Storytelling Delivers Hope
Your story has the power to uplift or even save others from drowning – assure it does exactly that.
In 1957, Johns Hopkins professor Curt Richter performed a series of gruesome experiments using a combination of domestic and wild rats and jars half-filled with water. He placed a dozen domesticated rats into the jars and measured the amount of time they struggled before drowning. The first three rats went under in two minutes, while the other nine rats swam for hours and even days before succumbing to their fates.
Then it was time to test the wild rats, renowned for their swimming ability. Within minutes of entering the water, all 34 died. According to Richter, “The situation scarcely seems one demanding fight or flight—it is rather one of hopelessness. In a situation against which they have no defense, even the fiercest rats give up.”
Richter then tweaked his experiment with similar rats, but just before they were about to die, he plucked them from the water, held them a little while, then put them back in to try again. After a few repeats of this process, the rats quickly learned that they weren't doomed after all, and that there might be a helping hand at the ready, which gave them a reason to keep swimming.
Despite the macabre academia, there was remarkable #CorporateStorytelling in Curt Richter's experiments. While rats and humans are hardly the same, our need to experience the hope of a helping hand and a reason to keep swimming are quite alike. According to the World of Work Project, "Where individuals have hope, they have higher levels of perseverance. They will keep fighting when they feel there is a chance of success or rescue. When they don’t have hope, they won’t."
Public speaking and team leadership are at their best when they deliver real hope to their audiences. This is the prime directive for any successful communicator: To share a meaningful, compelling story of hope.
Pedagogical psychology proves people remain resilient and strive for improvement despite odds or challenges when they're rescued from hopeless situations. When taught to surmount obstacles, feel others are there to help them, and believe the future will indeed be a better place than the present, we keep up the fight.
A winning speaker uses hopeful storytelling to create powerful impact for others, showing how they can improve their lives and work realities. For our organizations, Richter's research suggests that our teams will fight harder and swim faster with motivational hope. When hope is withheld or neglected, our people stop fighting for us and themselves.
This aligns with Vroom's 1964 Expectancy Theory of Motivation which suggests that individuals work harder when they know their extra performance will be recognized and rewarded. The hope for more compensation, respect, or pride in payment for greater effort keeps many workers afloat.
Bottom Line
Consider how your #CorporateStorytelling either keeps your audience swimming or leaves them to flounder. Where are you providing hope and where are you leaving it out? Your audience wants to strive for a brighter tomorrow – your story helps them fight on.
