The Power of Storytelling: How to Create Stories That Resonate with Your Team

Since our early ancestors sat around their campfires swapping stories, storytelling has been an integral part of human culture. As humans, we’re all storytellers . . . and when we hone our skills and put them to use on the manufacturing floor, it can have incredible results. Through storytelling, you can find creative and productive ways to communicate with your team, reach new outcomes, and create a stronger culture of connection throughout your entire organization.

What Makes a Good Story?

A good story happens when a storyteller owns, lives, and feels a story. To tell a good story:

Draw from your own experiences
Connect the story to your experiences and emotions
Make sure you have a purpose
Stay authentic!

Good storytelling also depends on your audience and situations. A story might resonate very deeply with some people, but fall flat with others. This is why good storytellers often have a “bank” of stories they can pull from, so they can adapt to different audiences and environments, while still telling authentic stories.

And What Makes a Bad Story?

Simply put, a bad story is unauthentic! Bad stories adopt the experiences of others, rather than drawing on the feelings and experiences of the storyteller. For example, imagine your friend returns from an exciting vacation with dozens of tales about their adventures. If you take their stories and try to pass them off as your own, they won’t sound as compelling. This is because you didn’t experience those same adventures, so you lack the authentic connection needed to craft a great story.

Two Ways to Grow Your Storytelling Skills

Now that you’ve learned the difference between good and bad stories, you can get started on honing your storytelling skills. Here are two ways to get started:

Improv. It might sound like a strange approach, but learning how to improvise with others can be a valuable tool for practicing your storytelling and connecting with others. You can learn more about the benefits of improv in Episode 97 of Mindfulness Manufacturing, especially the importance of asking “yes, and?”
Active Listening. To become a stronger storytelling, you also need to practice your listening skills. Through active listening, you’ll observe how others tell good (or bad) stories, plus find out what resonates with others.

Learn More on the Podcast

Let’s bring more storytelling to manufacturing! Learn more in this recent episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing with Trevor Perry, an award-winning speaker, author, and perspective-changer. In this episode, Trevor offered insights (and of course, shared some awesome stories!) about the power of storytelling and how manufacturing leaders can use storytelling to better connect with their teams.

Listen to Trevor Perry on Mindfulness Manufacturing here.

Mindfulness Manufacturing

Our show is about providing listeners with real stories that come from a place of experience, transparency, and authenticity. Most importantly it’s about what we learn from these stories and applying Mindfulness in our everyday work and personal lives.
Our intention is to create an environment where people can learn through open honest discussions on how we apply Mindfulness. Although our experiences and stories come from time in a manufacturing environment hence the title “Mindfulness Manufacturing”, we still see our discussions and topics relatable to any organization or profession.

In manufacturing, mental health is not always at the forefront. But when you don’t pay attention to your team’s mental wellbeing, it can negatively affect your entire organization, leading to big issues from disconnected teams to high employee turnover. In this episode, find the insights you need to transform your organization’s approach to mental health with guest Adam Nemer. Adam is a former CFO and senior operations leader, whose own mental health struggles inspired him to start Simple Mental Health, an organization that partners with leaders to bring stigma-free mental health culture to their organizations.

In this episode, Adam shares impactful stories from his own mental health journey and offers great insights for how leaders can support their teams, implement stronger mental health practices, and play a transformative role in breaking down mental health stigmas in the world of manufacturing.

1:00 – In manufacturing, one out of every five employees struggles with a diagnosable mental illness 7:58 – To promote better mental health in your manufacturing organization, learn to recognize the signs of mental health struggles, like changes in appearance, behavior, or performance 8:35 – Be aware of team members who might be showing up for work, but aren’t mentally engaged 12:25 – To improve mental health at work, you need to have deep conversations that go beyond just talking about work 16:20 – When your employees are unhappy or struggling with mental health issues, it can lead to a massive drop in productivity, as well as high turnover 21:46 – As a leader, there is power in sharing your own mental health experiences 27:45 – When leaders normalize discussions about mental health, it improves performance and transforms lives

Connect with Adam Nemer Visit his website Connect on Facebook and LinkedIn Learn more on YouTube