Ditch the PowerPoint and PDFs. Change behaviour through stories!

When our kids were small we had a selection of Julia Donaldson books that we loved reading to them. One in particular was my favourite: A Squash and a Squeeze. The lady of the story bemoans her tiny house, but in fact it’s a perfectly good size - she just needs to reframe her view of it. For kids hearing that story, I think it imparts an important message: with a creative approach, it’s possible to sort things out!

Stories brilliantly communicate messages to children - after all, millions of parents turn to such engaging, moving, funny pages every day. We hope some of them will demonstrate resilience or encourage empathy or nudge behaviour.

It doesn’t change as we get older. We all want interesting stories to engage us. 

So when a leader wants to change their team or company culture and encourage different behaviours, I share with them the power of storytelling. 

When helping leaders to identify stories that change behaviour, there’s one overarching question I ask everyone to keep at the forefront of their minds: ‘what is the behaviour you want to change or encourage and what is a story that best illustrates that?’ 

Not a 72 page slide deck. Not a PDF of guidelines. But simple, gettable human stories that cut through the noise and create that emotional engagement. 

Storytelling is a great way of influencing behaviour, whether for kids learning how to be in the world or adults in the workplace. Whether in a book at bedtime or on a coffee cup, stories make an impact 🙂