#162 How to find a story that makes a message stick

In this episode of the Less Chatter, More Matter podcast, we explore why information alone isn’t enough to make workplace messages stick, and why storytelling is one of the most practical tools communicators and leaders can use.

In a world filled with slide decks, summaries and carefully crafted emails, clarity is often prioritised above all else but while people may understand a message in the moment, that doesn’t guarantee they will remember it. What tends to endure is not the information itself, but the meaning behind it. Storytelling is what transforms abstract ideas into something tangible and relatable.

This episode focuses on the first and most common stumbling block: finding the story. Rather than searching for something dramatic or extraordinary, we explain why the most effective workplace stories are usually simple and grounded in everyday experience. 

The conversation also explores the power of positive examples when leading change, and why highlighting progress and possibility is often more motivating than leaning into fear or worst-case scenarios.

So, get listening and find your story.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Masterclass: Strategic Storytelling - make your message stick workshop
• 90 minute Strategy Power Session
• Public workshops and training
• Less Chatter, More Matter - Mel’s book
• Template packs
• Change Isn't Hard! - Mel's book
• Sign up here to the fortnightly mail out of free resources!

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Transcript

0:00

Once upon a time in a land not so far away, humans existed in a world full of wonder surrounded by nature. They surely faced hardships with the weather and predators and the search for food being constantly on their minds. But despite those threats, we existed, we thrived, we traveled, we created, and you know what we didn't do. We didn't attend meetings where people used words like circle back. We didn't put together a 100 page PowerPoint deck to explain a strategy. We didn't use AI to write emails, but our communication was effective, all the same, and our learnings from those early days were passed on and built upon because we used storytelling. Our brains are wired for stories. They light up in all sorts of ways when you hear a story and because of that, stories are super sticky. The messages they share are much more likely to be remembered. Weeks, months and years down the track compared with reading a bunch of dot points. And in a world where AI is slowly but surely taking over the everyday kind of work comms, we need to work harder to cut through the noise and get our messages heard. It is time to go back to storytelling, and that's what today's episode is all about. Hello friends, and welcome to a new episode of Less Chatter More Matter, the communications podcast. I'm your host, Mel Loy, and I'm recording this episode on the lands of the Yuggera and Turrbal people, here in Meanjin, Brisbane. And on today's episode, we're talking. Storytelling. Now, in previous episodes, I've gone into more detail around why storytelling works so well, different frameworks you can use, et cetera. So I'm not going to rehash that. Instead, today I'm gonna focus on the very first step, which is finding the story. The reality is we tell stories every day. You get home from work and you bitch about something that happened. To your significant other that's telling a story. You catch up with your friends and share gossip from something that happened over the weekend. That's telling a story. You're asking your Facebook friends to donate to a GoFundMe because of a terrible event that's befallen a local family. You are also telling a story, and yet when we go to work, it's like a switch just flicks off. Storytelling time is over. Now I'm not saying every single email should be a long story. Of course not. There's a time and a place for it. We live in a world where change is the new normal and it is bigger and more complex and more frequent and more messy than ever before. On top of that, we are getting more messages through more channels than ever before. So for some messages, a short, succinct email or text message will absolutely do. But if you are trying to change hearts and minds, then simply sending a list of dot points about why people should do something that you want them to do is not going to cut it. You're going to need to use a story. You need that to use that to tap into something that is important to them and to make the change meaningful and easy to understand. So, like I said, let's focus on how you actually find the story in the first place, because this can often be the very first stumbling block. Many people I talk to think they haven't got a story to tell, they haven't got anything interesting to share. But the reality is that's just not true. We're not looking for massive, tragic tales or you know, the big stories of heroism here. We are looking for simple stories that stick. That's all you need. So where do you start with the end? Of course. And what I mean is you need to get clear on what is the key message you want people to take away from your story or to put it in narrative terms, what's the moral of your story? And then it's thinking about a story that shows a message in action. So it could be a work experience, you had a personal example. It could be a story about another company or another person, et cetera, et cetera. So, for example, let's say your business is taking a new strategic direction courtesy of ai. Does that sound familiar? It probably does. And the key message you want people to take away is that technology has always evolved. We've always adapted, and this is no different, and it helps us continue to operate for another 10 years. Now, Just think about this for a second. What kind of story could you think of from your own experience or something that you've heard that would demonstrate that message in action? Maybe it's a previous technology leap that your company or even new experience, like when the internet first became a thing, or smartphone or social media, or a time that your company implemented a new piece of software and now it was messy at first, but now people use it every day. Um, maybe it's a change of experience growing up that was really uncomfortable, but now it's every day like learning to drive. Or perhaps it's a story from another business that went through a big shift in technology and they're now doing amazing things. This is also where AI can be a useful tool, actually. So you could ask it to find you a real life example of, for example, a company that implemented a big technology change and is now stronger than ever. And of course you'd fact check that and use it ethically, but it is a good place to start if you are really, really stuck. But honestly, I'm sure you're able to think of something... that fits the bill. I mean, you could even ask your employees to share stories, ask them to share an experience of a change that they found really uncomfortable at the time, but is now part of their every day. Now, One point to note is that it's often best to steer clear of the horror stories, even if you're trying to make a point about the urgency of change, that burning platform. Because the horror stories only tend to promote more fear and more anxiety. They don't get people excited about what could be. They don't get them excited about being part of that either. It's very similar to social proof in that we are proving what can be done or showing what others have done or do now, um, to encourage people to come along on that ride. And social proof, like I've talked about before, is a really powerful bias. But Robert Cialdini found it can also work against us if we highlight what people are doing wrong rather than what people are doing right. So for example, if you were trying to get more people to attend their doctor's appointments, you wouldn't say 30% of people don't turn up to their scheduled appointments because Cialdini found that in that in and of itself is social proof. People think, well, it's okay because 30% of people are doing it. So you know, I'm just one more. Instead, you'd say 70% of people attend their scheduled appointment. It's kind of the same thing here with your stories. You want to use positive social proof to inspire action. Now once you've come up with a short list of potential stories, it is time to choose one. A few, few rules of thumb to apply here. Number one is make sure it's relatable. If it's about people in a completely different country, in a completely different industry, it might not resonate with your audience. If it's about people that we just can't relate to, like the ultra wealthy billionaires, it can also be really hard to see ourselves in that situation. So it has to be relatable. But also make sure that there is some emotion, because emotion helps things stick. And emotion is what we respond to. Now, emotion isn't always sad, you know, it's not always those tragic things that make us cry and make us really angry, but it could be really an exciting, it could be the sense of fighting an injustice together, whatever that looks like for you. The other thing is keep it simple. There is probably lots of irrelevant information you could exclude from that story. I always think of it like it's the Grandpa Simpson way of storytelling. You don't wanna do that. Do the opposite. And the fourth tip here is test it. So share your ideas with a trusted advisor or someone who represents your audience and ask them what they think. And also remember that. The curse of knowledge often comes in here, a story that makes sense to you might not make sense to anyone else. So that's step one. It's finding the right story, and from there we choose the right style to use the right format, et cetera, et cetera. And then we pull it all together. So at the end of this super short episode, so let's just do a quick recap of what we just talked through. We talked through the fact that one. Stories are stu super sticky, and we are living in a world with more noise and more change and more AI driven slop content than ever before. So storytelling is actually going to become one of your best tools in your comms toolkit. When we choose a story, we start with what's the moral of the story. So this is step number two. Think about what is the key message you want people to take away from it. Step three is then think of what's a story that you know of that would demonstrate that message in action? And again, it doesn't have to be something that you've personally experienced, but maybe it is. And then it's about testing that story with your key audience, making sure it's relatable and making sure it elicits the right emotion that you want to get out of that story. Now if you want to learn more about this and the next steps, so you found the story, and then what do you do next? Well, you are in luck, my friend, because I'm running a strategic storytelling masterclass on the 24th of March. That's next week from midday Brisbane time. It is one hour of power online. I'll be sharing loads of. Different story frameworks and we'll work through a live example together, so you'll be able to just hit the ground running after this. It's going to be so much fun. I always love making these master classes fun because you're giving me an hour of your time, so I wanna give you an hour of value, but also just make you smile. We'll pop the link in the show notes for you, but in the meantime, keep doing amazing things and bye for now.