The Significance of Storytelling: Translating Vision into Narrative Messaging

    Over the past couple of weeks we’ve covered the importance of leadership and vision in strategic communication and emerging media.  These are the quintessential foundations for strong and effective strategic communication plans.  However if the vision isn’t translated into effective messaging and placed appropriately for the intended audience a grand vision can easily go unseen and unheard.   That to me is a sad, sad predicament.  So how does one translate vision into strategic messaging and place such a message in the most advantageous communication avenues?  How can a vision be shared with others in a way that will strike a chord internally that motivates and encourages the necessary actions to bring that vision into fruition?   Tell them a story.  Translate that vision into effective narrative messaging.  Howard Gardner, an American developmental psychologist, who is well-known for his theory of multiple intelligences said, “Stories are the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.”

      I happen to agree, I think truly visionary leaders are more often than not extremely skilled storytellers. They are able to share their vision through story, and humans love a good story. In fact, there is scientific data to support this claim.  Paul Zak, in Harvard Business Review, wrote, "Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling" (2014). In it he stated, “many business people have already discovered the power of storytelling in a practical sense – they have observed how compelling a well-constructed narrative can be. But recent scientific work is putting a much finer point on just how stories change our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.”

     Years ago Zak’s lab discovered that when the neurochemical oxytocin was produced it, among other things, motivated cooperation with others. He explained that, “it does this by enhancing the sense of empathy, our ability to experience others’ emotions. Empathy is important for social creatures because it allows us to understand how others are likely to react to a situation, including those with whom we work.”  More recently, Zak’s lab wondered if they could “hack” the oxytocin system to motivate people to engage in cooperative behaviors. To do this, they tested if narratives could cause the brain to make oxytocin. “By taking blood draws before and after the narrative, we found that character-driven stories do consistently cause oxytocin synthesis. Further, the amount of oxytocin released by the brain predicted how much people were willing to help others; for example, donating money to a charity associated with the narrative.”

     Subsequent studies have deepened their understanding of why stories motivate voluntary cooperation. (This research was given a boost when, through funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, they developed ways to measure oxytocin release noninvasively.) Zak’s research team discovered that, “in order to motivate a desire to help others, a story must first sustain attention – a scarce resource in the brain – by developing tension during the narrative. If the story is able to create that tension then it is likely that attentive viewers/listeners will come to share the emotions of the characters in it, and after it ends, likely to continue mimicking the feelings and behaviors of those characters. This explains the feeling of dominance you have after James Bond saves the world, and your motivation to work out after watching the Spartans fight in 300.”

     This research also covered the vision and organizational story.  Zak added, “Finally, don’t forget that your organization has its own story – the founding myth.  What passion led the founder(s) to risk health and wealth to start the enterprise? Why was it so important, and what barriers had to be overcome? These are the stories that, repeated over and over, stay core to the organization’s DNA. They provide guidance for daily decision-making as well as the motivation that comes with the conviction that the organization’s work must go on, and needs everyone’s full engagement to make a difference in people’s lives.”

    Support through scientific-data not enough to sell you on storytelling as an effective messaging format for vision?  Here are a few other reasons why telling your audience a story is a great way to translate vision into a message that motivates:

   1) Storytelling is as old as the hills and as hot as your latest iPhone app. Storytelling has been around for thousands of years because it’s a sophisticated, high-level form of communication. Stories engross people—just like a great movie or book.

  2) Stories you help connect with people, logically and emotionally. In an Age of Distraction where people’s attention gravitates to their BlackBerrys and iPads, stories give people a reason to keep listening to your message.

  3) Stories help people remember your important point. As a vision, “we need to grow by 15 percent” is an abstract statement. It’s not going to inspire people beyond your board or C-suite. But a story sticks, and a great story is something that people will share, spreading your vision (Weighhart, 2016).

     The author of Leading Change, John Kotter shared that “over the years I have become convinced that we learn best–and change–from hearing stories that strike a chord within us…Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves.”

     In “Converting Vision and Strategy into Action:  Three Strategies for Turning Words into Results,” (2016) author Weighart focused on clear guidance for using storytelling to translate a vision into motivational content to promote the action of others.  “More than anything, though, stories are an opportunity to capture, bottle, and share the steps people are taking to drive growth for your organization.  Your vision and strategy may be compelling…but they’re abstract concepts.  When you share a story, you’re telling people what you really mean when you’re talking about the culture you want to create.”  In this piece, Weighart goes on to add that, “in short, storytelling is not a nice to-do activity; it’s a must-do essential for leaders looking to make great things happen.”

     He goes on to clearly illustrate these steps in the “Bates Story Structure” – Weighart claims that using this story-structure tool can take any powerful experience – personal or professional – and turn it in to a three-minute, six-part story that will resonate with your audience.  Here is the “Bates Story Structure” tool illustration followed by a step-by-step breakdown:

   1) The Setup: The who, what, when, and where of the story.
 2) The Buildup: A problem, conflict, challenge, or obstacle faced.

   3) The Scene: A “moment of truth” or specific point in time when you walk the audience through exactly what happened.

   4) The Resolution: How did that conflict or problem turn out?  What was the outcome?

   5) The Lesson: What did you learn or take away from this experience?

   6) The Audience Theme: How does that lesson connect to an important point that you want to make to the specific audience that is listening to or reading your story now?

    

     Try it, take your own vision statement (if you don’t yet have one I encourage you to find it) and follow these steps to turn that vision into a story.  I’m working on mine now.  I’ll be sharing it in the coming week’s bonus share.  The total takeaway from this week’s blog is simple, turn vision into a story and share it with others.  In the words of, Dr. Pamela Rutledge, Director of the Media Psychology Research Center, “stories are how we think. They are how we make meaning of life. Call them schemas, scripts, cognitive maps, mental models, metaphors, or narratives. Stories are how we explain how things work, how we make decisions, how we justify our decisions, how we persuade others, how we understand our place in the world, create our identities, and define and teach social values. ”

Works Cited:

Weighart, S. (2016). “Converting Vision and Strategy into Action: Three Strategies for Turning Words into Results.” Retrieved on 22 November 2016 from www.bates-communication/

Zak, P. (2014).  “Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling.” Retrieved on 21 November 2016 from https://hbr.org/2014/10/why-your-brain-loves-good-storytelling