A to Z of Business Storytelling -19
Specificity
In organizations, many times we have seen people being very generic while responding to any questions or ideas. Some of the typical responses which we have heard so far are as follows:-
“We have to improve productivity by all means”
“We’ll complete this phase of the project at the earliest and respond you as soon it is complete.”
“This kind of breach is happening in many organizations. Let us avoid them.”
Imagine what would be the reaction of the recipients of the above messages. No doubt, that they would simply been annoyed. Sometimes these kind of statements are called as motherhood statements which would be a vague, feel-good platitude, especially one made by a politician, that few people would be able to disagree with. In the name of being diplomatic, leaders make such vague statements quite often.
Diplomatic statements are harmless, but they don’t take us anywhere. If people need direction, specific call for action, the narrative should be specific. Specificity is what distinguishes poor from good from brilliant speech.
Imagine that the following narrative is used by a leader when he is trying to attempt a business storytelling.
“In my past organization, I had a colleague, who was very punctual. Whether it is coming to office or attending an event, he never missed to be in time. One day, when he was late to the office, he decided to apply for leave and then went home.”
The above is a classic example of a generic narrative. Now let us try to bring in specificity in to the above narrative.
“While I was working for State Bank of India at Kochi, we had a colleague by name Mathew. Mathew was a above fifty, but quite active. He used to ride bicycle always that kept him as fit a fiddle. He was always punctual. If the bank starts at 9 am, he’ll be in bank by 8.30 everyday. If he has to attend a conference that starts at 8 am, then he’ll be there in the venue by 7.30 am. One day he was late to the bank by 10 minutes due to traffic diversion. Instead of being late to the bank, he applied leave and went home. The moment I think of the term punctuality or time management, I immediately think of Mathew.”
How is this approach by giving more specific details in your narrative? We are telling the audience where this story is happening i.e Kochi. What is the advantage of it? Amongst the audience, some people might have had some acquittance with Kochi, then he/she can immediately connect with the story and would be eager to listen to the entire story. We are also sharing the name of the person as Mathew instead of saying one of my ex-colleagues. Again, the audience would be able to imagine, how the character would look like as they would have already have a similar person by this name in their life. We are also strengthening the character for his punctuality by giving few specific examples. Most of the seasoned writers use specific things in their writings to give vivid descriptions.
Word of Caution
Sometime, while sharing corporate stories, some of them may have confidential or sensitive information. Sharing all the details may not be appropriate. For example, you may not like to quote the name of the person. Then, change the name of character as you wish. This is better than being generic. None from the audience would come to know that you have taken the liberty to change the name and question you in case if they figure it out.
Be conscious of the time. If the time given to you as a business storyteller is limited, then do not try to be too specific and exceed the given time in that process. In that case, being generic is fine since respecting the audience's time is vital.
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