Your idea has been created to solve a problem so tell the story of how you were affected by this problem and how this led to your product/service. As a small business owner, don’t be afraid to tell the full story—the struggles, conflicts, setbacks, successes, etc. As a marketer, you’re already familiar with the value of repurposing content, so let’s start there. Suddenly, your data is applicable to real people, in the real world, and your audience gets a glimpse of how you, the speaker, have been affected by your content.
You’ll treat your audience to a mini-mystery — they’ll wonder what you’re going to say next. Some scientists believe that stories are able to activate parts in the brain that make listeners feel like the story was a part of their own experience and they had the idea themselves. Unlike facts and figures, stories elicit emotional responses. In a frenzied world of information overload, finding and telling your story can be the quickest and smartest way to get investors, employees and customers to understand your role in the world.
You can highlight a piece of data, and make it more memorable, with a story. This will guide the audience through the narrative and hook them all the way to the end. Neurologically, emotionally, and physically, we relive our stories when we retell them. And because stories are about people they also involve emotion. We are fascinated by the interconnectivity between the role of storytelling, an event’s key objectives and the balance between the two.
Use stories to get and keep attention and forge an emotional connection. Because stories are about people, we relate to the things we’re being told about. This is especially the case when the story is very relatable, which also has the added benefit of being easier to understand and more memorable as it's personally relevant - the audience can see themselves as the character in the story - that's why storytelling for business is so powerful.
This is why public speakers frequently begin presentations with stories. What led to you coming up with your product or service? There is so much information that consumers are exposed to so it's easy for a business to be lost in the noise. Actors spend their lives seeing the way effective storytelling can change an audience.
