The journey of a product manager - A storyteller, A misfit, An oddball.

Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world.

– Robert McKee, professor at University of Michigan

Based on this quote, you would be able to see why on LinkedIn, the storytelling approach gets the most attention. Since a lot of today's world is about SaaS, software, UX, and products (among others, of course), I’ll be talking about product storytelling specifically.

It seems that the list of roles of a product manager is never-ending. As a product manager, I have to perform almost every role possible in any organisation. You name it and I've been a part of your job description.

I do believe that SaaS product managers are meant to be leaders, managers, marketers, good communicators, forecasters, teachers … the list truly does go on. So in the nature of going big and not going home, let’s add another role to the arsenal of a great product manager. Yup, you guessed it, being a good storyteller.

But why?

• Why should a product manager have to tell good stories?
• Why does a product manager have to portray the role of Grandparents?

That should be left to Language literature graduates or the likes of J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, or G.R.R. Martin, right?! Well, no, not at all. Everyone is a storyteller in one way or another, and telling a story about your product or you is how you would motivate, captivate, and inspire not only your own team but your users as well.

So let’s get right to it and get some creativity and ideas flowing! I did not think I was a storyteller until the day I found out my style of writing which connected with the mass audience. You also just need to find your voice through writing.

 Let's start with a few cliches. 

Once Upon A Time.....In a magical land far far away.....When I was younger.....

How do you tell a good story? And most importantly, why should you, as a product manager, learn how to tell a good story?

Let me give a quick example. I recently finished watching a show on Netflix called Shark Tank. The protagonist, ABCDE, is the founder of a QWERTY company, and she is trying to get investors interested in her solution. In her backstory, the first episode, she pitches her idea and company to numerous investors using stats, facts, and data – but no one was really listening or interested. Then she figured out a way.

She told the story of

• WHY she founded her company,
• WHY she has this purpose, and
• WHAT problems her company will solve to the sharks.

They absolutely adored it. Her story was about her family member/ companion/ co-worker, who were affected from ___________ since _________, and this is why she used her skills as a _________ to found a company that could change the _________ system.

If you fill in these blank, you would get a story line, an opening line for your product/service.

Or take another example. Imagine you own a 16th-century castle (nice!). Wouldn't it be a perfect getaway in today's time, impacted by COVID? When I imagine this, I just want to stay in my imagination.

Moving on, let's consider 2 scenarios:

1. You invite guests over and tell them to wander around and check out all the rooms where they can freely roam around and enjoy the experience.
2. You prepared a discovery story or a fun game for them so that they could learn so much more about your castle, its intricacies, its history, etc.

As a person visiting the house, wouldn't you be more intrigued and interested in the story of the house, the artefacts, the painting on the wall, the decorations? I hope you have answered this question for me.

And this is why you, as a product manager, you should tell stories. It doesn’t matter whether you’re presenting your product to potential users, external stakeholders, or audiences who aren’t familiar with your product – no matter who your audience is, they’ll be more likely to remember the story you tell.

• Take them on a journey, make them care.
• Why should they choose YOUR product?
• What will it do for THEM?

And remember, your users, or whomever you’re presenting your product to, aren’t necessarily moved by facts, the data, the specs, and all those jargon-y technical terms. Sure, they’re impressive and nice to have, but at the end of the day, that’s not the info about your product they’ll retain. You see, there’s a science around storytelling â€“ our brains are hardwired for it, and we’ve been communicating via stories since the dawn of time. There’s a reason why stories are passed down from one generation to another – it’s because they’re memorable. They stick with us (especially the good ones).

I find storytelling a bright, endearing and engaging way to interact with my audience. I've started to observe the way grandparents are telling stories to the children in our locality. Every day, about 20 children and even adults gather around them to listen to their gloried, story-ed past.

Please feel free to share any stories that you loved hearing from your grandparents. I have a few that I loved as a child, send me a message and we'll share our childhood memories.