Storytelling is the process of using fact and narrative to communicate something to your audience. Some stories are factual, and some are embellished or improvised in order to better explain the core message.
What makes a good story?
Words like “good” and “bad” are relative to user opinion. But there are a few non-negotiable components that make for a great storytelling experience, for both the reader and teller.
Good stories are :
Entertaining: Good stories keep the reader engaged and interested in what’s coming next.
Educational: Good stories spark curiosity and add to the reader’s knowledge bank.
Universal: Good stories are relatable to all readers and tap into emotions and experiences that most people undergo.
Organized: Good stories follow a succinct organization that helps convey the core message and helps readers absorb it.
Memorable: Whether through inspiration, scandal, or humor, good stories stick in the reader’s mind.
Why Do We Tell Stories?
There are a variety of reasons to tell stories — to sell, entertain, educate or brag. We’ll talk about that below. Right now, I want to discuss why we choose storytelling over, say, a data-driven powerpoint or bulleted list. Why are stories our go-to way of sharing, explaining, and selling information?
Stories solidify abstract concepts and simplify complex messages. We’ve all experienced confusion when trying to understand a new idea. Stories provide a way around that. Think about times when stories have helped you better understand a concept … perhaps a teacher used a real-life example to explain a math problem, a preacher illustrated a situation during a sermon, or a speaker used a case study to convey complex data.
Stories help solidify abstract concepts and simplify complex messages. Taking a lofty, non-tangible concept and relating it using concrete ideas is one of the biggest strengths of storytelling in business.
Take Apple, for example. Computers and smartphones are a pretty complicated topic to describe to your typical consumer. Using real-life stories, they’ve been able to describe exactly how their products benefit users … instead of relying on technical jargon that very few customers would understand.
Stories bring people together. Like I said above, stories are a universal language of sorts. We all understand the story of the hero, of the underdog, or of heartbreak. We all process emotions and can share feelings of elation, hope, despair, and anger. Sharing in a story gives even the most diverse people a sense of commonality and community.
In a world divided by a multitude of things, stories bring people together and create a sense of community. Despite our language, religion, political preferences, or ethnicity, stories connect us through the way we feel and respond to them … Stories make us human.
TOMS is a great example of this. By sharing stories of both customers and the people they serve through customer purchases, TOMS has effectively created a movement that has not only increased sales but also built a community.
Stories inspire and motivate. Stories make us human, and the same goes for brands. When brands get transparent and authentic, it brings them down-to-earth and helps consumers connect with them and the people behind them.
Tapping into people’s emotions and baring both the good and bad is how stories inspire and motivate … and eventually, drive action. Stories also foster brand loyalty. Creating a narrative around your brand or product not only humanizes it but also inherently markets your business.
Three components that make up a good story — regardless of the story you’re trying to tell.
Characters. Every story features at least one character, and this character will be the key to relating your audience back to the story. This component is the bridge between you, the storyteller, and the audience. If your audience can put themselves in your character’s shoes, they’ll be more likely to follow through with your call-to-action.
Conflict. The conflict is the lesson of how the character overcomes a challenge. Conflict in your story elicits emotions and connects the audience through relatable experiences. When telling stories, the power lies in what you’re conveying and teaching. If there’s no conflict in your story, it’s likely not a story.
Resolution. Every good story has a closing, but it doesn’t always have to be a good one. Your story’s resolution should wrap up the story, provide context around the characters and conflict(s), and leave your audience with a call-to-action.
General Principles of Storytelling: Creating Your Product Story
General (and proven) principles of storytelling that you can use to tell a product story
1) Purpose
As a product manager, before you even begin your story or storyboard, you need to ask yourself:
What is your product vision/ objective, and, more importantly,
What is the WHY behind your product and each feature/ functionality you develop?
Always start at the very beginning by stating the overall objective/ vision of your business and product, irrespective of whether you’re presenting to your internal team, external stakeholders, or a new market.
WHY does your product exist, WHY do users need it, and HOW will it change your user’s life?
You should also consistently remind your team of the reason behind your product and the company’s mission: By doing so, you’ll instill a passion in them for the product, which will motivate them to develop a product that users want.
Some good questions you can ask at this point in your storytelling process:
Who am I building this product for? And why?
Why should people care?
If you can answer these WHYs successfully, and if you can communicate them clearly (and with emotion) to both your team and your users, then your stage is all set.
2) The Conflict/ Problem
Great stories have great conflict. Harry Potter and Voldemort. The battle for the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones. You get the idea.
When it comes to product storytelling, your conflict is your user’s problem. Before creating your wireframe, you need to fully define your user problem.
What does your user want?
WHY do they want it?
What is their pain point?
Once you’ve established the problem, communicate it to your team. And how can you communicate the problem effectively? Yup, you guessed it: By telling a story ;).
PLOT TWIST: Can you guess who the hero/ protagonist of your story is? You? Your company? Your product? Well, as a PM, you’re definitely a hero in your own right, but in this case, the protagonist is ALWAYS your user. No exceptions.
3) The Plot/ Context
In storytelling terms, this ties into characters and imagery, too. In this case, you can create your user personas and then develop a story about why each persona needs your product (avoid overdoing it on the data, stats, and analytics and try and use more emotion to motivate your team). More than just looking at what people want, you need to look at why they want it. People are experts at problems, and you’re an expert at providing solutions to those problems!
You need to find out WHY a feature request your user has suggested matters to them.
WHY do they want this specific feature?
What is the motivation behind it?
Also, when talking to your team, create a visual image for them, help them visualize what they have to do, and help them connect with the user, too.
Some good questions to ask at this point are: What is the context in which your users will use your product? When will they use it? And why?
You can also bring in your user stories here. Keep in mind that your user story is an end goal based on the user’s perspective – it is not a feature. They’re designed to anchor your team to the ‘plot’ or ‘context’, reminding them what they are developing, why they are developing it, and what value it will create for the end-user. User stories are an essential part of your storytelling toolkit because they
focus on your audience,
foster collaboration and creativity, and
drive the team to develop a winning product.
4) The Build-Up/ Rising Action
This phase can relate to the user stories you’ll be tackling in a sprint. A great and simple way to create a user story is to use this effective, yet simple, sentence:
As a [persona], I [want to], [so that].
For example: As a project manager, I want to save time and have a quick overview of all my tasks, so that I can be more productive and focus more on helping my team.
BUT, more importantly, make sure your user persona actually has a name and not just a job title. There are countless project managers out there, but what about Jennifer, the project manager of a fast-growing tech startup company who has a team of 10 interns to lead? It all comes down to personalization and the human experience: Behind your persona is a real human with real problems needing a real solution.
5) The Solution
As the adage goes, all good stories come to an end, and if you’ve told a good story so far, your audience (be it your team, stakeholders, or users) will be invested in what you’re saying and will be ready to hear your solution (how you’ll be tackling your user’s problem/ what’s your strategy going forward).
6) Personal/ Emotional Connection
Emotion is what drives people into action. Telling great stories enables you to convince others to help you build a great product and convince people to buy that great product.
For example: If you’re trying to convince a new target market to try out your product, you’re not really going to win them over with a boring list of features and specs. Think about your user personas here. What can your product do for each of your user personas? How will using your product make them FEEL? What is your VALUE proposition? In the words of Simon Sinek, author and motivational speaker: ‘People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.’
And this extends beyond presenting your product to potential users. As I’ve mentioned before, you can also use your stories to motivate your team, get them excited about the development process, and to turn negative feedback into catalysts for positive change.
7) Pacing
When it comes to storytelling, it’s all about showing, not telling. That’s why you mustn’t go overboard with explaining your product, its features, and what pain points and problems it solves. Keep it simple so that you can easily connect with your audience, no matter who you’re talking to.
And never forget to give a good ending to your story. In terms of product storytelling, this will involve demonstrating what impact a new feature, for example, will have on your users. Always set clear goals and determine when you expect to reach those goals. Your full story should always show the user journey from problem to solution.
This is the finest instruction-set for effective story-telling I've ever read. Save it. Print it. Memorize it if you want to, but definitely apply each lesson. I certainly will.
This is the finest instruction-set for effective story-telling I've ever read. Save it. Print it. Memorize it if you want to, but definitely apply each lesson. I certainly will.
Thanks for your time & hard work.