Persuasion: /pər-ˈswā-zhən/ The act of causing people to do or believe something.
Persuasion is the centerpiece of any business activity. Customers must be convinced to buy your company’s products or services, employees and colleagues to go along with a new strategic plan or reorganization, investors to buy (or not to sell) your stock, and partners to sign the next deal. Persuasion, despite being so critically important, history has shown that many leaders, business executives struggle to communicate , too often, the message gets lost in the accoutrements of companyspeak: PowerPoint slides, dry memos, and hyperbolic missives from the corporate communications department.
Robert McKee , leading screenwriting instructor in his recent article on Harvard business review suggests that speakers can engage listeners on a whole new level if they toss their PowerPoint slides and learn to tell good stories instead. According to Mckee, there are two ways to persuade people. First, Using conventional Rhetoric and second, through Uniting an Idea with emotion.Out of two the latter being the most powerful, and is best accomplished by telling a story.
Storytelling That Moves People
Hi Dinesh,
I concur that storytelling is a potent skill. People want to be entertained, and pulled into something *almost* magical. Of course, have the stats and analysis to go with the story line, but what people are going to remember is the story. Since we are introduced to stories at such a young age, and for many of us they are the way that we learn about causality, character development, and consequences, it is no wonder that story telling is still the thing that appeals to us the most.
I also recommend this Ted talk which talks about utilizing panic/unknowing to access truths in story telling. This may not fully apply to the business environment, and more to the creative/arts field, but it may be of interest.
https://www.ted.com/talks/shekhar_kapur_we_are_the_stories_we_tell_ourselves
best,
Marjorie