This story shall the good man teach his son;
      King Henry V, IV, iii, 35

Transfer of meaning and knowledge through stories

But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze they young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand an end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.
       William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Hamlet, Act I, Scene v

Stew Leonard’s ideas on storytelling

“How do you get your message heard in an organization with thousands of people? David Boje taught me the value of stories in an organization. Stories are the “oil” that makes the gears work." - Stew Leonard Jr.

 “If there’s no story, it’s too complicated to explain to over 2,000 team members”

If you hear a story being told in the company cafeteria by a front line worker, promote the manager that initiated that story!

“Our company is made up of lots of stories. We’ve found that “stories” get told and retold and become the fabric of an organization. “Policies” lay unread in the company handbook or training manual”.

Audience Connection

“Good storytelling establishes a personal relationship between the storyteller and the storyteller. Digital stories become a powerful tool for improving your business, your creative vision, your community, and your bottom line.”

Centre for Digital Storytelling, Berkeley, California, USA

We use metaphors everyday- usually as part of idioms and phrases.  At one extreme, they can be fictional stories, like fables, parables and fairytales, but not always.  Once we have created a key image in the heart and mind of the listener, key phrases and images will quickly and simply access the emotional power of the full story - an emotional shorthand, if you like.

 

Storytelling as a management tool is millennia old.  For thousands of years, groups and communities have told stories to define group membership, values, behaviours and visions.  Whether it was the mythology of Ancient Greece, Jesus' parables or the story of Moses, stories have explained, guided and inspired.

Narrate Consulting

The activities that are the easiest, cheapest, and most fun to do—such as singing, playing games, reading, storytelling, and just talking and listening—are also the best for child development.”

Professor Jerome Singer, Yale University 

 
I played with an idea, and grew willful; tossed it into the air; transformed it; let it escaped and recaptured it; made it iridescent with fancy, and winged it with paradox.