Remember Joe the Plumber?  Of course you do.  He became one of the stars of the 2008 presidential election, a living symbol of the issues that divided Republicans and Democrats. Joe the Plumber was a classic example of using storytelling to liven up otherwise unlively information.  That’s because storytelling is a great tool, and it’s something that should be part of every one of your events.

Why?  Simple—people love hearing about other people.  And whether you use storytelling to illustrate a theme, support change or inspire performance, it’s arguably the best way to hold an audience’s attention while you make your point.

We hit on the idea of storytelling briefly in my last blog post, when I wrote about using the personal photos of leaders to build content at your January Leadership Conference.  Collecting photos and inviting people to talk about what’s in those photos is a fantastic way to incorporate the power of storytelling into your key messages.  You have words AND pictures.  But there are other ways to go about it as well.  Here are just a few ideas:

 1- Solicit!  Your audience at any event is a library full of stories waiting to be told.  Before, or even during an event, ask who has a great personal story that can support an idea you’re presenting.  Then incorporate that story into your presentation, or better yet, ask the owner of the story to tell it.  Your January Leadership Conference is a great place to collect and solicit stories you can use throughout the year and at your national convention.  Don’t miss the opportunity!

 2- Search!  What’s your topic? What words or terms might be related to your topic?  Use Google or any other search engine to uncover news, anecdotes, videos and more things that will add variety and human interest to your presentation.  Or go to the creative commons section of Flickr.com or other photo websites to find images that can help turn your words into pictures.

 3- Reflect!  What about your own stories?  What moment happened in your own personal life or career could carry your message forward?  The memory doesn’t even have to relate directly to your topic, as long as it helps you transition to it.   

 I’ll leave you with two great websites that are excellent storytelling resources.  Check out www.StoryCorps.org and www.TheMoth.org.  They’re both full of great stories from everyday people.  And if you still doubt the power of storytelling to add power to your event, check this out– The Moth website even has its own Corporate Training & Events page at www.themoth.org/corporate.

Writer/Events Producer Dick Wilson has been adding creative touches– like storytelling– to direct sales meetings for over 20 years.  Learn more how Dick can help you at http://luceandassociates.com/Dick-Wilson.html.