How to Tell Your Story

Turning strangers into friends and supporters through corporate story telling
Mark Cutshall

This article provided by the Engstrom Institute

I remember the day I met Billy Graham. I had volunteered for the Tacoma/Seattle Crusade, and before the first public meeting Graham's press secretary invited me over to meet the evangelist I had respected for years.

Mr. Graham looked right into my eyes, smiled and then reached out his hand and said, "Sit down Mark, I'd like to get to know you. Tell me, what do you do?"

How would you have answered that question—for both you and your organization?

Reaching new audiences and turning strangers into friends depends upon your ability to tell the one thing everyone wants to hear the story of how your organization is making a difference.

How do you tell your corporate story so clearly and convincingly that others will say, "I never knew that, please tell me more"?

The answer, I believe, is found in a few timeless principles that reveal the story only you can tell.

All you need is a pen, a yellow pad and a few quiet moments … .

Reflect on Your Founding Story

To get in touch with your corporate story, you first need to recall your past. Some years back I attended a seminar by Jay Carty on "How to Give Your Personal Testimony." For the first 10 minutes Jay was a one-man show spinning hilarious tales about his days as a third-string player with the Los Angeles Lakers. The jokes flowed effortlessly into a powerful account of how he met Jesus Christ.

Then Jay said, "I want you to turn to the person on your right and tell your faith story. You've got three minutes. Go!"

I was paralyzed. My mouth became dry. What story did I have to tell? After thinking out loud for a few minutes, I remembered a high school friend who told me about the Jesus I never knew. My memory came alive. In the simple act of remembering I found the words to my story—and discovered more about myself, my God, and the life-changing message I wanted to tell others.

Think back to your organization's beginnings. What are the stories that have been told to you? How did your organization get started? Who founded it, and why? What unmet need caused the organization to be born?

A great example of this came to me from Wayne Snell, a career missionary who served with his wife, Betty, in Peru for 45 years. While stationed on a warship in the Pacific, Wayne began corresponding with Cameron Townsend, a missionary in Guatemala. In a letter he told Wayne how he was touched and troubled one day when he tried to sell a Spanish Bible to a local peasant. He looked at Townsend and said, "If your God is so great, why can't he speak in my language?" The experience so moved Townsend that he started a fledgling ministry that eventually grew to become a worldwide ministry called Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Who is the Cameron Townsend in your organization? What was his or her founding vision that is still being lived out today?

Recall Stories of Changed Lives

Your organization's story, born out of personal reflection, comes to life as you recall specific examples of lives affected and changed by your group.

How does Norm Evans, president of Pro Athletes Outreach, consistently hit a home run with his audiences whenever he speaks about PAO's effectiveness to lead, train and encourage professional athletes and their families? Not by relying on pure facts and figures that show how the organization is growing. Rather, Norm tells stories of athletes and their spouses whose lives have been touched by PAO. Stories like the retired football player who almost drank himself to death until, through a carefully planned intervention that included the hugs of his little granddaughter, he chose to seek treatment. Today, he is a leading advocate in the fight against alcohol abuse.

Not all of Norm's stories have perfect endings. However, by the time his talk is over, the positive impact of Pro Athletes Outreach is undeniable, thanks to the stories of changed lives.

What Makes a Good Story?

Norm would be the first to admit that he's not a born communicator, but he is effective because he knows what makes an effective changed-life story.

He knows every good story needs to answer three questions: Who? What? How? Who is the person confronted with a real—and often urgent—need? What did he or she do—with the help of your organization—to overcome that need? How is he or she—and perhaps many others—different today as a result?

Here are three practical suggestions to help you get started finding those great stories:

1. If you're like a lot of people who find it easier to talk than write, ask a colleague to engage you in conversation. All they need to do is say, "Tell me what happened." Use a tape recorder, and don't worry about taking notes.
2. If you can't decide which stories are most important, imagine being invited to speak at a local civic or church group where you will have five minutes to talk about your organization. Which stories do you need to tell?
3. If you're stuck, think about the word gratefulness. Think of a person your organization has been able to help in the past three months. What makes you grateful for his or her life?

As the thoughts and words begin to come, so will the story. A good story touches your emotions. It gives you room to move around and find your own story.

If I wanted to merely inform you about New Hope Child and Family Agency, I could tell you they place 180 children and adoptive parents last year. But if I really wanted to see and feel the heart of New Hope's work, I would tell you the story of a couple who were unable to have children of their own.

For months they explored options with their case worker. Then they put their wishes and desires in a five-page letter to New Hope, which the agency in turn gave to a prospective birth mother. This young, pregnant girl read their letter and told the case worker, "These are the parents I want to raise my baby."

Because this was an open adoption, the couple met the birth mother. One week before the scheduled birth, they took her to lunch. Eight hours later the phone rang. It was the hospital: "The birth mom is in labor. You better come right away." Soon, the couple was walking down the hallway, and as they approached their birth mother's room, they stopped: it was the beautiful cry of a newborn baby.

I love telling this story, because the two people standing outside that door at 4:12 a.m., December 29, 1996, was my wife, Linda, and I. It's truly a story about hope, which is what all good stories, including yours, can give others.

Before you read on, take a moment to recall one or more changed-life stories that demonstrate how your organization is making a difference. Then share one of these stories at your next team meeting. That's when the greatest discovery of all can happen.

Tell Your Story to Those Who Need to Hear

In the waning days of his career, when he was past his prime, baseball great Joe DiMaggio still gave it his all. One day a teammate asked him, "Why do you continue to work so hard?" "Because," said DiMaggio, "there may be someone at the ballpark today who's never seen me play before."

Today, someone—perhaps a potential donor, prospective employee, potential board member, or unlikely volunteer—will hear about your organization for the first time. How will they view you? Will they decide to become involved? It all depends on how well you tell your story.

At CMA San Diego '97, I asked those in my corporate storytelling workshop to recall a specific changed-life story to share with the group. Susan Renault, with American Leprosy Missions, told the story of a four-year-old girl with leprosy who had been left for dead in a cave. Brought to the doctors at ALM, she received several operations and gradually grew strong. She eventually married and had a child.

At this point, Susan said, "Now, here's the rest of the story I never realized until I took the time to reflect in this workshop. Today that young woman and her husband are serving in the same leper community—reaching out to others with the same compassion and love they had received.

Susan didn't see the whole story she needed to tell until she took time to reflect and write down the words. This is, perhaps, the greatest ah-ha! principle of corporate storytelling:

In the decision to tell our story, we find the words that speak so powerfully to others and ourselves.

I discovered this for myself a few years ago one nervous afternoon in Beijing, China, when I was riding on a small tour bus returning from the Great Wall. A few minutes short of my hotel stop I overheard the tour guide, a bright, articulate, young Chinese man, talking about religion to one of the American passengers. "I guess there are some who think there's a God," he said. "Myself, I'm an atheist."

In less than a minute the bus would arrive at my hotel and I would say good-bye to my tour guide forever. Sometimes you have only one chance to tell your best story. I turned around and said to the guide, "Here's a riddle for you: Only one former world leader has an empty tomb. Do you know who?"

The guide was baffled. "No, who?" he asked.
"Jesus Christ. His resurrection is a historical fact recorded in the Bible."
"I've heard about the Bible," he said, "but I've never seen one."
"Would you like to have a Bible?" I asked. He said "yes," so I made sure my client, The Bible League, sent him a Chinese Bible, along with a personal note I sent along.

I thought I had closed the cover on this brief encounter—until two years later, I received a letter that said, "Dear Sir, I am the man who gave you the tour in Beijing. It is you who told me which chapter to read in the Bible. I should like once again to thank you for introducing me to God. God bless you this Christmas."

Why do you need to know your story and tell it to the world? Because it can change someone's life.

After all, an irresistible story does what even the most inspiring mission statement, impressive charts and graphs can never do. It can touch the hearts of people who find themselves leaning forward saying, "I never knew that, please tell me more."

Adapted from an article in Christian Management Report Nov/Dec 1997

Mark Cutshall is a corporate storyteller with 30 years of experience of helping leaders and organizations translate their irresistible message into life-changing results. Based in Seattle, he runs the world's smallest public relations agency. Reach him at mcutsh@aol.com.