Toby Strangewood, co-founder of Wake The Bear, shares his practical insights on how to communicate effectively without the fluff of emotional storytelling.
As an SME founder or owner, effectively communicating to customers, employees or investors is vital.
Disclaimer… No, this is not yet another article about emotional storytelling.
Nor is it another reference to how stories have been embedded in our human psyche since the beginning of time. And I don’t proclaim to be an expert storyteller – these are just empirical learnings.
Finally, you’ll be pleased to hear this article is not written with some kind of clever hidden story arc to make the point about story arcs.
When you’re an exceptionally time-poor, tired, stressed and overworked founder, effective and efficient communication is even more vital. Here are some practical considerations that can act like a checklist to how you can ensure you’re telling what you need to tell, in the most compelling way, and in a way that the listener will be the most receptive to.
1. Really know who you want to listen to you.
Don’t assume people have the time and inclination to listen to you. Think about their mindset, the jobs they need 
to get done, their pains and perhaps their pre-existing perceptions – right or wrong – about you or the topic you want to talk about.
Just because you have a story you want to tell, doesn’t mean they want to hear it. If you can hypothesise what else they have going on in their lives on any given day, what pressures they are likely dealing with, you can think about how what you need to say can actually provide a respite to that, can alleviate some of that stress, or can just be something they are compelled to listen to.
At Wake The Bear, we strive to understand the mindset and functional stresses our clients are under at any given time. To them, it’s business results that matter, not marketing. Marketing is a means to those results, not an end goal on its own. Framing what we need to say within a business context is therefore critical for us and for our expertise to be heard.
2. Understand the context or environment that you wish your story to be heard in.
Whether that’s the need to capture someone’s attention in the first few seconds of a digital ad, stop them as they walk past your product on the shelf, or get an investor’s attention in a busy room full of other exciting, investment-ready businesses, you need to tailor what you say and how you say it to the situation in which you think it will be heard.
For us, we want to know where in their growth stage or financing cycle a founder is. The pressures and stakeholders in their ecosystem will differ accordingly, and so too must how we frame our story and prioritise it. A start-up may just want to hear options, but feel they have a safe pair of hands in us, while a scale-up may be confused by all the new options open to them and the influence of others now on their journey with them. We must adapt what we say and how we say it based on this.
3. Think about what kind of storyteller they will be receptive to.
How you frame yourself is massively important, as is whether that framing is genuine.
Branding experts will talk about different brand archetypes of how a brand shows up, but it’s also a clever way of just thinking about how you show up and to whom.
You may also need to adapt based on the different situations previously mentioned, even when speaking to the same person. The classic brand archetypes include titles like ‘The Ruler’ ‘Caregiver’ and ‘Creator’ who all provide structure through service, control or innovation. Or there is the ‘Everyman’, ‘Jester’ or ‘Lover’ who look to connect with others through either belonging, pleasure or intimacy. These are good, but for day-to-day conversations don’t overthink it. Just take a moment to consider what role you think you need to play to set yourself up as the storyteller you think your audience is most likely to be receptive to listening to.
4. Ensure you speak the same language as them.
Don’t get caught in the simple trap of speaking your own language and assume others can understand you. Many marketers especially fall foul of this, where they speak in marketing spin, dropping in acronyms, or equivocate around something. Likewise product people or engineers forget that the intended recipient might not also have a PhD in computer engineering. Don’t get lost in translation, or ignored as you’re not understood.
5. Make them part of the story.
The most engaging stories are those where the audience can see themselves playing a role as a leading character. It’s a powerful tool in business communications to help the listener visualise what you’re asking them to do, buy, offer or commit to. Forming deeper, personalised connections in the narrative can also help them feel invested, rallying behind whatever cause you want them to be part of.
While I promised not to illustrate my point with a convoluted story arc here, there is still a noticeable theme running through all this, and that is the need to put yourself in the shoes of the audience. Knowing what makes them tick is the key to creating a connection – you could have the most powerful message in the world but if the tone, time or environment is off, the opportunity will be wasted. Focusing on the set up and the delivery with as much emphasis as the message itself is key to gaining that vital traction.
