One-Way Versus Two-Way Storytelling
Evolving keynotes from one-way pitch to two-way conversation.
Last Friday I was in a Teams call with a group of executives, their support staff, and the event coordinators preparing for a kickoff keynote. As the host/emcee for this upcoming conference, they wanted my impressions and input on their content. They know me, they know my passion for great story that creates inspiration and transformation, and they were excited to share what they'd created. And share they did – nonstop, no pause, one-way, from the first word to the last.
One-way storytelling is when the speaker (or team lead or boss or salesperson) conveys information or narrative to their audience with little or no interaction of any kind. They talk, we listen, that's the “story”. And it's a very rare storyteller who can make that one-way flow work, or hold that listener's attention long enough or strong enough to create a successful solo engagement. Those executives had a lot of work to do in order to evolve their keynote from a one-way pitch into a two-way conversation.
Draw the listener into personal participation
Two-way storytelling is interactive and inclusive, encouraging – even demanding – that the audience play an invested role in the speaker's content. That active investment can be verbal, physical, emotional, challenged, even confrontational; anything that draws the listener into personal participation in the narrative increases the power and punch of that message, influencing the odds of great delivery and lasting retention.
One-way communication says, “Here's what I want to tell you.” Two-way communication says, “My story is actually your story, so lean in and join me.”
How do you like your mother-in-law?
I shared a story of my own with our executives in that session, one I'd heard back in 2012 on a speaking trip in India. A Bangladeshi university student opened her master's thesis jury with this question to her examiners: “How do you like your mother-in-law?” Imagine the reaction. Where every other student defending their capstone project came out of the gate with a studied thesis statement followed by supporting one-way information, this student was deliberate and determined to involve her jury in a two-way challenge that surprised, provoked, and instantly captured attention.
Strong #CorporateStorytelling requires that we speak for the benefit of others rather than the benefit of ourselves. Memorable, value-driven content puts the needs of our audience above the needs of our own egos and self-important goals. It creates universality, a shared human experience that actually shares rather than simply pontificates. The more our audience recognizes themselves in our content, the more they want to be a part of it, and the more active they'll become in realizing value from our two-way interaction.
Ask for input and investment
National Institutes of Health places a heavy focus on asking questions to enhance any conversational opportunity. Questions open lines of communication, give us information, facilitate analysis and diagnostics of a situation, help us understand the priorities of others, stimulate motivation to learn, and motivate creativity and research. A keynote without questions will always underperform and exclude. A team meeting led without questions shows a lack of curiosity and care for those team's members.
A recent Harvard University study proved that while students believe they learn more from traditional lectures, they actually learn far more when actively participating in class activities. Correlate that false perspective with the average keynote speaker, certain their audience will be best served by a one-way lecture with minimal if any audience engagement.
Want to fully engage, excite, and involve your listeners in your story? Ask for their input and investment as you tell it. Turn a one-way stream of forgettable data into a two-way blue sky of memorable motivation.
Bottom Line
You don't have to open by asking people about their mothers-in-law. But try asking about their personal experiences with the process or method you're sharing. Or their obstacles and stresses you're on stage to eliminate for them. Ask, “Is this a concept you're familiar with?” or “How many of you are struggling with this exact issue right now?” and watch the heads nod or shake. Get your audience to stand and face away from your slide as they process your your next big idea, making them hear it rather than read it off the screen. Direct your team to find a piece of lint in their pockets and study its fabric complexity as a metaphor for the interwoven fabric you all create for your company – and how rarely that fabric’s value is noticed or appreciated.
If someone is talking at you, leap in and break up their lecture with your own questions and challenges. If you're talking at others, pause the firehose of information to include them in your narrative. Constantly seek ways to turn every one-way interaction into two-way participation.
