A to Z of Business Storytelling -02

B = Brevity

In organizations, a leader may come across different types of meetings with the stakeholders. Some of them are:-

• Customer meetings
• Team meetings
• Review meetings
• Town-hall meetings

All these meetings have a clear agenda and an expected outcome. The timeslots are generally well defined. In this context, just because a leader wants to try storytelling he/she may have the luxury of taking more time. If they attempt to tell a lengthy story, the very purpose would be defeated and even would become counter productive. Hence a leader, whether a CEO, Head of Department, Program Manager or Project Manager should strictly adhere to the given time.

This aspect in storytelling is known as brevity. The dictionary meaning of brevity is shortness or conciseness of expression. Brevity is more relevant in business storytelling compared to personal storytelling or motivational storytelling.

How can one hone the skill of keeping brevity in business storytelling? Here are few tips.

• Going through your stories file and choosing the right story for the occasion.
• Scripting the story in your own words in paper or desktop.
• After coming out with the basic draft, trimming the same by excluding unwanted paras, sentences, word, descriptions and dialogues.
• Condensing and expanding a given story is an art. People who were comfortable in ‘precis writing’ in school days may find this easy. Others can go back to the basics by learning the art of precis writing.

When the same story is told in less words, the message becomes more powerful. The listeners can easily remember it for ever. As a leader if you want your stakeholders to remember your message and take appropriate action, never compromise on brevity, because brevity is the soul of wit.

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