Storytelling

During the expert session, Robert Wolfe engages the audience through a mix of storytelling and interactive exercises using the Mentimeter app. He shares personal anecdotes and business cases illustrating the importance of effective storytelling in creating human connections and influencing decision-making. The expert also introduces various storytelling techniques, such as narrating in present tense and incorporating sensory details, while encouraging audience participation through real-time polls and discussions. These activities help the audience grasp the practical uses of storytelling in diverse scenarios and inspire them to apply these techniques in their own work.

• Harnessing the Power of Storytelling: Incorporating captivating narratives into professional settings can create human connections, evoke emotions that aid decision-making, and enhance memory recall.
• Techniques for Effective Storytelling: Utilizing storytelling techniques such as present tense narration, high-tension openings, sensory detail incorporation, vulnerability, and reverse engineering can significantly increase audience engagement and impact.
• Understanding Your Audience's Values: Choosing stories that resonate with your audience's important values is essential for inspiring action and overcoming objections in various communication scenarios.

In this expert session, Robert Wolfe, a renowned storytelling specialist, shares insights on effective storytelling in professional settings. Robert starts by recounting a personal story from 1982 when he attended a baseball game with his mother. In this narrative, he highlights the power of capturing an audience's attention through engaging stories. He shares how a man making jokes and giving away free ice creams held the crowd spellbound, while another disrupted the atmosphere with racist language. Robert emphasizes the importance of standing up for what one believes in, even in uncomfortable or risky environments.

The discussion then transitions to the significance of storytelling in business contexts. The panel explores various reasons for using stories as a means of communication, such as creating human connections, evoking emotions that aid decision-making, and enhancing memory recall. Robert shares an example of Antonio Deasio, a psychiatrist who discovered the importance of feelings in decision-making through a patient named Elliott. This story illustrates how a lack of emotion made it difficult for Elliott to make decisions. Thus, storytelling emerges as a powerful tool to help influence and guide individuals toward favorable choices.

Robert then delves deeper into storytelling techniques, explaining the impact of narrating a story in present tense versus past tense. He argues that using present tense makes the story more vivid and allows the audience to immerse themselves in the moment. Next, he introduces "vertical takeoff," a technique that involves starting a story with a high-tension moment to grab the audience's attention. This method is useful when following other storytellers or trying to mix things up for variety.

Robert also shares his favorite technique, called "lots of lots," which involves incorporating sensory details into the story to create a more immersive experience for the audience. He invites a volunteer from the session to demonstrate this technique. Lastly, Robert emphasizes the importance of vulnerability in storytelling, which creates an emotional journey and fosters compassion between people. He shares that allowing vulnerability in a story can lead to unexpected emotional changes and stronger connections with the audience.

Throughout the session, Robert encourages participants to recognize techniques in examples that can be applied to their own presentations for maximum impact. The expert continues by discussing the concept of reverse engineering, starting with the end in mind. He argues that the end is a call to action, emphasizing its importance in any speech or presentation. By defining the desired outcome, one can analyze and understand the reasons for affirmative (yes values) and negative (no values) responses from the audience. This process allows the speaker to identify potential objections and find ways to address them, ultimately leading to a more compelling call to action.

Robert's engaging and insightful session emphasizes the power of choosing the right stories and values to connect with audiences and inspire action. He provides various examples throughout the discussion, utilizing interactive tools like the Mentimeter app to encourage audience engagement and participation. The session concludes with Robert inviting attendees to share their thoughts on his questions in the chat and asking if anyone has any final questions for him. He also offers alternative ways for those experiencing issues with the survey link to access it, before thanking everyone for their participation and expressing interest in conducting longer storytelling workshops.

Leading in Complexity (Available on-site only)

Sometimes, the way we approach a problem becomes the problem itself, but we may not be aware of it. For instance, when we address complex situations with a linear mindset and find that our solutions have limited impact, it can be surprising. This workshop offers an experiential approach to help people understand what happens when there's a mismatch between the type of problem they encounter and the kind of solutions they try. You will grasp the Cynefin model from IBM, which views problems as "living" in different domains and requiring appropriate leadership styles for response. The lecture is dynamic and lively, yet quite philosophical in nature.

• Great session, love the interactions among us and the speaker while learning things.
• Amazing - feel just listening to this I will tell better stories in the future!
• Absolutely great session. Everything from the production to the actual content presented. A lot of information to take away.
• You’ve inspired me to use storytelling the next time I am presenting at our all employee meeting at department level.
• Great session, I really liked how theory was enriched with examples and interactivity through the chat.
• I hope we can also have this training for our cluster group. We can practice this techniques. Deep dive!
• I think it was great! Good job on making it interactive. I really loved analyzing speeches, the effect they had, and the techniques they implemented.
• Thanks! Good learning experience for me!
• The session was great!
• I haven't enjoyed watching a talk like this since ages. THANK YOU.
• Great speaker, well structured session, interesting insights. Enjoyed it!.
• Really good session.
• Please go on with this! I loved it.
• First session but absolutely excellent.
• I thought it was helpful and gave great thoughts on public speaking and leadership.