A Surprising Lesson from Downton Abbey

 

From the very first episode, I was hooked.

I loved the sets, the costumes and the characters. It made me laugh out loud, it even made me cry. I remember when I got hold of the entire first series on a disc. I sat down one evening to watch a single episode, it was already late and I had a some meetings the following day, but I reckoned one episode would do no harm. Five hours later, and 3 in the morning, I dragged myself from the couch and reluctantly when to bed. I was totally hooked. The following few nights, despite myself, I worked through the rest of the first series and then the second and third.  I just loved it!

And I wondered what was the magic.

Now, like I mentioned already, it’s a very high quality production. And the characters really are well developed. But in truth it’s more than that.

You see we love to get drawn into an imaginary world, we love to get emotionally moved and involved with a fictional existence. It’s human nature. In truth we just love to feel and whether it’s fiction or fact, we crave those emotions, we are reminded of how we feel about places and people. These emotions bring us home to ourselves, actually the story brings us home.

And why is this important for our business?

Well, if your business tells a good story and you learn to use great stories, then you too can get your clients hooked; remind them of the places, people and things that are important in their lives, you get to bring them home.

You see, the job of the storyteller is to take your listener on a great story, an adventure to a faraway place, where anything can happen, where there is great possibility. And the more important job of the storyteller is to bring them home safely.

Here’s what happens when you use storytelling in your business.

When you talk about what you do, you create amazing possibility about the impact of your work (program or service). You describe a world where your client can have exactly what they want (could be happiness, great relationships, end of pain…you fill in the blank). When you tell a good story, that world feels possible.

And then you get to bring them home safely. That means that you describe the story of where they are now and how they can begin the journey (hopefully with you) to achieving all they want to achieve. They get to be ‘at home’ in the reality of their situation, but inspired to take the journey to their desires.

It’s incredibly powerful. When you tell a powerful story, your client will be magnetized. And they’ll be hooked.

So, think about it. Are you telling a story in your business?

What magic can you create as you describe how you can support your client.

Where do you need a more powerful story?

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And I’m off to watch an episode of Downton Abbey... just one!

Lisa Bloom, founder of Story Coach, supports organizations, entrepreneurs & coaches to use storytelling as a powerful approach to impact their clients and grow their business. She is a professional Storyteller & Speaker, accredited Coach, Author, Mentor and Leadership expert. Lisa is the author of the Amazon best-seller "Cinderella and the Coach-the Power of Storytelling for Coaching Success!" and the creator of the Business Story Mastery & Certified Story Coach Programs. She is delighted to offer you the FREE ebook "Using Stories to Get Great Clients" at http://www.story-coach.com