Most people are not interested in your stories until they produce undeniable results.
Forget about telling all the stories with no direction or results and waiting for empathic or better still sympathetic answers.
The people especially the highly educated ones, who would listen to your stories most times, especially for human challenges, do it from a rational perspective and not from an empathic perspective. Emotional perspective is also the lens that is borrowed most times by the ignorant but all human can be emotional as well, when applied accordingly in the right sphere.
The question most times is, "what is in there for me with these stories?". That is why you lose some people, in 10 minutes of your storytelling and to some, that are less patient, 5 minutes and then to the top cadre guys with no time, you can lose them in 1 or 2 minutes with your stories with no direction, goal or results.
Focus using that energy that would have been used for the stories with no evidence of results and channel it to ensuring that goal is surely reached with success. I have learnt 4 things in this regard:
1. People listen better when there is a short recap of the results at the beginning of your story. They want to know how you achieve it and to learn and see how it can be replicated for them.
2. Nodding or occasional confirmation (e.g. words like "ok", "oh, I see") when telling a story with no result or direction is not a proof of active listening from the receiver in some cases. Sometimes, people are only indulging you, hoping that you would understand and cut it short for them to do other things.
3. Most C-executives, have a short fuse for story telling with no direction/results. Run the numbers and explain how in a concise manner.
4. It is okay to have stories even when there are no results or direction, but incubate them for the right time, right scenario and right audience.
Have you encountered any of these tips? What are thoughts? Please share.
