In a well-crafted story, it’s the emotional conflict that will open the hearts of the listener. Hearing an emotional story will inspire the listener to share their own story. As this happens, trust is formed between two people that may not have been there before.
In order to be emotionally connected, you need to be vulnerable.
In order to be vulnerable, you need to have courage.
It’s not easy to share emotional conflict with others, in a personal or a professional story. Most people are conditioned to hide what might make them appear weak. Learning to show vulnerability through storytelling will help you make more emotional connections, develop trust with people and have greater success.
Power of Story even works for World Leaders
ReplyDeleteI'm reading George Bush's book Decision Points. In the chapter on Afghanistan, he relates something that happened one time when he met with Vladimir Putin. Early in the meeting, Putin was stiff - mainly reading off of prepared note cards.
As Putin was speaking, President Bush interrupted with a question: "Is it true your mother gave you a cross that you had blessed in Jerusalem?"
The question prompted Putin to tell the story of how he almost lost the cross in a house fire, but fireman were able to retrieve it. In his book, Bush observes that following the story, "I felt the tension drain from the meeting room".
I saw this at work on the Food Channel last week. One of the competitors, Aaron Sanchez, was asked about his culinary background - he mentioned learning to cook from his mother - and as he told the story his emotions rose up and he broke down for a moment. The judges were visibly moved - and he won the competition.
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