Storytelling In Business Communication Training Module On Business Communication Edu Ppt

Slide 4

This slide explains the meaning of a story.

Slide 5

This slide illustrates the main points of importance of storytelling in general as well as particularly for business communication.

Instructor’s Notes:

In General Communication-

·        Stories grab attention: Stories can quickly grab people's attention as they create a new reality and connect emotions to it. Stories help the people see their life from different perspectives, or they usually relate to these, imagining every scenario with the motive of finding out how they have would have responded to it

·        Stories make it personal, emotionally connect people, and create loyalty: Through storytelling, the speaker can formulate and frame business concepts relating them to the personal experiences of life. It provides an explanation and relevance to business statistics and helps people connect it to their life

·        Stories challenge current perspective: Stories challenge current assumptions and norms when provided with new perspectives. It is experienced while rewriting the stories. Many times stories are modified or rewritten, reframing them to show a different perspective

·        Stories create empathy: The success behind stories is that they create empathy with the situation and the characters involved. It is all about the experience of how people and how they relate to the story of their own life that unfolds before them. The key is that stories can simulate a natural and authentic experience

·        Stories are likely to be revisited: It is evident that people usually remember the stories that bring some motivating lesson or a real-life experience, and then they revisit such stories and share them with multiple people transferring their knowledge and learning. Good stories contribute to culture and survive the test of time

·        Stories inspire change: Stories can be used as an inspirational tool to motivate people to change. The speaker can make audience relate to some tragic or success stories. The Stories that that grab attention and have qualities like empathy, emotional connection, etc. motivate people to see and do things differently. The Speaker should make use of compelling storytelling techniques to encourage individuals and groups to change

In Business Communication-

·        Business development: Every business idea is backed by some story- whether it's related to product development or business expansion. The story must provide context to the audience and the stakeholders to understand the worthiness of a product/service. Every story must build a connection with the audience using real-life scenarios. This makes it easier for them to understand the importance of your products and services

·        Competitive advantage: Consumers are usually lost in the noise as they are exposed to too much information. A business might be offering something better than its competitors, but making decisions is more of an emotional process than a logical one. Telling a story in a presentable way can distinguish you from your competitors, providing a competitive advantage

·        Marketing and advertising: Storytelling is considered a marketing strategy for businesses as people want to connect with different brands and companies. Storytelling inspires people to take action by humanizing a brand. It also helps customers to know and understand the relevance of products or services you offer

·        Decision making: The reviews posted on social networks are more of stories than facts. These reviews influence the decision-making process of people, which can be a purchase decision or something else. While connecting with any brand, a person looks for multiple factors and reasons. In fact, these are looking stories that can provide answers to their diverse questions

·        Stories increase employee engagement and efficiency: Employees are the company's best assets, and a company succeeds only when the employees do. Research indicates widespread non-engagement on the part of US employees. Over 70% of the US employees are not engaged or are actively disengaged from work. It is suggested that an organization should cultivate the right culture at work by using storytelling. They can share stories relating to its history, struggles, aims, and how it achieved its goals. The story should only revolve around the essential aspects that should be communicated to the employees and why that aspect is relevant for them. This initiative will not only encourage their behavior, but also motivate them to work efficiently and effectively

Slide 7

This slide mentions the main features of a good story.

Instructor’s Notes:

·        Audience specific: To know more about your target audience, informal conversations are best. Building on this knowledge, a speaker can always prefer storytelling to glean out their needs and requirements. The closer your story is to audience’s concerns, the better it is for all stakeholders

·        Contextualize the story: An individual, while sharing a story must make sure that he/she contextualizes the story. To contextualize means to analyze an event in terms of concepts surrounding it. For Example, when reading a novel written during women’s civil rights movement, it’s advised to keep feminist perspectives in mind

·        Humanize the story: To humanize means to make a story friendlier and relatable to humans. Humanization makes the concept more understandable and refined so that people find it easy to relate and appreciate

·        Make the story action oriented: Being specific reduces the chances of confusion. While recounting a story, the speaker should prefer giving practical advice and clear direction. The message then hits home and empowers audience; it also helps them take action and make their own story

·        Keep it humble: A story should be kept humble i.e., it should not include elements like excessive pride. It should simply provide a motivating and encouraging lesson which people can relate to their life

Slide 8

This slide illustrates an activity that the trainer can use to discuss some stories or experiences of the target audience. This activity will help the trainer to grab attention and energize the crowd.

Instructor’s Notes:

After this activity, participants will realize that it's easy to connect with and remember stories rather than concepts. To send a message that a person should relate to, it should “preferably” be in the form of a story

Slide 10

This slide illustrates the 5Cs of storytelling that are circumstance, curiosity, characters, conversations, and conflicts.

Instructor’s Notes:

·        Circumstance: The circumstance is one of the core elements of storytelling. While crafting a story, the speaker has to introduce the circumstances in which the action in the story happens. It is equivalent to the context. The circumstance helps the speaker establish the scene and provide the audience with all the required information to better understand the story. The circumstance clarifies the when, where and why of the story. This improves audience engagement and adds a compelling reason to be the story

·        Curiosity: A brilliant introduction is crucial for a story's success, but it does not mean that the whole task is done. Once you gain the audience's attention, your next concern should be to stimulate the listener to be consistent throughout the story. Creating suspense makes them curious to know about what will happen next. Eventually, this builds interest and encourages the audience to learn more

·        Characters: The speaker needs to be very particular while choosing the characters featured in the story. The characters, roles, emotions, characteristics, etc., play a considerable role in storytelling as people want connection. The characters become the basis that people can relate to or want to be like. Choose your characters carefully to make it easier for the audience to visualize or relate to them

·        Conversations: People these days are more likely to engage with and pay attention to the conversation between multiple characters involved. Conversations refer to the dialogues involved in your story, which drive real engagement on the part of the audience. A dull story without any exchanges involved may lead to a lack of interest, so the success of storytelling depends upon human-interest element. The speaker should consider factors like: Will my story get people talking? Will they revisit my story and reshare it with their peers? The true success of the story lies in answers to all these questions

·        Conflicts: Every story must include a conflict. The conflict here refers to a problem followed by corresponding solution. Conflict is the key to grabbing audience's attention as it encourages them to invest time in making efforts to unfold. Most successful business stories deeply connect with their target audiences. These leveraging the power of relevant conflicts, adding value to them. While crafting a story related to business or otherwise, the speaker should carefully consider the problems and challenges that it wants to highlight. Then, it must showcase how the business can help resolve the issues highlighted

Slide 11

This slide mentions the difference between personal and business storytelling in business communication.

Slide 12

This slide illustrates an activity that the trainer can use to discuss and understand trainees' learning.

Slide 14

This slide explains the different techniques that can be used by the speaker while sharing a story with the target audience.

Instructor’s Notes:

·        Immerse your audience in a story: The best way to immerse your audience. This can only happen when you include clear and precise details that engages all our senses. The audience has to see, hear and feel the story. The story presented should be able to create a clear picture of the problem or the storyline in mind by using short but effective descriptions

·        Tell a personal story: Originality in storytelling helps you make an instant connection with your audience. Personal storytelling is the most effective way of communication as it builds a connection with your audience

·        Create suspense: Several techniques are available that can increase the level of suspense of your story. One way is to chronologically tell a story and then build up to a climactic conclusion. Another way is to plop the listener in the middle of the action and then go back in time to explain how that occurred. The third way to create suspense in a story is to tell a predictable part and then surprise them with a completely different ending, completely at odds with the general expectation

·        Bring characters to life: Characters are the core elements of any story, as their actions and reactions make people curious about a evoke curiosity. It is found that the most successful and influential stories have characters that are easily identifiable and have distinctive characteristics. The storyteller must focus on providing enough details of the characters involved to bring them to life in the audience's minds. Master storyteller Malcolm Gladwell once created a vivid picture of Howard in one of his storytelling presentations by mentioning his hobbies and interests and describing his appearance

·        Show. Don’t Tell: Instead of telling a story, the speaker should show it off by converting the concept into a scene. For example, while introducing an article, I could simply tell you that I had a classmate who was an introvert, but one day wowed his whole class with a marvelous presentation. But this approach would not have been so influential; instead, I prefer to use descriptions of setting and conversations to make you feel in the middle of a scene. So, while delivering a story, a speaker should try scene-by-scene construction of events, use dialogues instead of plain narration to make the story more lively

·        Build up to a S.T.A.R. moment (Something they’ll always remember): When used in storytelling, S.T.A.R. refers to "Something They'll Always Remember." Like a story's climax, the S.T.A.R. moment is something the audience will always remember and revisit. This moment can take the form of some shocking statistics or some dramatization. For example, Bill Gates, in one of his TED talks in 2009, used this technique when he mentioned the increasing investment in eradicating malaria. He supported his point by giving statistics to prove how serious the problem was and then surprised the room full of the audience by opening a jar full of mosquitos. His punchline was there is no rule which stated that only poor people should have this experience

·        End with a positive takeaway: An effective presentation should include not only a conflict and a climax, but also a positive resolution. A story should deliver a message or advice that can help people overcome their problems and bring a change for the better. For example, in one of the talks on domestic abuse, a speaker mentioned that instead of blaming the victims, we as citizens should “perceive the survivors as wonderful and loveable people, each with full futures.”

Slide 15

This slide mentions the tips for telling a story effectively in business communication.

Slide 16

This slide illustrates an activity that the trainer can conduct with the trainees.

Slide 17

This slide mentions the key takeaways from the session storytelling.

Slide 30 to 41

These slides depict energizer activities to engage the audience of the training session.

Slide 44

The above slide displays the activity for the team members found less energetic and enthusiastic. It will ensure an increase in energy levels and the productivity of employees at the workplace.

Instructor's Notes:

·        Multiple chairs are to be adjusted in the empty and spacious room in a random order 

·        The chairs should be put in a manner that every chair points in a different direction and all the chairs are occupied

Now,

·        Ask for a volunteer from the batch. (Batch may include a maximum of 15 people for a regular size room)

·        The volunteer is supposed to walk slowly and approach his/her empty chair and sit down. If the chair is already occupied, then he/she is expected to occupy the other/next alternative empty chair available

·        All other members will try to stop the person from approaching the relevant chair

Strategy Formulation:

·        Multiple teams can be made to conduct the activity

·        Each team can be allotted 2 minutes for planning

·        Each round is to be reviewed for the outcomes achieved from the activity

·        Each team should have a different volunteer, preferably the person with the lowest energy levels from the batch

·        The volunteer should move cautiously so as to not bump into any of the props or persons in the room

Activity Review/Outcomes:

·        How did the activity influence the teamwork and engagement skills of all the participants?

·        How was the experience while planning and working with 15-20 members at a time?

·        Was everybody clear about the purpose and conduct of the respective activity?

·        Did you observe any flaws that you wish to improve? Or any other instructions you want to include to make the activity conduct easier?

Slide 46

This slide highlights the cover letter for the training proposal. It includes details regarding what the company providing corporate training can accomplish for the client.

Slide 49

The purpose of this slide is to showcase the multiple types of courses offered by the training company.

Slide 51

This slide indicates the major deliverables that the corporate training firm will provide to the client. The key deliverables highlighted are session plans, PowerPoint deck, evaluation material, and training handouts.

Slide 53

This slide represents the multiple additional services offered by the training firm to the client, such as webinars, planning journals, and e-learning design solutions.

Slide 55

This slide tabulates the major deliverables offered by the training company to the client along with their associated costs.

Slide 56

The purpose of this slide is to highlight the multiple additional services offered by the training firm along with their cost details.

Slide 58

This slide provides an overview of the corporate training firm's vision and mission statements, core values, and key clients.

Slide 60

This slide highlights the major awards and recognition won by the training firm for their exceptional service to clients.

Slide 62

The slide provides information regarding the team members that would be providing the training services to the client. It includes details of the trainer and their respective designations

Slide 63

The slide provides information regarding the team members that would be providing the training services to the client. It includes details of the employees names and their respective designations.

Slide 65

This slide provides information pertaining to testimonials given by satisfied clients of the training firm.

Slide 66

This slide highlights the testimonials from multiple satisfied clients of the training firm providing information regarding congratulatory messages, client name, and company details.

Slide 68

This slide showcases the case study for the training proposal. It includes information regarding the problem faced by the client and solutions offered by the training firm. It also covers details of the results and client testimonial.

Slide 70

This slide provides information regarding the contract terms and conditions of the training proposal. It also includes details of deliverables that the training company will provide to the client.

Slide 72

The purpose of this slide is to provide the contact information of the corporate training firm. It includes the firm’s official address, contact number, and email address.

Slide 73

This slide highlights the training evaluation form for instructor assessment. It also includes sections to fill details of training information and attendee details.

Slide 74

This slide showcases the questions for the assessment of the training content by the attendees.

Slide 75

The slide indicates the evaluation form for course assessment. It also includes questions pertaining to the future actions of the attendees.