Storytelling: Captivate And Convince

Stories Are business Narratives That Captivate And Convince. How To Write & Tell Them?

Sometimes you may get a chance to share a longer introduction – to be able to capitalize on such opportunities, you should be prepared with some success stories. You will use them in interviewing as well as in your resume and emails. The most convincing evidence of your effectiveness is a story about a past success – How you solved problems or went an extra mile.

Whether in a speech or a memo, communicated to one person or a thousand, storytelling is an essential skill for success. Storytelling is a powerful business tool that can mean the difference between mediocre results and phenomenal success.

Here are some ideas.

• Perhaps you handled a hostile customer and re-established rapport.

• The time when you anticipated what your manager would need for his meeting and contributed to his success.

• Your success story could also proactively address some obvious weakness or liabilities – eg You don’t have a Canadian experience – but perhaps you have worked extensively with foreign firms and clients and have great toolkits ? However remember – Never be defensive or negative.

• Remember some of the mentoring you did for new hires in your company to make them productive faster.

• Your success story could also proactively address some obvious weakness or liabilities – eg You don’t have a Canadian experience – but perhaps you have worked extensively with foreign firms and clients and have great toolkits ? However remember – Never be defensive or negative.

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An Example “Success Story”

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Situation: A large influx of new hires as a result of your company’s expansion into new markets.

Action: Identified the need for faster absorption of new hires and organized an “Inital Training Program” for new employees. Crafted a “Must-Know Checklist For New Employees” as well as a mentor program which paired each new hire with a senior employee.

Result: Delivered 13 training sessions over a 3 month period which enabled faster on-boarding of employees. The comprehensive checklist allowed the new employees to become productive immediately instead of wasting time trying to find out how things work in their new environment. New hire productivity improved by 65% – measured on the basis of customer cases resolved by new employees within the first 6 months of joining.

Quote: Linda, the manager for customer support services remarked, “my department’s productivity has increased significantly as a result of the new on-boarding process designed by Mark”.

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