The Ultimate Guide to Storytelling in Business E-Book

Samir Parikh

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 231

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

A one-stop shop for everything that you need to know about storytelling in business.

How often have you had to deliver a pitch, convey a message or empower an audience with only one chance to get it right? Perhaps a job interview, an important sales presentation, or the announcement of major changes within your organization? Have you ever had a powerful idea that was never adopted because your peers didn’t recognize its value?

Storytelling is mission-critical to the advancement of our careers and our businesses.

In the book, you’ll learn how to create compelling presentations, write persuasive reports, and convey important messages in meetings with stories that capture the attention of your audiences.

The author explains how to convey complex ideas with simplicity, win the acceptance of others, speed up decision-making, and demonstrate your contributions as a thought leader. You’ll discover:

• A proven methodology, based on seven steps, enabling you to build and deliver stories in a structured, reliable and repeatable way.
• The importance of creating a one-page story blueprint to road-test your story.
• How the subtle use of emotional triggers will help you to control the reactions of your audience.
• A rich library of industry examples, from multi-million dollar sales opportunities to strategic change initiatives, the introduction of new business models and the launch of ground-breaking technical ideas.
• A 23-point checklist to ensure that you are ready for your next storytelling endeavor.

Perfect for managers, directors, executives, as well as early career professionals, The Ultimate Guide to Storytelling in Business is a can’t-miss resource for generating impact and getting your ideas recognized.

Leseprobe

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO

STORYTELLING

IN BUSINESS

SAMIR PARIKH

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO

STORYTELLING

IN BUSINESS

A PROVEN, SEVEN-STEP APPROACH TO DELIVER

BUSINESS-CRITICAL MESSAGES WITH IMPACT

Copyright © 2024 by Samir Parikh.All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Parikh,Samir,1970- author.

Title:The ultimate guide to storytelling in business : a proven,

seven-step approach to deliver business-critical messages with impact /

Samir Parikh.

Description: Hoboken, NJ :JohnWiley & Sons,Inc.,2024.| Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2023049007 (print) | LCCN 2023049008 (ebook) | ISBN

9781394234578 (cloth) | ISBN 9781394234592 (adobe pdf) | ISBN

9781394234585 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH:Business communication.| Communication in management.|

Storytelling. | Marketing.

Classification: LCC HF5718 .P347 2024 (print) | LCC HF5718 (ebook) | DDC

658.4/5—dc23/eng/20231019

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023049007

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023049008

Cover Design:Wiley

Cover Image:© hasan kurt/Shutterstock

Author Photo: Courtesy of Samir Parikh

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements vii

About the authorix

Introduction xi

CHAPTER 1Defining the vision2

CHAPTER 2Understanding your audience10

CHAPTER 3Framing the problem30

CHAPTER 4Constructing a story framework50

CHAPTER 5Preparing an engaging delivery96

CHAPTER 6Visualizing data140

CHAPTER 7Delivering the story170

Completion checklist207

Index211

v

vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A

nother great collaboration with my partner-in-

crime,Peter Stinner,who has read every word

that I have written and shared many interesting

insights that helped to shape this work.He has helped

many industry professionals to advance their storytell-

ing journeys as an authority on this topic.

Also to my extended review team:Lina Andersson and

Shireen Sindi,both senior practitioners who validated

the concepts presented within their own industries of

expertise.Thank you both for your dedication,contribu-

tions,and curiosity.

ix

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S

amir Parikh is a British-born management consult-

ant with over 25 years of industry experience.He

began his career in the UK,consulting in the aero-

space industry,and then later joined a large international

consulting firm where he participated in pan-European

projects in the information technology,financial ser-

vices,and telecommunications industries.

In early 2000,Samir founded SPConsulting,a global

management consulting firm based in Stockholm,Swe-

den.The firm works closely with companies that deliver

solutions and professional services in their own areas of

specialization and in highly competitive environments.

With many of its clients being multinational corpora-

tions,SPConsulting has conducted assignments in more

than 55 countries.

Storytelling has played an instrumental role in these

engagements,crafting impactful messages for both

internal and external audiences,to expedite decision

making,secure commitment, and exploit new business

xABOUT THEAUTHOR

opportunities.The proven methodology described in

this book has been used to create these outcomes and

also forms the basis for training workshops delivered to

ambitious corporations that aim to make the science of

storytelling an essential part of their culture.

xi

INTRODUCTION

H

ow often have you had to deliver a pitch,convey

a message or empower an audience with only

one chance to get it right? Perhaps a job inter-

view,an important sales presentation,or the announce-

ment of major changes within your organization? Have

you ever had a powerful idea that was never adopted

because your peers didn’t recognize its value?

Storytelling is mission-critical to the advancement

of our careers and our businesses.

Storytelling is a powerful,analytical approach to frame

and deliver a message.Whether delivered verbally in a

meeting,documented in a report,or built into a pres-

entation,it provides a robust approach that’s critical in

situations where the stakes are high.It enables you to

convey a complex idea quickly,win the acceptance of

others,speed up decision-making and demonstrate your

contributions as a thought leader.

xiiINTRODUCTION

Storytelling is as suited to external discussions with cli-

ents as to internal communication.It’s as essential to

leaders in mobilizing their organizations as to young

professionals aiming to accelerate their careers.In the

world of storytelling,less is more.It’s the cure for lengthy

presentations that take days to prepare and hours to

listen to and increases impact by getting to the point

quickly.It will enable you to distill a complex,30-page

report into a 1-minute verbal account or a 5-paragraph

executive summary with minimal effort.

The storytelling methodology described in this book

is well proven. It has been developed based on years

of experience building business-critical stories around

multi-million-dollar sales opportunities,strategic change

initiatives,the introduction of new business models,and

the launches of ground-breaking technical ideas.

As you might imagine,delivering these stories hasn’t

always been a walk in the park.Some audiences have

been receptive,others have been skeptical.We’ve had to

deal with resistance,political agendas, and even warfare

in the boardroom.The ability to handle these obstacles

is an essential part of storytelling and can be the key to

reaching a successful outcome.

This book is organized as a story in itself.It will take you

on a practical journey illustrated by real-world examples

and case studies.Be sure to apply the new ideas that you

learn quickly.What you apply successfully will become a

habit.Mistakes that you make along the way will become

insightful lessons.Both will become valuable assets for

the future.

INTRODUCTIONxiii

Quoted by one of our clients:

“Some of our experts don’t feel comfortable when

asked to tell stories. It’s a skill that they feel that some

people are just born with. This methodology provides

a more scientific approach that enables anyone to

excel in storytelling!”

Storytelling requires adifferent

approach inbusiness

Storytelling is a broad term.It can refer to everything

from the bedtime story that sends your child to sleep to

the presentation of a pivotal initiative to senior execu-

tives.Many texts on the topic lean heavily toward the

needs of fiction writers.While many of the principles

are similar,storytelling in the business context requires

some additional considerations.Let’s illustrate this with

a simple definition:

Storytelling is an approach to both build and deliver

robust and accurately customized messages that

inspire audience acceptance and action in business-

critical situations.

Storytelling is indeed an approachwith a supporting

mechanism behind it.Its structured,reliable,and repeat-

able nature enables us to build effective stories again and

again.

An effective story takes the audience on a journey and

needs to be customizedto their needs and interests.

xivINTRODUCTION

Otherwise, why should people listen? Customized mes-

sages resonate with an audience,capturing their atten-

tion and inspiring them.Generic messages go over their

heads,their minds quickly drifting elsewhere.

The stories that we build in business are designed to

inspireaction.Securing actionable outcomes is perhaps

one of the most challenging tasks,but an essential skill.

If you deliver a presentation to your peers or clients and

nothing happens afterwards,you probably wasted your

time.

Andbusiness-criticalrefers to situations where the price

of failure is extremely high.An unsuccessful sales pres-

entation comes with a cost.A poorly explained company

re-organization may result in employees seeking jobs

elsewhere.And a senior leader presenting to the media

faces the same challenge.If she doesn’t make a good

speech,she may damage her personal brand and that of

her organization.

A methodology based onseven logical

steps

Our storytelling methodology is built on seven logical

steps,each of which has an important role to play.Seven

steps might sound like a lot of work,but due to its very

logical nature the approach quickly becomes intuitive.

Every time that you build a story,imagine you are solv-

ing a unique puzzle.The methodology is your solution

guide (Figure0.1).Let’s briefly introduce each of the

seven steps:

INTRODUCTIONxv

1.Defining the vision: A good story needs a clear

vision.Ask yourself the question:‘What outcome

should result from the delivery of this story?’Start

with the goal in mind.This doesn’t have to be a

complex task,but the scope and ambition level of the

story must be clear.

We’ll show you how to define the vision for a story

and introduce some common pitfalls to be avoided.

Defining the vision correctly is important,as everything

that you build into the story will point back to it.

2.Understanding your audience:A successful story

needs to appeal to the interests,priorities,and poten-

tial concerns of the receiving audience.A good under-

standing of your audience is therefore essential.

We’ll introduce a simple method for profiling an

audience before you build a story and demonstrate

how the information collected can be woven into its

STORYTELLING

METHODOLOGY

DEFINING

THE VISION

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

UNDERSTANDING

YOUR AUDIENCE

FRAMING

THE PROBLEM

CONSTRUCTING A

STORY FRAMEWORK

DELIVERING

THE STORY

VISUALIZING

DATA

PREPARING

AN ENGAGING

DELIVERY

Figure0.1:Storytelling methodology

xviINTRODUCTION

framework.This ensures that the story will reflect

the reality of the audience and that it will resonate

with them.

3.Framing the problem: Many of the issues that we

build stories to address are vaguely specified from

the outset.That makes it difficult to build a story

that’s guaranteed to hit the target with high certainty.

We need to frame the problem before we can build a

story to solve the problem!

We will introduce a framing technique that will have

an instrumental impact on the content of your story

and,in turn,your ability to achieve your vision.

4.Constructing a story framework: Constructing

a story framework is the heart of the storytelling

process.It’s an important analytical exercise requiring

a structured approach.Successful stories in business

rely on a collection of logical arguments,the building

blocks that we use to build our stories.

We’ll show you two different ways to build an

argument and illustrate how these can be combined

into the framework of the story.The result will be a

one-page story blueprint that can be translated into

any format needed:a document,a presentation,even

a verbal dialogue.

5.Preparing an engaging delivery:With a logical

framework in place,we are now ready to elaborate the

story and prepare the detailed content.The powerful

skill of narrating your key messages and managing

the dialogue with your audience should not be under-

estimated and will require some preparation.

INTRODUCTIONxvii

We will introduce a set of powerful tools,from the use

of linguistic structures to the underlying science of

neurochemicals and emotional triggers.We will illus-

trate the benefits of including characters in a story,

the use of descriptive detail,and the importance of

crafting an audience interaction approach.

6.Visualizing data: Data may play an important part in

a story,however,a single data set can be represented

in several different ways, each communicating a dif-

ferent message.

From a psychology perspective,we will introduce the

cornerstones of the visualization system that governs

the way that we interpret data,together with some

simple,but powerful,practices that can be used to

elevate the role of data in a story.

7.Delivering the story:The successful delivery of a

story depends both on its construction but also the

way in which it is delivered.Your ability to lead

your audience and maintain their interest will play a

fundamental role.

As a presenter,the use of vocal modulation tech-

niques and your ability to create presence,whether

on-stage or on-camera,will be essential to audience

engagement.And if you are dealing with a senior or

critical audience,the smooth handling of questions

will be essential to gaining their approval.

We will introduce the skills required to handle difficult

situations and the unexpected.You might be well

prepared,but you never know what’s going to be on

your audience’s mind.Priorities may have shifted at

xviiiINTRODUCTION

the last minute,some participants may be resistant to

new ideas,or bring political agendas to the table.It’s

your ability to deal with these obstacles that will lead

to a successful outcome.

These seven steps describe the journey that we take you

on as we navigate through this book.Each chapter, corre-

sponding to a step in the methodology,will provide clear

guidelines backed by industry examples.Collectively

they will equip you with the toolkit needed to excel in

storytelling.

Good luck on your storytelling journey!

DEFINING

THE VISION

To take someone on a journey,

you need to know where you’re goin

g

1

1

2

chapter one

A

story in business needs a clear vision:a purpose.

Everything that you build into the story will

point back to that vision.This is where many

stories go wrong.A clear vision may either be missing

or poorly defined.

It’s essential that the vision is outcome-oriented.If the

vision is achieved,then you have succeeded.To define

it,simply ask yourself the question:

What outcome should result from the delivery of

this story?

DEFINING THE VISION

DEFINING THEVISION3

Defining the vision doesn’t have to be a complex task

but there are some pitfalls to avoid that would otherwise

compromise the effectiveness of the story.

A multinational bank in Europe was about to embark

on a major technology project to implement a suite

of business support systems required to enhance

their internet banking service.

The consulting team supporting this project wanted

to advocate the use of a particular methodology (for

project planning and control),feeling that their client’s

routine project management approach was unlikely

to be adequate for such a complex engagement.

Alice,the responsible consulting manager, tasked a

member of her team,Dan,to build a story around

their proposed approach and to build an accompa-

nying presentation.

“Make sure that your material is good”,she said.“In

two weeks we need you to fly to Germany and present

this story to the client’s executives. It’s important that

we get them on-board.”

Dan got to work enthusiastically.With a strong

background in project management,he was well

suited to the task.Two days laterAlice passed by his

desk to check on the progress.

“What is the vision for the story that you are working

on?,”she asked.

4THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO STORYTELLING IN BUSINESS

“To inform our client about the strengths of our

project planning and control methodology in tech-

nology projects,”Dan replied.

Now a question to the reader:Is this a good vision

for the story? Probably not.

A story’s vision should be outcome-oriented,not

action-oriented.

To“inform”is an action,not an outcome. In story-

telling we don’t want to talk for the sake of talking.

We need a much higher-arching ambition when we

build a story.

Alice explained this to Dan and together they refor-

mulated the vision for their story:

Togain our client’s confidencein the strengths

of our planning and control methodology and

to ensure that any associated concerns are

understood and addressed.

Gaining their client’s confidenceand ensuring that

any associated concerns were understood and

addressedwere the two outcomes that they needed

to get the green light to move forward.

In this case,the latter part of the vision was partic-

ularly important.Their client was often quite con-

servative.They tended to come to meetings,nod

in agreement for anhour and then nothing would

happen for 4weeks.It would be essential for Dan to

DEFINING THEVISION5

Six things toconsider when defining

avision foryour story

When building a story always start by defining a

clear vision:

1.Think about outcomes,not actions.Whatoutcomes

should result from your efforts to build and deliver

this story? Make sure that the vision that you define

is the one that you really want to achieve.Avoid

Dan’s mistake!

2.Make it a formal process.Write it down. Even for

a complex story the vision statement should be one

or two sentences at most.Be specific through the

prudent use of vocabulary.Everything that you build

into your story will point back to this vision.

3.Remember that the vision is for you. It’s about your

agenda and the outcome that youwant to achieve.

It’s not something that you usually share with your

understand their concerns during the session and find

ways to address them before real commitment could

be secured.

Dan returned to the development of his story.

Inspired by the new vision he shaped the story and

its content in quite a different way than he had ini-

tially intended.

Two weeks later the presentation was well received

by the client executives who subsequently agreed to

adopt the proposed methodology.

6THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO STORYTELLING IN BUSINESS

audience or include in the content of your story.In

our example,Dan’s vision was not the headline of his

story, but the story’s flow and content were designed

to achieve it.

4.Ensure that the vision is in-context and refers back

to the receiving audience.The receiving audience

should be mentioned in the vision statement,“our

client,”in the example above.It’s important that you

define your ambitions relative to your audience.

5. Make sure that the ambition-level of your vision

is realistic.The vision refers to the outcome to

be secured immediately upon completion of the

delivery of your story,not the completion of a

lengthy project or engagement.

A vision to“persuade a client to buy a complex

solution,”after the delivery of a story in an initial one-

hour meeting is probably over-ambitious,whereas the

vision to“capture a client’s interest in the solution and

to identify questions that need to be answered moving

forward”would be more realistic.

6.When co-developing a story,align on the vision first.

It’s not uncommon for a team to be working together on

a story, each member responsible for developing a

different part.Start by agreeing on the vision and get

everyone on the same page.As a result, your team

members will be pulling in the same direction,you’ll

save time and create a more cohesive result.

DEFINING THEVISION7

Some examples ofvision statements

• For a team working in human resources,presenting a

diversity strategy to their executive team:

To gain management approval to move forward with

our strategy and to agree on any adjustments that are

needed.

• For a sales team,presenting an offering to a client:

To gain agreement from our client that our offering

is superior to that of the incumbent vendor.

•For engineers in research & development, pitching a

new idea to marketing and sales:

To gain alignment with marketing and sales on the

best go-to-market strategy, sales approach, and tim-

ing for this new offering.

•And for a manager presenting a change initiative to her

team:

To empower our people regarding their achieve-

ments, to ensure that they understand why change is

needed, and to highlight the opportunities this brings

for everyone, addressing any associated concerns.

8THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO STORYTELLING IN BUSINESS

Chapter summary

•A story in business needs a clear vision: a purpose.

Everything that you build into the story will point

back to that vision.

•The vision should be outcome-oriented,not action-

oriented.

•Make the definition of the vision a formal process.

Write it down in one or two sentences.

• Make sure that the ambition-level of the vision is real-

istic.Can it be achieved upon completion of the deliv-

ery of your story?

Next steps

Select a story that you plan to deliver in the near future.

Use it as a personal case study as you navigate through

this book.

Begin by defining your vision using the guidelines pre-

sented in this chapter and note it down.If the vision

is achieved when you deliver your story, will you have

succeeded?

UNDERSTANDING

YOUR AUDIENCE

When building a story, see the

world through the eyes of your audience

2

9

chapter two

10

S

torytelling is all about your audience.You bring

your audience on board by making the story about

them and by connecting it to their reality. It’s sur-

prising how many stories fail to embrace this,revolving

around the ideas and proclamations of the presenter.

Achieving some degree of intimacy with your audience

is essential to capturing their attention.Do you know

who they are?What’s important to them?Their environ-

ment? It’s also fundamental to your credibility.A sea-

soned audience will quickly spot whether you’ve done

your homework.Are you presenting generic material or

tailoring your message to them?

UNDERSTANDING YOUR AUDIENCE

UNDERSTANDING YOURAUDIENCE11

Chloe,a design architect in NorthAmerica,had been

asked to build a presentation to pitch a new port-

folio of services to a potential client in the luxury

retail industry.

She spent several hours designing a presentation

packed with facts and features to explain the portfo-

lio’s strengths.She called a meeting with her manager,

Adam,to review the work before meeting with the

client later that week.

Adam reviewed the presentation.Chloe had created a

good story, elaborated in a set of well-designed pre-

sentation slides.The problem was that the presenta-

tion was simply a sales push,boasting the attributes

of their services.

“Good work, but how do you think that the client will

react when you present this?,”he asked.“They prob-

ably see presentations like this all the time from other

design agencies that are trying to win business. Let’s

make this story about them, not about us.”

Leveraging their knowledge of the client,they re-

engineered the story.

•They started off talking about the client’s (pub-

lished) go-to-market strategy and business

aspirations.

•They referred to known challenges that the client

was facing as well as issues that they might be

experiencing with their current service providers.

•Finally,the last part of the story explained how