Did you ever notice when someone is telling a story how others surround that person to hear the story? People love stories. It’s in our blood. Ancient drawings from caves show our storytelling went as far back as about 40,000 years ago.
But some people are better at telling stories than others. Have you ever been in a crowd of people and someone starts telling a story? Then, another will interrupt and say, “Let John tell this story. He tells it so much better.” The takeaway here is that if you learn how to become a good storyteller, you have the tools necessary to be more charismatic. At least, you have one of the bigger aspects of charisma.
How do you become a better storyteller, or even start as one? It all has to do with setting the scene and the characters. Even if the characters are people you know, try to animate their actions or elevate their status. You want to try and avoid embarrassing people unless that is part of the story and is done in a respectful, but playful way. If it is hurtful, you want to avoid it altogether.
The more you involve the people who you are telling the story to, the better. If you can incorporate each person as part of the story, that will go a lot further with them. You also want to employ the concept of “show, don’t tell” as much as you possibly can. Try to describe the situation as vividly as possible but avoid rambling.
Some people have a natural ability to tell stories, but it is something that can be learned and practiced. There are plenty of books available on the subject and you could even find courses or coaching for it. Start small by testing out your skills on friends and family. If they were engaged by the stories you tell, then you can move onto your colleagues.
Telling stories can be a great way to engage people online as well. If you have a blog, or you create videos on YouTube, try to incorporate stories into the mix. It will captivate people much easier than simply creating fact-filled content that no one wants to see. Even if you need to incorporate facts, try to weave them into a story. It will be much easier to get your point across than listing out tables filled with numbers. To do this, use story-based examples while interpreting the data.
Leave a Reply