WHAT IS YOUR STORY?

[CROWN COUNCIL]

What do you do when you need to change someone’s conviction about something that will benefit them, and you just can’t seem to convince them of the need to change?  When the prospective person or persons realize that your goal is to convince them of something by verbal persuasion that is different than their current belief or conviction, a natural resistance arises.  Some listeners may also be suspicious that you will tempt them to do something that will harm them and benefit you.

 

Here is a place that storytelling provides a solution.  Told well, a detailed narration of an event helps listeners to drop their doubts as to the credibility of the solution.  Storytelling provides a way to show that a real person had an experience that proved whatever it is that is desired tobe proven.  When a story is in progress, it isn’t likely that someone who might be described as the opposition would interrupt.  Even the most educated of people tend to set aside their well-honed criticisms when listening to a story.

 

Stories help individuals to transport themselves away from the role of a listener.  The storyteller can cause the listener or listeners to imagine that what is happening in the story can happen to them.  The more poignant, vibrant, and relevant the story, the more the listener moves from thinking about the inherent arguments to experiencing every element of the tale itself. 

 

And now for the final dimension that sets stories ahead of plain verbal persuasion,  Finding a way to encourage others to both understand and believe in a new point of view may not be enough to propel them into action.  Individuals must actually care about what they believe if their belief is going to get them off of the (symbolic) comfortable couch and into a gym.

 

So the next time you have the challenge of changing someone else’s view or conviction, just pause and ask yourself “What is your story?”

 

Gregory B. Anderson–director