It’s a fact. Leaders who tell short stories are more persuasive when they give speeches or presentations.

It’s not enough to have strong messages, passion, focus, character and conviction…Great leaders tend to have one more trait in common – most use stories to capture the hearts and minds of their audiences.

An Anecdote Example and Why It’s So Effective

I was at an international marketing conference in the mid 90s when Rich Teerlink, the then CEO of Harley Davison, made the keynote speech.

Leaving aside his dramatic entrance to the stage on a huge Harley, I was struck by a story he told about the importance of giving people hope and caring about customers; Each of which acted as a preface to creating the now famous ‘Harleys Owners Groups’ (HOG) idea and turning around the fortunes of a celebrated brand.

Having been appointed Chief Executive in the 80s to a business that was haemorrhaging market share to Japanese competitors and had products with a reputation for technical problems, he knew that they needed to institute change.

But before he could tackle what they were offering their customers, he needed to make it financially possible for the company to continue trading.

The problem was that Harley-Davidson was carrying enormous debts and crippling interest costs and it was touch and go whether they could function much longer.

So he called his bankers in for a meeting and asked them to assess the situation. They duly described just how bleak things were, while at the same time congratulating themselves they were still supporting the company with any lending at all.

At this point Richard called a halt and this is roughly what he said happened next.

“So let me get this straight. We owe you a pile of money and you’re charging us over 20% interest on what we owe you – is that right?”

The bankers agreed it was.

“Well gentlemen, I’m from Philli & where I come from that level of interest could be called ‘juice’! Now let’s have a conversation about how we can actually ‘work together’ and make things happen again – otherwise we’ll both lose out.”

His point was that his company and his bankers needed to move away from a one sided relationships and work in more of a partnership, just as Harley-Davidson needed to get re-connected with its target audiences and employees.

Why Funny Anecdotes About Life Can Inspire Your Audiences

#1 Stories Can Tap Into Your Emotions

Have you ever noticed what happens when we listen to a well told story?

Chances are, whatever else may be going on in your life, time is temporarily suspended as you find yourself drawn into the world of a storyteller. We begin to visualize what is happening to the characters and feel what they feeling as the story unfolds.

In essence, we embark on a journey – a journey that taps into our emotions. And this is incredibly powerful.

By learning to mesh stories with your visions of how things could be (as the late Steve Jobs did repeatedly), you will discover that stories have the capacity to capture your audiences’ imaginations – helping them to visualize how we they might feel if they go down a particular path.

Remember this: people are more likely to buy ideas if they FEEL what you suggest will make them better off that they are today and desire this. If they don’t feel anything, they probably won’t act at all.

Don’t get me wrong – logical arguments are also vitally important in encouraging us to make decisions, but they’re usually not enough.

We also tend to need emotional triggers to compel us into action.

Enter stories.

#2 Story Examples are Memorable

In every culture you’ll find people are attuned to telling each other stories – whether it be to family members, friends or colleagues. And most of us both enjoy telling stories and hearing them – even if some of these may have been shared for the umpteenth time.

They are part of our consciousness, how we have shared information with each other since forever and interactive.

But stories are more than that. They pique our senses and make us feel things. And they tend to be more memorable than other information we share.

Taking the story I shared with you today, I heard that 17 years ago and yet I still remember almost all of it. Contrast that with the most recent Power Point presentation you’ve seen – how many headlines do you remember from that experience?

Most people would admit that the answer for the latter is likely to be precious little.

As a speaker, it’s important that you work on being memorable.

After all, if your audience doesn’t remember what you say; how likely is it that they’ll do anything about your ideas? Not very – right?

#3 One more thing when inspiring others through stories

Make sure your stories complement and support the points you want to make.

There’s nothing worse than an audience going home and remembering your story but not getting what they were supposed to do afterwards, having heard it!

What are the most memorable stories you’ve heard in a speech?  

What impact did these stories have on you?