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How to Use Storytelling as a Way to Communicate Big, Hairy Ideas
The fine art of getting to the heart of the matter
A priest, a penguin, and a newspaper reporter walk into a bar. The penguin orders a shot of Red Eye. The priest starts juggling three flaming chain saws. The newspaper reporter turns to the bartender and says: “I know there’s a story here somewhere.”
And yes, there is. There are stories everywhere. As the poet, Muriel Ruykeser once wrote:
“The world is not made of atoms. The world is made of stories.”
Almost everyone in business these days — at least the people responsible for selling big, hairy ideas — knows that the difference between success and failure often depends on what kind of story is told — and how well.
Content may be King. But it is story that built the kingdom. Or as Steve Jobs once put it, “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.”
The question, these days, isn’t whether or not storytelling works. It does. It’s worked for thousands of years. If you have any doubt, just ask your local…
