7 Ways You Can Use Storytelling To Grow Your Business

Storytelling is an age-old art form that has been used to engage, entertain, and persuade audiences for centuries. Whether it's through oral tradition, written text, or visual media, stories have the power to captivate and inspire people of all ages. For God sake, before there was the written word, cavemen used stories to communicate in caves!

As our language, culture, and understanding of the world has changed, storytelling has become a powerful tool in the world of business. From Books like "Building a Storybrand" by Donald miller, and "The Storyteller's Secret" by Carmine Gallo, Storytelling has received some more recognition for its role in business.

However, what I think is missing is that many people "understand" its importance but don't prioritize it. Unfortunately, Storytelling usually takes a back seat. This is unfortunate for the business owner, as it is costing them money, but more importantly, it's unfortunate for the audience he/she was speaking to because all it might've taken for that person to buy that product/service and change their life forever was one story that could've busted a sales objection or gotten them to see things in a different way.

Stories are powerful in so many ways in business, and they DO increase sales! Let's take some time discussing 7 Storytelling tips/ways it can be used to grow your business and why it's your duty to become a Master Storyteller.

1. Before the Story, get clear on your audience: The first step in crafting a compelling story is to understand who you are speaking to. Storytelling and delivering a message in general is NOT about you, it's about the audience. Whenever you deliver a message, remain audience-focused, not YOU focused. You should never speak about something because it's what you want to speak about. You should only speak about something if it's what your audience needs to hear! You figure out exactly what they need to hear by conducting Audience Intelligence. This is the process of getting to know the audience better than they know themselves! You do this by getting clear on questions like: "What keeps them up at night?", "What do they secretly fear will happen if they don't solve their problem", "If they continue doing what they're doing right now, where will they be in 5-years from now?" These questions enable you to paint a picture of your ideal client's present situation as well as future situation. When you do this, you become the obvious solution in the marketplace for your ideal client.
2. Stories Destroy Objections: You can use a Story to not only "overcome objections" but absolutely DESTROY objections before they even enter the mind's of your potential clients. You do this by first identifying the objections you tend to get. Then, once you've determined those objections, you then reflect on your life and see and identify and experience when you had a similar objection but overcame it! This is powerful because it relates with the audience, but more importantly, it speaks directly to the audience's Subconscious mind and begins to condition their mind to overcome the objection just like you did. This is what we teach as part of our Subconscious Storytelling System. It's way more in depth than this, but that's the 35,000 foot overview.
3. Use emotion: People are more likely to take action when they feel a strong emotional connection to a story. Use descriptive language and vivid imagery to tap into your audience's emotions and create a sense of connection. We interpret the world through our 5-senses, so why wouldn't we speak directly to the parts of our audience that interprets the world? To do otherwise would be to fight human nature instead of working alongside of it in order to persuade your audience. How you do this is simple: Describe the experience, don't just tell them! In other words, if something was loud, don't just say "It was so loud". That doesn't activate someone's imagination! Instead, say "As I sat there, waiting for the bus, I heard a loud bang. Immediately my head turned and I was shocked by what I saw..." Now the audience is engaged, but more importantly, their imagination is engaged and you have their attention. They feel like they're in the story with you.
4. Keep it simple: While it's important to use descriptive language and vivid imagery, it's also important to keep your story simple and easy to follow. Avoid using jargon or overly complex language, as this can distract from your message and make it harder for your audience to understand. Also, just go in, deliver a powerful presentation, and get the hell out. Your audience loves you, but not that much! Some people just drag on forever and ever. Don't be that person. Remember, as my mentor Les Brown always tells me, "Deven, the greatest speakers make the fewest words go the farthest."
5. Use storytelling to differentiate your brand: The best Story will ALWAYS beat the best product. People buy WHY you do something just as much as they buy the product or service itself. Your ability to craft an engaging story that clearly demonstrates the purpose behind what you do will develop an emotional connection between you and your audience and will lead to them being more likely to buy.
6. Use storytelling to build trust: People are more likely to buy from brands they trust. When you share stories that relate to the audience, they think "Wow, this brand/company really understands me! They get who I am!" Once people feel that way, you become the obvious solution. Trust is built through a sense of understanding, and what better way to demonstrate understanding that by telling a Story about yourself or your brand when it was back in the position where your ideal client is currently at?
7. Use storytelling to build a loyal customer base: I love a quote that says “People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions, and help them throw rocks at their enemies.” I love this quote because it describes how a true loyal following is built. A following is built when people feel like they've joined a movement. It's exactly why Russell Brunson, and the Clickfunnels team has been able to build a company with a Billion Dollar Valuation. Do they necessarily have the best product? No, but what they do have is the best community. And guess how that community was built...It was built by a leader (Russell) who used powerful stories to move his audience to "recognize" that the common enemy (traditional websites and confusing tech) would no longer get in the way of entrepreneurs growing their business online! The loyal customer base was formed once they felt like they had something to fight FOR and AGAINST. How can you do the same in your business?

It's really up to you. You can either allow Storytelling to stay in the "Back of your mind" or you can use it as the way to communicate the value of what you have in such a way that people feeling crazy saying no. Choose wisely.