The call for help came in an email a couple of years ago. A senior leader wrote that she’d failed multiple times over the past few years to get her bosses to listen to an important recommendation, she had one more chance and wanted my help. I, of course, responded, “I’d love to help!”
This leader managed relationships with contract factories hired by her employer to manufacture products. She was concerned about health and safety violations at these factories and did not want any issues coming back to impact her employer.
We arranged a meeting, sat down across the table from each other in a small, cramped conference room in a large office building near Portland, Oregon and she explained her problem in a frustrated, exasperated tone. “Larry, I have data on safety violations. I’ve compared that data to our own high-performing factories. I’ve discussed the implications. But I can’t get my bosses to do anything about it! I have one more shot at them next week. What can I do?”
I moved around to her side of the table and she opened her laptop to show me her presentation. She did indeed have strong data and a solid recommendation. I then asked her a simple question, “Can you give me an example of a safety violation?”
Her mood immediately changed. She became animated and said, “Yes! I was on a tour of this huge factory in Chengdu (China) just last month and noticed a pool of green liquid below a tool on the factory floor. It obviously wasn’t water. And just then, the factory manager introduced me to a technician named Lucy. I shook Lucy’s hand and looked down at her feet and she was wearing open-toed shoes! I thought to myself, ‘if that chemical spilled on her feet she could suffer a serious injury!’”
I had a simple response, “Use that story.” At first, she balked. I said, “What have you got to lose.” She said, “Okay.” We worked on the story and agreed she would open her presentation with it.
The following week, I got an email from her titled, “It worked!” She wrote that she started with the Lucy story and noticed right away that her audience was much more engaged than previous presentations. They put down their phones and turned away from their laptops she said. She presented the data, made her recommendation and then did something I hadn’t recommended: she ended with Lucy by saying “We want to help keep Lucy safe as well as the thousands of other people who manufacture our products.”
She wrote that not only did her bosses approve her recommendations, but they also asked her to accelerate the work and do even more. And then she wrote, “I know the story made the difference.”
Stories do make a difference. They humanize cold, hard data and facts. They connect with emotions. They allow your audience to visualize and remember your information.
Now, you just need to try. Create a brief story based on a real experience. Use it to highlight a recommendation or important message. Make stories a frequent tool in your communications toolbox. I guarantee, the results will speak for themselves.