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Good storytelling often grabs the center of attention

My grandmother was a storyteller from the Cumberland Plateau in East Tennessee. All of the lessons she taught me were prefaced with a story or illustrated by one. So, I came by my story telling honestly.

Unconsciously, I started imitating grandmother at a very early age. My storytelling skills grew with practice and, at times, even garnered me the center of attention I craved. Later, as a supervisor in the coal mine, I used stories to make points about safety and teamwork. I might add during my first days in the mine, I learned how to survive by listening to the stories of experienced miners. Often, these older miners weren’t much for giving instruction but they loved to tell stories about events that happened to them or others.

In 1983, I began teaching public speaking at Ohio University. It didn’t take me long to realize that keeping the attention of 45 18-year-old freshmen would be a huge challenge. My response to this problem was to wrap my class agenda with pertinent stories. I quickly saw my students sitting up straighter with more energized eye contact. I, also, found myself enjoying the classes much more. Stories made the difference between boredom and positive engagement.

In 1985, when I started my job as training manager at BorgWarner Chemicals, I transitioned my stories from those appealing to students to those appropriate for older adults. To this day over 20 years later, I develop and write new stories almost everyday.

Most humor is delivered through stories and employee attention is sparked by storytelling. All leaders could benefit from learning how to create stories and strategically weave them into their communication with employees. Telling stories helps others see the real you, the human side. If you are not now a good storyteller, you can gain storytelling skills through coaching. Whether you come by your storytelling naturally or have to work hard to make it a comfortable part of your communication skills, making this skill a component of your leadership may be the most valuable thing you can do to connect to your employees.

Here are three keys to leadership storytelling.

1) The story must have a legitimate business point. Storytelling for social amusement only is OK but doesn’t further your business.

2) The story must be short and to the point. Long drawn out stories can be worse than no stories at all.

3) The best stories are those the storyteller has actually lived. When we go to our mind’s eye to tell a story, our listeners will live a similar event they have experienced.

Marshall McLuhan, a renowned poet and author, said, “Anyone who thinks there’s a big difference between entertainment and education knows nothing about either subject.” Many organizations spend a great deal of money on developing presentation and small group facilitation skills with good reason and productive outcomes. Leaders can develop credibility, connectedness, and increased employee understanding with a greater ability to tell their stories. What would we as leaders pay to gain those characteristics?

R. Glenn Ray, Ph.D., is the president of RayCom Learning. To learn more about Ray’s completely revised, third printing of “The Facilitative Leader: Behaviors that Enable Success,” visit his Web site, www.raycomlearning.com or call him at 740-629-4536. Everyday Leadership appears each Wednesday on the Business page.

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