Stories can help you pitch or present an idea, but they can also unlock the kind of culture change you want to see in your business. Stories work better than mission statements or strategy documents because we’ve all grown up listening to stories as a way of understanding the world. Your challenge is to go out and find the stories you need and then tell them in a compelling way.

Here you’ll find the worksheets from the Vistage Business Storytelling session which go with this summary of the presentation (in two parts):

Your stories must have these basic ingredients:

1. Stuff happens (who, what, where and when)
2. People care (how do you/they feel)
3. The moral (why does this matter)

It’s easy to ignore or gloss over the emotional content of your stories, but don’t. Emotion directs our attention to what matters and helps people remember the point you’re trying to make.

You’ll need to tell stories about yourself (Foundation Stories) but you’ll find it easier to keep telling fresh stories about your customers or colleagues (Brand Stories).

Stories unlock culture change when you:

1. Identify the change you want to see
2. Find stories that illustrate the point you want to make
3. Keep telling them until the change you want is happening