Storytelling is equally important in the workspace, whether formal or informal. The idea is the ability to sell a product or service to others. In the corporate world, for instance, there is the need to fine-tune one’s storytelling skills and become a storyteller on behalf of one’s organization, brand, or business. Skilled storytellers are typically referred to as marketers, content writers, or PR professionals.

The following basic features make a good storytelling experience, for both the teller and the audience, regardless of the setting.

• Educational: A good story is informative and adds to the audience’s knowledge base.
• Universal: A good story is relatable to all audiences and makes use of emotions and life experiences that most people undergo.
• Organized: A good story follows a succinct organization that helps convey the core message and facilitates understanding.
• Entertaining: A good story is engaging and keeps the audience interested in what’s coming next.
• Memorable: A good story finds a place in the audience’s mind. The notable factor can be inspiration, scandal, or humor.

IMPORTANCE OF STORYTELLING

Stories are a universal channel of communication. They help to bring people together by creating a sense of community. Stories transcend geographical barriers, religion, political preferences, or ethnicity. When people tell and listen to stories, they are connected through the way they feel and respond to them. People get to understand the story of the hero, the underdog, the victim, or of heartbreak. By sharing feelings of elation, hope, anger, and despair, even the most diverse people can feel a sense of commonality and community.

Stories are a source of inspiration and motivation. Good storytellers tap into people’s emotions and make bare both the good and bad characters to drive the desired change. In business, stories help to foster brand loyalty. Creating a narrative around a product or brand not only humanizes it but also markets the business.

Stories help to solidify abstract concepts and simplify complex messages. Most often, people would experience confusion when trying to understand a new concept. Stories provide a way to deal with that problem. Using concrete ideas is one of the biggest strengths of storytelling. A teacher could simply use a real-life example to explain a math problem. In the same way, a speaker could use a case study to convey complex data.

Stories have a unique ability to build connections. They have the potential to build feelings of trust, compassion, and empathy. People are sometimes motivated by the stories of others and are likely to learn lessons from them. Hence, stories can have a positive influence on social behaviour.

Storytelling plays an essential role in human experience, culture, and history. Setting an idea into an experience with relatable characters makes that idea more appreciative to people, irrespective of their experience and perspective.

REFERENCE

Information from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/storytelling, https://medium.com/swlh/the-science-of-storytelling-why-we-love-stories, https://brilliantio.com/the-importance-of-storytelling/ was used in this story