The Science of Story in Project Pursuits
|
|
|
Guest author
Dean Hyers, consultant, speaker, trainer, and professional storyteller, is Owner & Partner of
SagePresence where he applies the principles of storytelling to high-stakes presentations and AEC project pursuits. Dean explains how and why effective storytelling can dramatically increase your project wins.
|
|
|
|
|
In 1871, a saloon owner named James Ritty had a problem - his employees were stealing money they collected from customers. As a small business owner, every cent collected was important, but he had no way of knowing for certain just how many cents his employees stole. One night, when talking to his brother Ernest about the problem he was having with his employees, they came up with a plan. Ernest was a mechanic and he helped Ritty create "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier." The machine accurately recorded the number and cost of individual sales. Use of the "Incorruptible Cashier" dramatically increased Ritty's revenue and business success.
Even though this is the first time you've probably heard the story of Ritty's invention, you probably won't forget the origin of the cash register. Or at least you are much more likely to remember it because it was told to you as a story rather than a set of bullet points or in another equally boring information based form.
The reason you are more likely to remember this story is because your brain is wired to become more active when reading or hearing a story. Storytelling has been a primary mode of communication for more the 25,000 years, since people were using cave paintings to tell stories. Information-based communication is a more recent invention and our brains process it differently than the stories we have been telling for millennia.
THE BRAIN ON STORY
When listening to a story, more of the brain is activated. If you talk about how something feels, it activates the audience's sensory cortex. When you
feel those emotions the insula, a part of the brain that interprets emotion, activates in you and your audience. Storytelling fires up more brain activity than information-based presenting.
The key is recognizing the
simple story in every point you make. Each beat of your interview (precon, site logistics, design, safety budget, schedule, disruption avoidance, etc.) is like a scene, and each scene tells its own complete story.
|
|
|
STORY TELLING DISRUPTS AUDIENCE OBJECTIONS
Princeton psychologist Betsy Levy Paluck studies a real-time human tendency to form a counter-argument automatically when another point of view is being expressed -- the kiss of death to traditional presenting. However,
story disrupts that tendency. Paluck's studies showed that
"people consumed stories in this qualitatively different way. Their defensiveness is disabled. Their counter arguing is at rest." Storytelling allows presenters to guide audiences through entire ideas without contending with objections or counter-arguments.
Presenting only points and
stuff to decision-makers can interrupt the flow of the presentation and opens the door to questions and objections. Building the presentation around a series of stories creates the memorable and meaningful experience of moving the prospect forward from what they worry about toward what they want. |
|
|
PREPPING TO WIN
You don't want to be the Main Character of the stories you tell. You want to be the
hero! Your prospect is the main character, who faces a problem (the Beginning), and wants to get to a desired outcome (the Ending). Your job as the hero is to help them make that journey. You build the bridge from problem to outcome with your solutions. |
|
|
You have probably heard many stories about licensed A/E/LA professionals who have experienced a license lapse and were subjected to a hearing with a state licensing board, may have been assessed a large financial penalty to reinstate, continuing education credits to catch up on, and most disturbing -- publishing of the infraction for public view and peer scrutiny.
To help you avoid these unpleasant embarrassing experiences, let us help you do what you do best -- practice your profession -- and we will do the rest. Visit
AECredentialing.com, or call us at 913-608-7880.
|
|
|
Contact us to receive a custom monthly
credentials report containing: |
|
|
*All A/E/LA national and international licensure status with renewal dates
*Professional affiliation membership types with renewal dates
*Current multi-discipline continuing education requirements needed
*Comprehensive recorded history of categorized education credits
Learn more about our innovative and easy-to-use service at:
AECredentialing.com.
|
|
|
Housekeeping Note:
If your address, phone number or email
address has changed please notify your credentials agencies.
_____________________
|
|
|
|
|
Now delivering
Business Credentials Compliance services
Professional legal services for business credentials compliance includes:
* Existing corporate credentials registration compliance review
* Corporate credentials quarterly maintenance
* Corporate credentials documents filing
* Potential new corporate registration legal research with recommendations
Your questions and critical issues will be addressed with exceptional personal service when you call 913-608-7880.
________________________
|
|
|
Architects:
Jurisdiction License Renewal Due Date
07/2018
Arkansas, Connecticut, South Dakota, Wisconsin
08/2018
Massachusetts
_________________
|
|
|
Engineers:
Jurisdiction License Renewal Due Date
07/2018
Indiana, Vermont, Wisconsin
08/2018
Washington DC
_________________
|
|
|
Landscape Architects: Jurisdiction License Renewal Due Date
07/2018
Arkansas, Connecticut, Michigan, Wisconsin
08/2018
None
_________________
|
|
|
If your license renews on your date of birth this month, or by state requirement when your license origination occurred, it's time to renew.
_____________________
|
|
|
|
|