Storytelling
The audience was captivated, sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for the next detail. They had only met the professor a few minutes earlier, yet they could not have been more engaged.
She was telling a personal story to illustrate the power of storytelling. And it worked.
Today I attended Professor Elizabeth Powell’s Management Communication class on the Power of Storytelling in Leadership. She did a masterful job of introducing the concept. While I was there to make sure the class related the skill to career management as well as to leadership, there was no need.
Everyone in the class could see the power of storytelling, just from Professor Powell’s examples.
Storytelling in career management is absolutely a critical skill.
• When networking, you’ll frequently have thirty seconds to answer the question “tell me about yourself.” A quick compelling story, rather than a chronology of your life, will leave a memorable impression.
• When interviewing, the same question requires a larger answer, and the skill is even more important then. You don’t want to bore the interviewer.
• When asked for examples of leadership behaviors in behavioral interviews, you can use stories and the art of storytelling to engage your listener or to simplify complex projects or issues.
• When trying to build relationships with alumni or recruiters, storytelling allows you to reveal more of yourself (at some risk, as noted by Professor Powell) and therefore increase your likelihood of being remembered.
Bloggers in general have revived the finesse of storytelling. Look at a few blogs to explore how people have developed “their voice.” Then develop your own voice for storytelling. It’s a general skill for career management, and for life.