Aparna Athreya: 3 Keys to Effective Storytelling
“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the things we need most in the world.” – Philip Pullman
From the time of early civilizations when communities first began to flourish, people would gather around a fire and talk about their day. They would share discoveries and life lessons. They would communicate values and learnings. They would, essentially, share stories. Stories – not presentations and bullet points – is how values were passed on, problem solving was honed and people learnt the ways of life.
As Pullman’s quote above poetically suggests, storytelling is primordial. It is a fundamental way of communicating. It is a tradition that has lived on for countless millennia and, surely, the ability of the art form to last so long is a testament to its power. When people tell stories, there is something that engages in the mind of the listener that mirrors exactly the mind of the teller. Every feeling and visual imagery is received and reflected. This makes stories a compelling, engaging medium of connection between the storyteller and the listener. That is why when information is turned into a story it becomes more powerful, is received more effortlessly and retained for longer.
The means of storytelling may have changed but its evolution has retained a critical aspect of the art form – value communication. In a professional setting where someone wants to know more about us and we want to present our authentic personality – an interview for instance, or when introducing yourself to a new team member/senior – value communication is very powerful. But instead of listing our values, which is mere vocabulary, if we communicate them through engaging stories, the listener might get a peep into our soul and what we stand for. A story lends soul to a value – makes it real, honest, relatable and believable.
Aparna Athreya, founder of Story Triangle and a passionate storyteller, breaks down the secret to compelling stories. She shares three elements of effective storytelling especially when communicating our values, professionally.
Share stories that spring from conflict: conflicts test our values. They also glorify our values. And when a value is glorified is when the story becomes compelling. Thus, every story that involves action that was initiated by a conflict becomes memorable in the mind of the listener. So start your story from the reason/problem that tested the value.
Communicate your emotions: the emotions in the story set a relatable context for the value that you are trying to communicate. Emotions are what make us human, make us true. Conveying them is the bridge between the storyteller and the listener. The moment you communicate how you felt, you engage with the listener at a visceral level. Use emotional vocabulary to make your story more interesting to the listener, and help her/him to truly understand your motivations, your values, and how you are as a person.
Believe in the story: if you do not believe in the story that you’re narrating or it is not something that happened to you, then that’s not a story that is communicating your identity or a value that you believe in. Stories need to be communicated with authenticity, which means that you need to believe in the story that you tell. You need to stand for the story that you’re telling. This belief and authenticity is what makes a story transformational.
Communicating a value via a story allows the listener to step into the shoes of the person who is sharing the story, which then fosters greater understanding, empathy and trust. In a professional context all of those are extremely valuable. Remember, stories happen to everyone. But it is how we tell the story that makes the difference in value communication.
About the Expert
Aparna Athreya is a storyteller, a coach for organisational storytelling and the founder of Story Triangle. Using storytelling as a powerful and effective tool in various areas of leadership – branding, communication and personal leadership – she helps organisations develop the art of listening, identifying, crafting and telling stories to make a difference. Athreya is also a member of the Bangalore Storytelling Society, a TEDx speaker, and a featured leading entrepreneur by the Hindu and YourStory.
