Telling encore-worthy professional stories extends the reach of stories beyond your current meeting or appointment. Strategic partners and clients cannot wait until the next time they see you: to find out what happens next. Because your stories make a difference to their professional success, and the success of their own partners and clients.
Professional storytelling impacts customer experience and employee experience.
Consider that encore-worthy professional stories are not one-and-done stories.
Many professionals tell stories that stop short: just at the point when listeners are ready to become fully engaged. Otherwise, these stories end up sounding similar to the stories told by lots of other vendors, suppliers and partners: so-so. That’s because the stories many other professionals tell are leveraged to justify investment in products or solutions. While that outcome is great, for the supplier, vendor or partner, there usually is far more to the story than purchase justification. In fact, that justification simply is where that story starts, rather than finishes.
The goal of purpose-driven storytelling is an invitation to become part of a bigger story that extends beyond the tactical, into the strategic.
Then, you will be invited to tell your encore-worthy professional stories again and again.
You will know when you create a compelling story to tell. Because colleagues are so moved by the story, that they try to tell your story themselves. To show how good your story is. However, they are unable to do your story justice. At that point, they realize, of course they cannot do the story justice. Because the story you tell is your story, not theirs. And, then again, they just may have their own stories to tell, if they understand how to re-discover and re-package their stories.
Developing compelling, relevant and impactful professional stories folds into the leadership strategy for your career trajectory. The stories you tell are not fake stories, one-size-fits-all stories, or enhanced stories that shape-shift. In fact, your professionally-valuable stories are stories about when you not perfect, results are non-linear and there are unanticipated, beneficial outcomes.
First, these are the stories about scenarios in which you are not the hero or heroine: someone else is, someone unexpected. Next, these stories are compelling, moving listeners beyond the stories they want to hear or are comfortable hearing. Instead, you tell the stories they need to hear, about what they need to know.
Make a difference. Start creating the customer experiences and employee experiences you need to experience. Get to where you need to go. Together.
Consider the strategic and human capital value of telling encore-worthy professional stories. Then, take action! Contact me. Let’s start telling the stories you need to tell. To get to where you need to go. Together.
Babette Ten Haken works with organizations and associations wrestling with the impact of Internet of Things technology change on workforce and leadership capacity to handle Change. Her One Millimeter Mindset® Storytelling Speaking Programs leverage storytelling to catalyze employee and customer success and retention. Find out more about Babette’s professional story here. Babette is a member of SME, ASQ, SHRM and the National Speakers Association. Her playbook of communication hacks, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com. Babette’s speaker profile is on the espeakers platform. Contact Babette here.
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