The Storytelling Question That Stopped Me In My Tracks
Reproduced with permission from SMK University

The Storytelling Question That Stopped Me In My Tracks

Storytelling in business can conjure up images of embellished narratives that bend the truth to breaking point. With trust being the green light in business, stories need to be told with integrity.

“Can the story you tell be a lie?

A delegate asked after I’d spoken at 1001 and Your Story Conference at SMK University, Vilnius in Lithuania.

The talk I'd given was on brand storytelling, personal branding stories and leadership narratives.

Taken aback and pressed for time I gave a quick and fairly high-brow response.

Business stories need to be rooted in truth otherwise it won’t be long before you lose the trust of your customers and damage your reputation.

However, her question played on my mind afterward, because non-truth vs truth isn’t black and white.

You might feel indignant that truth is objective so I’ll share three anecdotes from the conference that show the subjective nature of what we deem true.

First, what is truth?

Truth is "a fact or belief that is accepted as being true," according to The Oxford Dictionary

But whose facts? Whose beliefs? And who defines reality?  Scientists? Psychologists? Statisticians? Researchers? Artists? Storytellers?

Each of us holds our own world view. 

“.... marketers must forsake any attempt to communicate nothing but the facts and must instead focus on what people believe and then work to tell them stories that add to their world view." says Seth Godin’s in his book All Marketers Are Liars/Tell Stories.

Storytelling is always subjective and reflects what we hold to be true (beliefs), what we regard important (values) and who we think we are (identity).  We make our decisions based on how we feel and back them up with logic to appease our thinking minds.

Given the subjective nature of storytelling, no story can ever be objectively true.

After writing The Tao of Storytelling (my wisdom memoir published in 2013) my siblings and I chatted about how we recalled certain events differently. We noticed that each of us had unique experiences of the same situations.  Nobody was lying.  Each of us was telling how it was for us.

“A great story is true not because it’s factual but true because it’s consistent and authentic.” says Godin

A better description of truth might contain the words;

Sincerity, integrity and authenticity.

Now for those myth busting anecdotes from 1001 and Your Story;

The Fairytale Conference Opening

Gabija Skucaite swept onto a darkened stage dressed like a modern fairytale princess holding a Dickensian style candelabra with a flickering candle. In her inimitable style, the President of SMK University enacted a story in which she was a writer, surrounded by piles of books, seeking a muse to help craft her narrative.

Gabija invited each speaker to her 'living room' on the stage. Each orator was a muse, bringing their wisdom to storytelling in business.

The simple fairytale captured why people were there. Gabija spoke for everyone. The spirit of her story resonated with each delegate's desire to take their storytelling to the next level. 

So long as your story is authentic and resonates with your audience - in certain contexts an artistic approach works.

A Scriptwriter Begs The Question – What’s Reality?

Scriptwriter and lecturer Raimondas Paskevicius enthralled people with his conference workshop. He arrived with a napkin full of intrigue.  Pulling out his marriage certificate he showed its USSR stamp.  Then he hit us with a question. "Because this place no longer exists, am I still married?"  His birth certificate also carried a Soviet Union stamp. “But I’m still here," he said.

We accept our nationality as an undisputed truth - never expecting politics and geography to shatter basic beliefs about our identity.  Raimonda's story didn't confuse because everyone knew the history.  His tale was congruent.

Facts can change, but so long as you're congruent with what you believe and with accepted wisdom - your story will be authentic to your audience.

D.EFECT – The Beauty of Imperfection

PR specialist Ausra Prasauskaite spoke about D.EFECT, a Lithuanian fashion brand with international reach.

D.EFECT’s tagline, ‘the beauty of imperfection’ was inspired by Creative Director Egle Ziemyte’s experience of learning to accept what she saw as her physical imperfections.

The so-called imperfections of models are deleted with image manipulating software every day in the fashion and beauty world. 

But what is beauty?  Definitions have changed over the ages.  There's no single interpretation of beauty - just accepted beliefs that evolve over time.

Asura told us that Egle is “smitten with imperfections.”

Flaws make us unique and originality is a currency that’s often valued beyond perfection.  Each item of clothing at D.EFFECT is designed with special features, be that an irregular hem or waistline or an intentional rip.

D.EFECT’s position in the fashion world taps into a cultural narrative about the pressure women often feel to be perfect.  The feeling of being unable to live up to those standards can lead to low self-esteem.

Dove became an icon for real women, blazing a trail by challenging notions of female perfection. 

"Iconic brands function like cultural activists encouraging people to think differently about themselves."  Says Douglas B. Holt, in his book How Brands Become Icons.

D.EFECT  has tapped into the same cultural conundrum as Dove and expanded it into the fashion arena executing it with a modern twist.

Cultural narratives reflect collective beliefs in society at a point in time. Stories that run in alignment or contrary to those societal views resonate deeply with people.

Social media means that brands live or die by the stories consumers tell about them. 

Communicating the facts in a consistent way is important, but not enough. The spirit of a brand, the culture of the company and its intentions are the DNA from which stories emerge.  Facts and story can coexist synergistically - it's not a case of one or the other.

"Objective thinking is important, valuable and unimpaired by subjective thinking." says Annette Simmons in her book, Whoever Tells The Best Story Wins.

When stories are told with integrity, facts are dressed-up to make them more engaging, but they're not disguised so as to mislead. 

"Consumer's are too good at sniffing out inconsistencies for a marketer to get away with a story that's just slapped on." says Godin

Great chefs would rapidly lose their reputation if they took sub-standard ingredients, doused them in salt, spices and colouring to make a palatable dish.  When companies do that with food we call it junk.

Junk stories get created too and being hoodwinked is hard to digest.

Organic, natural, high quality, delicious stories will always keep people coming back (to push the food analogy further).

Stories need to be rooted in the truth.

Simple questions to ask about any business story you're creating are;

1. Why are you telling the story?

2. Is the spirit of your story honest and authentic? 

3. Are the facts accurate to the best of your knowledge?

4. Will the story be meaningful to your audience?

5. Has the story's integrity been protected as you've crafted it?

6. Will your story engage the audience and be useful to them?

Everyone has an opinion about the myths and magic of storytelling so I'd love to hear your thoughts, experiences and tips too.

Notes:

Thanks to Diana Garlytska for her organisation of 1001 and Your Story conference.

Jean Storlie has written conference highlights if you'd like to read more about the event.

About the Author:
Claire Taylor is a co-founder of  The Story Mill an innovative organisation whose mission is to connect people in business through stories.  She is the author of The Tao of Storytelling - 30 Ways to Create Empowering Stories to Live By.

Learn with us:

We're running a public workshop - Influencing People With Business Storytelling on June 2nd in London.  Find out more here.

Our bespoke business storytelling workshops for corporate organisations continue, so get in touch if you want to step your storytelling up a gear.

About The Story Mill:
At The Story Mill we believe that every business problem can be resolved by connecting people.  We help organisations to build better chemistry, be that in leadership, within teams or selling to your customers. Connecting people through stories is our mission.

We have plenty of corporate, standard or bespoke workshop options too.  So if you'd like to keep in touch with what's cooking at The Story Mill then sign-up for our newsletter. And if you haven’t yet downloaded your copy of The 12 Secrets to Influencing With Story you can do that here now.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Jean Storlie

President, Storlietelling LLC | Storyteller | Author | Innovation Facilitator | Creative Problem Solver

7y

Claire--I love how you brought to life memorable moments from the SMK University Storytelling Conference. Also, I resonate with your deeper reflections on the question of truth. Great essay!

Katrin Frische

Geschichten schreiben - Geschichten zuhören - Geschichte machen. Gründerin Frische Biografien. Gründerin Der Story-Teller. Co-Gründerin KoDorf Co-Gründerin bzw.dorf. Kommunikation vielleben eG

7y

Thank xou for this inspiring artick´le. For me as a corporate storyteller and biograph, objectivity is a myth. Ask three different people who were part of one and the same situation or event and you get three different stories. I like to distinguish between truth and thruthfullness or - in german - "Wahrheit" versus "Wahrhaftigkeit". Best regards Katrin Frische www.frische-biografien.de

Katrin Frische

Geschichten schreiben - Geschichten zuhören - Geschichte machen. Gründerin Frische Biografien. Gründerin Der Story-Teller. Co-Gründerin KoDorf Co-Gründerin bzw.dorf. Kommunikation vielleben eG

7y

Thank you for this inspiring article. For me objectivity is a myth. If you ask three people who participated in one and the same event you can be sure that you get three different stories. My duty and my mission as a corporate storyteller is to tell truthfull stories. In German we distinguish between "Wahrheit" and "Wahrhaftigkeit". Best regards Katrin @Frische Biografien

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Edel Rafferty

Senior Customer Success Manager at Skillsoft

7y

Great article Claire! Authentic storytelling is key to building solid relationships.

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