3 Simple Elements You Need To Tell Riveting Business Stories

Valerie’s team of engineers was ready for the presentation for a $60M contract. They expertly demonstrated their knowledge and experience, relying on logic and facts. Valerie felt confident that they outpaced all the competitors in the expertise needed for this specific project.

Because the project was in a public procurement process, Valerie was able to watch the other teams present. Valerie saw the interviewers leaning forward in their chairs, engaging with the competitor’s emotional story about how their company started and how hard they worked to get it going. She knew her team had lost the contract. The other company was not as experienced, but they were passionate. Their story showed their drive and ability to overcome challenges. The interview panel connected with them, and did ultimately chose them for the job.

Though Valerie’s team had the expertise, they had failed to show character and their passion for the work.

Business leaders tell stories because people need both fact and emotion to be persuaded to take action. Business storytelling is the strategic sequencing of fact and emotion.

What’s the secret to telling a riveting business story that captures your audience’s emotions? Conflict, contrast and contradiction. You must wrap the facts you want your audience to know into a story with elements of conflict, contrast, or contradiction. These elements build tension, which pique your audience’s curiosity and engagement. At the same time, a well told business story helps you share more than just the facts. Stories reveal character.

Conflict

Conflict is a classic story element. Every hero faces an obstacle standing in the way of their ultimate goal. The wolf stands in the way between Little Red and her grandmother. The mountain stands before the mountain climber.

While business leaders may not be characters in Greek epics or fairy tales, they are very familiar with conflict. Every business and every career is rife with conflict. The key to great business storytelling is knowing how to use these conflicts to share what you want your audience to understand. Here’s a leadership story that successfully uses conflict:

When I decided to implement a no-haggle pricing model at my car dealership, I was convinced that making the process straightforward would resonate with our customers. We launched with 24-hour test drives, a ten-day money-back guarantee, and up-front pricing. However, the response wasn’t what we expected. Customer satisfaction scores dropped, and reviews indicated that people were confused by the new approach.

This story highlights the conflict of trying to fix one problem, but creating an unexpected one. With this succinct introduction to this conflict, listeners are intrigued. We want to know how the storyteller moved past this unexpected challenge. Not only do we learn about the storyteller’s business experience, we learn about what kind of leader he is, his values and character.

Contradiction

Contradiction is when two elements of a story oppose each other. Contradiction builds tension in a story by asking the listener to discern how these two opposing forces will be resolved. Here’s an example:

My husband gave me my first compound bow. Little did I know that this gift would teach me lessons far beyond the archery range. I spent countless hours honing my skills, shooting field points into the dead stop in our backyard. Finally, the day arrived. My husband and I loaded up the old pickup and drove a few miles to our hunting spot. We moved in silence, until we heard the sound of deer. My heart quickened.

My husband stayed back as I crept forward, positioning myself behind some aspens. The doe moved toward me. I knew from my months of practice that I could take a confident shot.

But then, I saw it: a fawn appeared, following her down the hill. I lowered my bow. I was a mother of two young boys. The connection I felt to that deer and her fawn in that moment was undeniable. It wasn’t my day. That wasn’t my shot.

That moment taught me one of life’s greatest lessons: there’s a difference between a good opportunity and the right opportunity.

The story builds up the tension by carefully demonstrating just how ready the storyteller was to take the shot. When the fawn appears, the storyteller reveals an apparent contradiction: even though everything was poised for her to take the shot, she chooses not to.

Contrast

Similar to contradiction, contrast juxtaposes two dispersant elements to produce tension. Here’s an example:

I used to be a leader at the largest hedge fund in the world. I left to pour concrete and clean bathrooms.

By contrasting hedge funds to pouring concrete, the audience is intrigued to understand the journey of this business leader and reasons why he left a prestigious job for something that seems menial. We wonder why he did this and if it was worth it. His story goes on to satisfy his listeners by providing additional context and then answering their questions:

Though my family were small business owners, I got into an Ivy League school and got offered a job on Wall Street. What I found was that it didn’t satisfy my desire to make a difference in the lives of the people I worked with.

So, I started a new business with the idea that I could buy and run great small businesses. I bought a concrete business, then some small janitorial companies, and then a landscaping business. I couldn’t be further from my old job at the hedge fund. I also couldn’t be more satisfied.

Today, my business owns over 20 companies across three states, employing over 1,500 people and generating $350 million in annual revenue. We’re helping businesses steward their legacies and taking care of their employees.

The Takeaway

While every business leader is well-versed in facing and overcoming conflict, contradiction and contrast, it takes practice to use these elements in stories. Dana Maor, Senior Partner at McKinsey, has suggested that it’s every leader’s job to tell stories and if a leader doesn’t feel very good at storytelling, they must sign up for a good storytelling workshop.

Practicing these skills is worth it. KJ, a director of professional services, AI Solutions at Google invested in his growth as a storytelling leader and quickly saw the impact. “Inevitably I know so much more than our audience and storytelling is the most efficient and effective way to persuade others to see things your way,” he said. “It allows us to convey broad and deep concepts with sound bites, retaining the essence of the matter, but in a format and approach that connects with the audience.”

For your next presentation, first think about what your audience needs to know in order to take action. Then think about a story with a conflict, contradiction or contrast that will help them get there.