conference, I called Robert and asked him how it went.

“I couldn’t be more pleased! I don’t think I had many ums and people came up to me afterward to tell me how much they enjoyed my presentation. That’s never happened before!”

Robert’s presentation had been a success! He held the line on ums to a minimal number, and delivered an audience-focused, clear and engaging presentation.

5. Practice the story out loud, revising it to sound conversational. Then ditch the notes altogether and just tell the story!

Create business stories that click by using case study stories strategically to persuade with logic and emotion.