Unlocking the Power of Business Storytelling for Executives

00:20 - Lynn (Host)

Hi, friends and future authors, welcome to this week's episode on Publishing for Professionals. We're going to be talking about crafting and compelling narratives for business leaders, which I'm super excited to talk to you about. But before we dive into today's content, I'd like to share a story with you. So this story is a recent client his name is Dave who had hired two book editors to edit his book, and I got a look at it and it literally did not look like he had hired a professional to edit his book. So he had found them, I think, on Fiverr. Anyway, I re-edited his entire book for him in a weekend and he left me a wonderful Google review that says I've used a few editors and interviewed many. Lynn is far ahead of all the other editors I have been in contact with. Not only is she great at what she does, but she also works fast Very impressive. So he had left that two weeks ago.

01:13

Thank you, dave Levine, for being a client and I was happy to work on your book. He has a fabulous book that talks about money management, especially for high school and college kids. So definitely look up Dave Levine on Amazon and follow him as an author and get his book if you have a high school kid or a college kid who needs some financial literacy assistance because his book is absolutely fabulous. I wish I had it in college. I wish I had it to give to my kids when they were in college, so, anyway, okay. So I hope you are ready to listen in today, because today we're talking about crafting comparative narratives for business leaders. So what does that mean? We're going to focus on how business leaders can transform their expertise into compelling narratives that resonate with readers. All right, and this matters, because even though data and analysis informs people, stories are really the transformative piece. Right, and the narratives and the stories that we tell is what makes you and your business and your brand memorable. Ok, so the art and science of business storytelling for professional authors can be kind of tricky, right, because you want to make sure you come off as professional, but you also want to be seen as warm and friendly and approachable, especially if you're using your book as a business leader to as a calling card. Right so? But most business leaders are trained to communicate in bullet points, right, and this is what you need to kind of undo, to write your book and your narrative in a story fashion which is really hard to undo. I know because I was trained to bullet points too, so, but by the end of this episode, you can understand better how to weave some narrative elements into your business content without losing credibility or professionalism, and that's the topic of today. So let's jump in, all right.

03:01

So first you want to find out, like why do business books need narratives? Right, you might be thinking well, lynn, it's a business book, it doesn't need a story. However, there is a cognitive science right Behind storytelling, because when you storytell, it activates multiple brain regions in your head, right, and that makes data activating and language processing higher. Okay, and it also creates that emotional engagement and, as we know from watching commercials, we're like, oh my gosh, that's what I want. Right, because commercials don't sell you the product, they sell you the lifestyle, or they sell you the solution or whatever it is. So that emotional engagement really does create memory retention, and stories are 20 times more memorable than facts alone, right, and we know this because our whole human culture is built on storytelling. All right. So you have these things called mirror neurons, and stories create empathy and connection with readers when they are listening to them. Okay, all right.

03:59

So what makes business content boring versus business content. That's compelling, and I get this question a lot from my clients. So boring is abstract concepts, right, generic advice, endless frameworks without context. So you can spice that up by making your book compelling with real situations right. So talk about your framework and put a real situation in there. Talk about your process and talk about the tension and resolution that your clients have experienced using your process right, and then you would embed that practical wisdom and experience in there as well.

04:31

All right, so there's also a credibility paradox. Right, vulnerability actually enhances your authority. Let me say that one more time Vulnerability enhances your professional authority. Now, you might think that is like the opposite, right, vulnerability enhances your professional authority. Now, you might think that is like the opposite right. Like you're thinking, lynn, how, if I'm vulnerable, won't that just make me look dumb or like incompetent? And it actually doesn't. And here is the reason why. The reason why it doesn't make you look dumb or incompetent because you have overcome that right. So it shows that you have overcome it. But also, more importantly, it shows that you are that right. So it shows that you are have overcome it. But also, more importantly, it shows that you are human. Right, you have that. You know that you are human, you make mistakes and that also, you know, encompasses that emotional part of it as well.

05:17

So you want to make sure that you are sharing your challenges right now. You don't have to share every challenge. People ask me this all the time because people like, do I have to share every challenge or every detail? No, you do not have to share every challenge or every detail, but you do want to share the ones that are relevant to your book and your data and your facts, because readers trust leaders who've navigated real problems right. If you've only been an armchair leader and you've only dealt with theoretical problems, then obviously you don't have street cred. But the difference is that you want to show that you have these challenges and that you can overcome them, and that is known as your strategic vulnerability. Okay, so some examples of business books that are really great at this narrative is Shoe Dog by Phil Knight OK, that's a memoir. That's the Nike guy. And the hard thing about hard things by Ben Horowitz is another really good leadership one. And Creativity Inc is another great leadership storytelling piece that you can use as an example.

06:17

All right, so let's talk about the core elements of your business narrative. So these are the building blocks of your compelling business stories, okay, so these are the things you really want to make sure that you have in. So one is character yourself, your clients, colleagues or composite figures Like you can obviously make people up, but don't make people up if it's on a case study right, because that's just not honest. You want to make all of your characters three-dimensional, which balances their confidentiality, their authenticity, right. When should you use yourself as a protagonist? Right, that's really important. So you want to use yourself as a protagonist when you have that conflict or problem or tension okay, that business conflict, the internal struggle, the marketing challenge, the team dynamics, your strategic dilemmas. How did you come in and help or be the hero and fix that problem or make the process better or make it more efficient? Right, so you're raising the stakes to maintain engagement and then you're coming in as a protagonist. So, also, you want to make sure you have good context.

07:16

So you want to set the scene for your business decisions in your book. What is the time place, market conditions? Maybe? You want to put in information about your organizational culture? Okay, but avoid info dumps. This is one of the things I see people do. You don't just want to dump a whole bunch of stories in like in the back of your book? Someone asked me that once. Can I just put a bunch of stories in the back of my book? And the answer is yes, but do you want to? The answer is no. Right, because people don't just want to hear a bunch of stories they want to see. Okay, here's the practical thing and here's the story that supports it. Right, and wow stories I call them wow stories are really great. Like people read them. Like wow, this is incredible. So make sure you avoid that info dump. Use sensory details like sight, smell, feel, hearing to make the environment really vivid. Right, because the more vivid you can make the environment, the more interesting that story is going to be. So, and also make sure that you relay the transformation or the insight that that person is going to gain, like with before or after stats or what was learned and how it applies to whatever that you're talking about in your book, right. And then also, there's also some universal principles that are going to apply no matter what, so make sure that you add those into your story as well.

08:30

You want to have a business narrative arc. I know we normally talk about arcs in fiction, but storytelling you know you have an arc in all storytelling, so establish your situation and stakes and then you want to introduce the problem or opportunity. The next step show your decision-making process and action process right, and then your fourth step is going to be revealing the outcome and the learning. And then your last step is application. You want to connect to the reader's situation right and make sure that you have that connection with them so they can be emotionally involved in your story. Avoid the teaching disguised as a story trap and let the story do the work. Don't try to over-explain I know that's really easy to do, especially when you're writing a book, because I have done that same thing right. I end up over-explaining things and it's a habit that I have that I'm working on. But trust readers to draw conclusions and know when to step back and analyze versus when to stay in your story, and if you're looking for help with this, I can definitely help you with this with a developmental edit. Definitely check out my website, writeforyoume, and you can book a discovery call today.

09:36

We're gonna take a quick break right here, my friends. We come back. We're to talk more about crafting your compelling narrative in your business book. Hey, my friends, we're back with another episode of Publishing for Professionals podcast. We are in episode 33. We're going to talk about we're talking about crafting, compelling, compelling. I can talk today, I swear Crafting compelling narratives for business leaders. Make sure you like and subscribe Publishing for Professionals and make sure you leave a review wherever you are listening or watching to this podcast. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. All right, so let's continue on with what we're talking about today, our topic. So the first two parts we talked about core elements of business narrative and why business books need a narrative. Now we're going to move on to the second part of practical narrative techniques for business authors. Right, so these are techniques you can use to help you build your narrative. So when is your case study narrative? I just spoke with someone who is going to be on my podcast for a book blueprint episode and he has lots of case studies. Okay, so case studies are fabulous because it shows how you transform your client work into teaching stories and also you can protect the confidentiality of any of your clients while maintaining your authenticity, which is really a big deal. Okay, so you have a structure your problem, your process, the result and the principle. So that would be for your case study.

11:23

Narrative method If you're doing a personal journey approach, right, you can mine your career for teachable moments, like what are teachable moments that you've had in the past, and selective stories that serve your message. That's another question I get a lot. What story should I put in my book? Well, stories that serve your message are stories that people can relate to, and when they're reading your book, you're like, oh now I see, because the story enhances what you're saying and the fact or the process that you're talking about. Balance your self-promotion with service, right. So you want to talk about yourself, but you don't only want to talk about yourself, right? No one wants to read a book where it's just about you, unless you are writing a memoir, and we're not writing a memoir for this one. This is different, okay. So when personal stories strengthen okay and also can weaken your credibility, so how you tell it is really important as well, all right. So here's another framework for story integration Introducing your concepts with narrative and using mini stories throughout the chapters. So have an opening with a story, maybe a teaching in the middle, and a closing with a story for your chapter. So that's the bookend technique and that gives you a lot of impact. So, open with a story, teaching in the middle, close with a story One way you can use a framework to integrate stories. Another one is dialogue and business writing.

12:44

Okay, when to use direct quotes versus summary, and one of these things that's really important is is it your quotes? That's fine, but one of the things I tell people is you don't want to open every chapter of your book with a quote from somebody else, because that makes you not look like the thought leader, the expert. It makes other people look like the thought leader, the expert. It makes other people look like the thought leader or the expert. Now, does that mean you can't use any quotes in your book at all from other people? Absolutely not. But I would say, if you are using quotes from other people, make maybe three or four in your entire book and that's it, because you want all of your quotes to come from your clients who are saying what they love about you or your service, and or quotes that you've come up with right that are relevant to your story and your chapter. So make sure you don't make the mistake of using too many quotes from other people. All right, because you want to capture your authentic voice and you want to use it as a dialogue for revealing what the story, the character and the conflict. All right. So make sure that, again, you want to alternate between story and analysis.

13:52

r and over again it has to be: 3000

14:56

All right, so let's get on to the next section, which is common narrative pitfalls. Okay, so these are all the things you want to avoid when you're writing a story. Making yourself the hero of every story okay, because that's called the savior complex, and I mean you can highlight others, your contribution, but you want to show your mistakes and the learning process. But you don't want to be the hero of every story. Okay, so sometimes your client can be the hero of the story. Pitfall number two choosing stories that don't want to be the hero of every story. Okay, so sometimes your client can be the hero of the story.

15:25

Pitfall number two choosing stories that don't serve your message. Right, so your story selection criteria should answer the question does it illustrate or drive home your key point? Okay, Cutting stories that you love does not advance your thesis. The so what? Test for every narrative. So if you write a narrative and you're like, so what? Like if it relates to what you're teaching, that's awesome. If it doesn't, don't put the story in there.

15:49

Pitfall number three over explaining the moral of the story. Okay, so trust readers that they're going to get it. You can obviously give some explanation on the moral of the story, but you don't want to overdo it, right, because then your readers could be like, wow, they think I'm dumb. Moral of the story, but you don't want to overdo it, right, because then your readers could be like, wow, they think I'm dumb. One sentence of application, not three paragraphs. Pitfall number four writing in purely chronological order. Now, that works for some types of things, right, but not for others. But you want to start with the most compelling moment and then you can use flashback techniques, and sometimes you can. You'll want to break the timeline, and that's okay. Pitfall number five forgetting your audience's perspective. Right, writing for peers versus writing for leaders, okay, so know your audience and assume the readers don't have the knowledge and that you're making your unique experience relatable and applicable, all right.

16:40

Pitfall number six sanitizing stories to the point of blandness. Oh, I went over this with one of my memoir clients and he kept dulling it down. I'm like, no, no, no. The bigger and brighter the story, the better. Okay, so make real emotion, real stakes. Okay, have a compelling vulnerability to your story because people love that. Okay, and obviously, if there's legal and ethical boundaries, you need to. You know you want to conform to those, but also, you don't have to sacrifice creativity for legal and ethical boundaries, right, you just have to know how to work around them.

17:16

All right, my friends, I hope this has been really, really helpful today for your publishing journey and if you are a great, if you are writing your business book right now, remember to great business books. Balance expertise with narrative data, with story teaching, with showing, and the transformation comes from the business writer to business storyteller when you're writing narratives. Okay, so three immediate action steps you can do is one audit your manuscript. Identify three to five places you can add a story that would strengthen your book. Create a story bag right. List 20 experiences or 10 experiences from your career or from your life that contain lessons, because you can even use life lessons in your business book as well. Practice the narrative arc. Take a bullet point and expand it into a 500-word story.

18:07

All right, so I hope this has been helpful Again. Some other questions you can ask yourself are would someone read your business book on a plane by choice? Invite your favorite business book that uses narrative effectively and read it and see and see what you like about it and you can add that into your book. All right, my friends, so if you've been struggling to transform your professional expertise into a published book, then today's discussion, hopefully, has transformed your writing and publishing work and I really, really hope that you are doing well and moving forward in your professional work as a writer and getting your book done. All right, this is Lynn, a Liquidity Smart. Just and remember until next week. Keep writing, keep dreaming and keep creating. Your book is waiting to be born, thank you.