The Power of Storytelling in Business with Elaine Bennett
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A few years ago I was creating a series of trainings for a now-defunct company. Their business model centered around creating trainings for entrepreneurs, and aspiring entrepreneurs, to help them get their business up and running. They brought in all sorts of “experts” to put together information on various topics and people had access to the trainings while they were members. Everything from sales conversations, to setting up funnels, to how to hire, and creating a business plan.
I had been hired to create the content for two trainings, one around designing culture and one around emotional intelligence. They already had a pretty decent inventory of content, over 150 trainings of various lengths from a number of people, that had been recorded at their studios in Europe. Their director of programming had been in the room for all of the recordings and, unsurprisingly, was in the room when I showed up for my two days of filming as well.
As we were getting everything set up (lighting, microphones, background) and I was getting my hair and makeup done – as well as it could be in a ridiculous European heatwave (the AC had to be off to reduce noise during filming which meant it was approximately 1000 degrees at all points in time) – the director of programming was running through the plan with me. My script would be loaded on a teleprompter, we could go back and forth as necessary because most people needed to stop and start fairly often, I could take all the time I needed… all the usual stuff. She told me she may interrupt me now and then if she felt like something was missing from what I was saying or it wasn’t speaking to the audience. I was okay with all of this.
So we dove in, and I recorded the first few “modules” of one of the trainings I’d put together and then we broke for lunch. But, before we headed out to get some much-needed nourishment (and also water, did I mention the heat???), she pulled me aside to tell me that in all her years of being involved in content creation she’d never gotten so caught up in the training and content as it was being recorded. And, halfway through the morning, she’d figured out why: for each “lesson” or point I was looking to land, I told a compelling story that highlighted the key takeaways so it was easy to get caught up in what I was talking about and the lesson, rather than the structure or details on their own.
Besides being very appreciative of her compliment and that she had taken the time to pull me aside to tell me her experience, that moment always stuck with me because it made me realize just how important stories are – no matter what we were trying to communicate or get across. I remember being intentional about inserting stories when writing my script because I had recently met and spent some time with a storytelling coach and I was starting to understand the power of story. But, until that moment, I truly did not understand the incredible impact it has on what people remember about us and what we say.
That experience for me was a huge game-changer in terms of my focus on story (for myself, as well as for the clients I work with). You don’t have to be the best writer, the best speech giver, or the best communicator to remember that being creative and sharing stories is always going to be a competitive advantage for you.
Elaine Bennet is an award-winning speechwriter who advises people on their messaging and the power of storytelling. She has worked with Fortune 50 CEOs, entrepreneurs, and at one point in her career had the good fortune of working alongside Warren Buffett and seeing how he handled communication and crisis.
In this episode Elaine and I get into the importance of stability regardless of what’s happening around you, controlling the narrative, the importance of stories and what they do for you, why spinning a story is generally a bad idea, and how important it is to say and communicate things in plain language.
No surprise here, but this episode is full of engaging stories that you don’t want to miss!
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To learn more about Elaine Bennett visit https://bennettink.com or find her on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook by searching "Bennett Ink". Or, on Twitter @bizspeechwriter.