New Year, New Skills: Practicing Storytelling
It’s a new year and many of us are pondering the skills they want to cultivate in the months to come. I am sure the myriad applications and implications of Gen AI for HR are on top of the list for many. Maybe throw in some innovation skills such as critical thinking or creativity? Pepper it with a better understanding of how human-centered design might interact with other methods, such as org design, people analytics, or behavioral science? Finish it off by practicing to become a more human-centric leader?
As I am reflecting on the skills I want to hone in 2024, storytelling continues to feature high on my list. I am not a born storyteller. I am a straight to the point communicator who is not known for her riveting tales. Yet, storytelling is a skill that is integral to both, the practice of design thinking as well as human-centered change management. As design studio IDEO’s former CEO Tim Brown points out in Change by Design, we rely on stories to put our ideas into context and give them meaning. Stories are change catalysts. Storytelling is a way to connect with people on a very human level and talk about what’s important to them.
So, I practice. And I practice…
Want to go on the storytelling skill building journey with me this year? Afterall, learning new skills is more fun in community…
How about I begin by sharing how I have started to practice and then you can add in the comments to this post your reflections, tips, and resources?
Ok, I’ll get us started:
I recently came across a free storytelling resource guide which was generously created by IBM’s Design Principal Jeremy Connell-Waite. I plan to go through it as part of my own skill building.
Inspired by Jeremy’s work, I thought I’d curate for you tips and resources that have helped me along the way:
Observe Great Storytellers
To cultivate our storytelling skills, we can start by observing how great books, movies, news articles, and commercials construct their narratives. What can we learn from them?
An inspiring example of how to use storytelling to communicate purpose is Simon Sineks’ TED Talk Start with why — how great leaders inspire action.
Keep a Story Journal
I have started to keep a journal where I jot down stories from my own experiences or those that I have observed in my environment that I might want to remember. Most of my writing and note taking is electronic, but I felt the journal wrapped in a cover quilted by my mom was fitting for this endeavor. On the first page, I wrote the purpose of the journal:
As I was flipping through the journal for this article, I noticed that I also jotted down inspiring quotes and reflection prompts with the thought that those might spark story ideas as well. And then there is the story prompt from Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert whose creative writing session I attended last year: “Write about a time in your life where you were accidentally in the right place at the right moment where you were meant to do a specific thing.”
Whenever there is an opportunity, like a presentation, an article, or a coaching moment, I can browse through my stories and identify one that might fit the situation and then practice telling it or writing about it. Fair warning: If storytelling is not your forte like it is the case with me, the first tries of telling your story will seem rough around the edges. But that’s ok, don’t give up and start to smooth out those rough edges every time you tell the story. Eventually, it will flow just the way you intend it to and will have an impact on your audience.
Learn How to Construct a Real Story
In Kindra Hall’s Stories That Stick, the author points out that most stories we tell in business are in fact no stories at all. I learned this the hard way when one of my early readers for my book provided feedback on an early draft of a story that I had painstakingly constructed that it “didn’t really read like a REAL story.” OUCH! I went back and revised it with the excellent guidance and structure Kindra Hall outlines in her book. You’ll be the judge if it did the trick…
Leverage Visual Storytelling
A picture is worth a thousand words… Animation studio Pixar published a free online course The Art of Storytelling where they share how they approach their craft. As you’ll see in that course, combining verbal storytelling with imagery and video is especially powerful. I also love the creative storytelling exercises Sarah Stein Greenberg compiled in her book Creative Acts for Curious People, including how to use video.
Experiment with Design Thinking Storytelling Templates
There are plenty of tools and templates that can aid you in applying storytelling in a design thinking context. Experiment with them! The Designing for Growth Field Book (Liedtka, J., Ogilvie, T., Brozenske, R.) boasts a storytelling template as well as visualization and storyboarding tools you can experiment with. My all-time favorite example of storyboarding is when Rachel Mondi was able to show off her hidden visual talents during our Design Sprint at Arity!
YOUR TURN: What skill(s) are you trying to cultivate in 2024? What reflections, tips, and resources can you share to help in our practice of storytelling?
Note: This article was originally published as part of the Design Thinking for HR LinkedIn Newsletter.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Design Thinking for HR is a biweekly LinkedIn newsletter that aims to inspire HR professionals to experiment with the human-centered design framework. The newsletter is curated by Nicole Dessain who is a talent management and employee experience leader, founder of the HR.Hackathon Alliance, and a Northwestern University instructor. Nicole is currently writing her first book about Design Thinking for HR. Join the Early Readers’ Community here.
