How to Teach Storytelling to a Business

The other day a friend came over to hang out and he pointed at a painting on my wall, asking me, “What is that painting?” It was my dream portrait by Eleatta Diver I told him. I went on to explain to him that Eleatta had interviewed me about my dreams and what I wanted out of life before she made the painting. She really captured the details too – everything from my desire to have a family with my wife, to seeing myself as a bit of a knight and a jester at the same time, right on down to my favorite colors. It’s a very meaningful painting.

Could you imagine what that kind of storytelling could do for a company like GM or Goldman Sachs? They’re suffering a bit of an identity crisis right now, and they could use all the help they can get. Companies need to not just make better products, but in this time of hyper-connectedness, they need a good story to tell.

Post Cereal gets it. On top of my fridge is one of my favorite cereals, Honey Bunches of Oats. On the back of that box is a story of how the cereal came into being. Apparently some guy in a Post Cereal plant had a brilliant idea of mixing corn flakes and oats together. He got a new cereal and his name on the back of millions of cereal boxes.

And here I am evangelizing Post Cereal and their storytelling abilities. That translates into buzz. Enough buzz translates into more business.

Good Storytelling Is Worth Money

Think about your ability to tell a story. Isn’t that what sells your art? When someone looks at a piece of art in a museum or gallery, their first question is often, “What is it about?” If they like the story, they’ll buy the piece. Artists are master storytellers.

The film industry is built on storytelling. Billions of dollars are spent on movies every year. Film makers are hired by companies like BMW to make stories about their cars.

This skill of story telling is powerful. Story telling is how knowledge was passed down before civilization became literate. Elders told the children of the tribe fables that taught them to treat each other kindly, how to hunt, and other life lessons. I learned in a memory training course that emotions and imagery are what help us remember things. Storytelling activates that emotional part of us and ties the emotion to the experience we are having, making it easier to remember.

Companies want their products and services to be remembered. Last month Old Spice had a viral hit with their Old Spice Guy Youtube ads, and their sales doubled. It’s a funny idea, but I guarantee that at least half of you reading this blog have had an idea that was at least that interesting.

How to Teach Storytelling to A Business

Most successful businesses are already pretty good at appealing to logic. They’ll persuade you to buy their product because it makes sense. It’s bigger/faster/stronger/better than another product. Instead, in a world where everyone communicates instantly with everyone, companies need to understand what makes people want to talk about them.

Help them stand out -I feel like I’ve talked ad-nauseum on The Abundant Artist about making your art stand out. If you can make your paintings stand out from the hundreds of other paintings out there, then you probably understand this principle. How are they unique? Help them discover it.

Teach sensuality – you have the skill to invoke the senses. The textures, colors, sounds, tastes and scents of artistry are what engage people. Business, products, and services can invoke senses as well. The story on the Honey Bunches of Oats box reminds me of sweetness and crunchiness. Guide them down this path.

Provoke a reaction – I’ll admit that I even though I’m a grown-up, and generally pretty health-conscious, I still really like the occasional sugary cereal. Especially Cinnamon Life. When I see Cinnamon Life I can’t help but smile at childhood memories. The Old Spice Guy did the same thing. He caused a reaction. He surprised people and made them curious, and perhaps feeling a bit naughty – what’s under that towel Old Spice Man?

Eliminate their fear – one of the reasons so many people fail as artists is that they are afraid of what their story says about them. There are a lot of amazing people in law, medicine, or other professions who started doing what they are doing because they were inspired in some way. After years of experience, however, they don’t know how to tell that story.

One of the great things about being an artist is that in order to be really good, you have to live a life unruled by fear. Notice I didn’t say absent of fear. You face your demons every day. You face rejection of your secret longings because art puts your story in front of the world. Personally, that makes me empathetic to those who haven’t yet learned to face this daily fear and rejection.