Chapter 14
Storytelling as a Training Technique
The Value of Storytelling
What exactly is storytelling? According to Norma J. Livo and Sandra A. Rietz, authors of Storytelling Process & Practice (1986), “Storytelling is an oral art form whose practice provides a means of preserving and transmitting images, ides, motivations, and emotions that are universal across human communities.” Storytelling has been used to captivate audiences throughout the ages. It's an art as old as mankind. Throughout history, stories have passed from generation to generation as a means of preserving a group's culture, heritage, history, and tradition. Stories teach a lesson as well as entertain. Stories are at the very heart of who we are as human beings. Relatives, teachers, corporate executives, politicians, entertainers, and religious leaders among many others use stories to enhance their presentations, make a point, teach a lesson, or explain what they do. Thus, storytelling is a powerful and very effective training technique.
Our first exposure to stories was as children listening to bedtime stories told by our parents. As we grew up, we continued to hear stories from teachers telling us about famous people in history, religious leaders teaching us valuable life lessons through Bible stories, and family members regaling us with stories of their own childhood adventures. Stories touch us in a way that no other medium can. Stories reach in and grab at the core of our existence. They help define who we are and what we believe. Storytelling works not because people learn from the story itself but because they related to a story of their own and can thus personalize the message and internalize the meaning. Stories involve the audience by enabling the listener to see images and feel emotions. Throughout the world, every culture has its own oral history. The ancient Greeks, Romans, Vikings as well as the American Indians are rich in folklore. Explore the world of ancient storytelling and you will discover the reasons the best trainers use stories so extensively and successfully in their sessions.
Storytelling is just as powerful, and perhaps even more so, today as it was a thousand years ago. Don Hewitt knew this when he created 60 Minutes. His motto and premise for the show was “Tell me a story.” He said during an interview that aired in August 2009, “Why don't others get this? The reason for my success was that all I did was tell stories every Sunday night. There's nothing magical about it.”
Reasons to Use Storytelling in Training
Storytelling in the learning environment is a powerful technique and can be used at any time during your training. Use it at the beginning to set the tone and establish a safe environment for your learners. You can use a story at any time throughout your training session to illustrate a point, help simplify complex points, and provide a basis for discussion. At the end of your course, use a story to illustrate and cement your key point or message.
More specifically, the following are the reasons you should incorporate stories into your training sessions, regardless of length:
- Stories engage people's emotions. In today's high-tech, low-touch world, people still crave human connection, and stories meet that need.
- Stories increase learners' attention. Everyone loves a story. Even during the delivery of the most boring information, people will perk up and pay attention to a story.
- Stories aid in the retention of learning. When we tell stories, we create pictures in people's minds, and people will remember the stories and metaphors long after the facts are forgotten.
- Stories make abstract ideas, principles, and concepts more concrete and relatable. Stories create a context that people can more easily understand. For that reason, stories are very effective in conveying an organization's values and priorities.
- Stories inspire and motivate. Listening to a well-told and relevant story will help inspire learners to take action. One of the goals of good training is to change or influence behavior. Stories help us change behavior by engaging our emotions and illustrating what we should or should not do in situations.
Types of Stories
- Parables . Parables are short narratives from which a moral can be drawn. One of the most familiar sources of parables is the Bible. An example is the prodigal son who squanders all his money but returns home to a forgiving father. More recently, several authors have begun publishing parables to teach lessons about leadership, teamwork, customer service. The Leadership Pill by Ken Blanchard and Marc Muchnick (2003) is a parable about leadership and motivating today's employees. Fish! by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen (2000) addresses employee engagement.
- Fables . Fables are brief tales from folklore, sometimes using animals that speak and act as humans. Aesop's Fables is probably the best-known collection of fables. These charming and simple tales teach valuable and timeless life lessons. “The Crab and Its Mother” teaches a lesson about the power of example. In this fable, the mother crab chastises her son for walking one-sided instead of straight forward. The young crab agrees to do so if his mother can show him how. The mother tries and tries but cannot model the behavior she expects from her son. I use this parable in my leadership development classes. An example of a contemporary business fable about leadership is The Secret by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller (2004). Prolific author Patrick Lencioni has a number of business fables that address leadership, teams, and so forth such as The Five Temptations of a CEO (1998), The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive (2000), The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (2002), Death by Meeting (2007a), and The Three Signs of a Miserable Job (2007b), to name a few.
Spend some time reading parables, fables, myths, and even fairy tales. Think about how you can use existing ones in your training sessions to reinforce your message. Better still, try your hand at making up your own tales to drive home a point.
- Metaphors . A metaphor is a description of something that represents or symbolizes something else, especially in an abstract concept. A good example of an extended metaphor is the “Lessons from the Geese” written in 1972 as part of a sermon by Dr. Robert McNeish. It is often used to convey some important principles of leadership and team building. For example, the principle of shared leadership is demonstrated when the lead goose in the “V” formation rotates back into the formation and another goose takes the point position. In another example, the importance of team members encouraging one another is illustrated by the geese in formation honking from behind.
- Anecdote/vignette. An anecdote or vignette is a short account of an interesting or amusing incident, often intended to illustrate or support some point; however, nothing much changes. It is a snapshot or glimpse into a character or situation. An anecdote shows, rather than tells, something about the subject. My case example about the participant's resistance to the topic of sexual harassment in Chapter 10 is an example of an anecdote.
- Story . A story is an account of an incident that involves a change or a revelation. A good story has a point. It is also relevant, compelling, and authentic/real. A story must address who, what, when, and what made it significant. It also has to link to a major point and be of value to the audience.
New trainers, in particular, often ask, “Where do I get my stories?” The answer is simple: from your own life experiences.
Telling Personal Stories
I discovered the power of storytelling quite by accident. I never planned on telling stories—they just happened. I began using stories in my training sessions to illustrate or further explain my learning points. Several years ago, I began asking participants at the end of a session, “What did you like best about this program?” The response is always the same. Participants say they like two things: the activities and the stories. One day I decided to ask what they liked about the stories. As one participant put it, “They made the ideas and points come alive. We could really relate to your experiences.”
Storytelling engages the individual participants, allowing them to relate to or identify with the trainer's story. They have either had a similar experience or they are reminded of a similar situation that evoked the same thoughts, feelings, or reaction. Thus storytelling is a great way to address the affective learning domain. Storytelling forms a psychological bond with the audience because it describes a common human experience.
People love to hear real-life accounts of events. Such accounts make the session come alive and lend credibility to the training. For example, when I tell my “red suit” story (described Chapter 8) in sessions dealing with perception and nonverbal communication, participants will often remark at the end of the session that the story really made an impact. In fact, when I have encountered former participants months and even years after a session in which I told that story, they tell me they still remember my red suit story.
How to Develop Your Personal Story
A good story doesn't just happen. It takes thought, planning, and structure. The following outlines the structure of a story.
Determine the Story's Purpose
For starters, you must identify the key learning or message you want to convey. Think about situations in which someone told a story, but after hearing it you wondered about its purpose and relevance to the topic. This is similar to having participants engage in an activity that does not go through the experiential learning cycle. If the activity is not processed or debriefed, participants are confused and may feel the activity was a waste of time. The same is true of a story.
The second thing you need to decide is what you want the participants to do (or think about) differently after hearing the story. This is a great way to tap into the affective learning domain. In a customer service program, you could tell the story of a bad experience you or someone else had as a customer as a way to trigger empathy in your participants.
Create the Context
Begin your story by describing the setting and situation in detail so the participants can actually visualize it. Where and when did the story take place? Include time of day, time of year, weather, location, and so forth. Also, address the what. What was the occasion?
The next thing you must do in creating the context is to introduce the characters. Give them names (real or fictional) and describe what they look like. How old are they? What are they wearing? What particular characteristics do they have? What are their personalities like?
Introduce the Challenge/Complication
After you have created the context, you can now start your story. Create interest and tension by introducing a complication, problem, obstacle, or conflict. Again, be specific and create the picture through your words. You want to make sure that the participants can identify with the situation.
Build to the High Point
Build to the high point, climax, or turning point of the story, the moment in which tension is high.
Share the Resolution
Next, show what was done to address the problem and how the character experiences a recognition, disclosure, or discovery. Also, show the results, that is, how the situation changed for the character.
Bring It to Conclusion
Identify what you want the learners to take from the experience. Make your point and point out the lesson learned.
To illustrate this format, read the following story from my own experience and identify the various elements.
Capturing Your Personal Stories
As mentioned earlier, you are the best source of stories. Our life experiences provide a wealth of stories from the humorous to the poignant. When we use stories from our own lives, the emotion is real, and that authenticity comes across to your audience. Some trainers will use stories from other sources, and that is perfectly fine. The Internet is a great resource. You simply search for your topic and story (“Leadership story”) and you will be rewarded with many examples.
To help you develop your own unique signature stories, begin keeping a journal. Capture your stories right after the events occur. Be as detailed as possible; you can always tighten it later. In addition to recording the events, note your (or others') reaction to the situation and jot down the message or learning point. I will even jot down possible topics where I think the story might fit. The same story, of course, can be used in different contexts as well as used to illustrate different points. To keep track of your stories and in what context you might use them, create a story matrix (Exhibit 14.1). List key words to identify each story down the left side and the topics you address in your various training situations across the top. Then review and analyze all the stories and determine for which topics they might be appropriate by placing checkmarks in the relevant columns.
Inappropriate Stories
Just like visual aids and activities, stories must be planned very carefully, taking into account factors such as the makeup of the audience, the occasion, type of business, and your purpose. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Don't use the names of specific people or companies to illustrate a negative point. Positive stories, of course, are almost always welcomed by an organization. Even then, there are some exceptions. One of my clients, a prominent investment banking firm, does not permit vendors, consultants, speakers, and so on, to acknowledge publicly their relationship with the firm. So before you use the name of an organization in your training, make sure there are no possible repercussions.
- Make sure the story is appropriate for the audience. Consider the backgrounds of your learners in terms of age, gender, and even position.
- Never tell a story that would make someone in the audience uncomfortable or that makes fun of or disparages a culture or belief.
How to Tell Your Story
It's not enough to have a great, well-crafted story. You have to be able to tell it well; otherwise, it can fail to meet its objective. Use the following tips and techniques for effectively delivering a story.
Create a Transition from Your Main Content to Your Story
I use the networking story in several contexts, but the most frequent one is to make a point about the importance of networking as it relates to leadership and career development. I discuss the concept of networking with the group, and then I tell them I want to share a story with them about my own networking experience. At the end of the story, I ask them what they learned and how they can incorporate that learning into their own situations.
Be Dramatic
Use movement, facial expression, gestures, pauses, and volume changes. If you look once again at my networking story, you will notice my “stage directions” that I inserted to remind me to take a deep breath, move in the opposite direction, pretend to grab a glass, and so forth. Create dialogue and modify your voice to distinguish one character from another. I did exactly that when I told about the person saying, “How nice.” When I share the anecdote about the style differences between my husband and me, I lower my pitch, slow down my delivery, and change position so the group knows I am now portraying my husband.
Be Descriptive
Describe the setting and the characters in enough detail that your learners can picture them. In my networking story, I described the chilly April evening as well as the setting at the meeting venue.
Stick to the Story
Many storytellers go off track or digress. To avoid these mishaps, carefully craft your story and rehearse it.
Whether you are using stories in the classroom, e-learning, or blended learning environment, stories create effective and engaging experiences for your learners.