Disruptive Powerful Story Telling
November 29th, 2011Learning to tell stories to disrupt human behaviors is a leadership must for the GREAT.
A few days ago I was asked to speak to an outer Melbourne community in Australia that were massively affected by the 2009 bushfires. Hearing some personal stories about what happened early February 2009, where 173 people lost their life and another 300+ with permanent injuries as a result of Australia’s worst ever bushfire, was very sad to say the least. Yet the hope and re-building of these communities have been nothing more than remarkable.
I heard of one small town that was completely surrounded by the fires. The electricity had gone and uncertainty blackened the minds of every person in the town. Many did not know whether the fire was going to consume them all or not. Kerrie, a woman who was there, spoke about the ordeal and the frantic men, women and children all pitching in on one street in this town fighting the fires together. The story about the community spirit and the one and only small shop pitching in and supporting everyone, was so inspiring and moved me.
Hearing this story and learning how stories and heroic acts like this was an imperative part of the re-build of this community, made me think about how a powerful story can transform. The past 21 months have been tough for these men women and children, & though they went through so much, the stories that have emerged have inspired these communities to Bounce Forward.
Sales staff or really anyone that builds relationships with people really need to be able to tell a story and paint a picture for their clients to both to motivate and inspire them. In order to get someone to TAKE ACTION, you need to not only educate, inspire and give them statistical analysis of why they need your product or services, but you need to transform them. Transformation comes from telling powerful stories that disrupt people’s behaviours to take action.
Everyone has a story and stories are being created every day in your life. Being able to tell stories and realizing that there is power in every story to shift mindsets and disrupt buying patterns within people is an art that we all need to learn.
During the Christmas and New Year season, ask yourself the question: “How can I tell better stories?” Just remember, the story does not have to be about how you lost an arm and died in a major car accident or anything crazy like that… hehe. But even turning an every day experience into a powerful story that transforms a person to think, act and do things differently.
Have a FANTASTIC Christmas & happy story telling while your eating too much at the Christmas table…


