Since the dawn of humankind, people have been telling stories. Stories provided for the preservation of traditions, myths, religions, histories, and even instructions. Storytelling is an integral part of our everyday life. Our children learn from the stories we read them at night. So why don’t we use storytelling to communicate at work? Alfredo Castro, the president of MOT Training and Development is trying to rectify that situation. Alfredo’s 2018 SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition topic is Strategic Storytelling: How Storyfication Can Impact Talent Development.
Alfredo Castro
Alfredo is a very well-traveled, multi-lingual, global storyteller. Initially, as a 27-year-old engineer from Brazil, Alfredo travel to England to work on an ISO 9000 project. He discovered that ISO 9000 was easier to teach people by crafting a story to explain the concept. That launched him into the storytelling business and today his training company helps companies teach leadership, sales, and customer service skills through the process of “storyfication”, that is teaching people to tell stories. Alfredo has discovered that this process is very effective in crossing generational boundaries and cultural boundaries.
Emotion in storytelling
Alfredo told me that emotion in storytelling is vital. In business, we tend to focus on facts and numbers. To make an impression those facts and numbers need to be blended with emotion. As Alfredo says “Facts tell, stories sell.” Alfredo has found this to be true regardless of the culture of the business. In his presentation, he will explain to us how we can apply “storyification” in our business situations. He will talk about the elements of a story, the what, the why, the how, and the who.
Things you will get answered
Alfredo promises that in his session he will answer these following questions:
- What is your motivation to learn about storytelling?
- How can you improve your storytelling skills to engage people at work?
- Do you remember a real story from work that allowed you to connect reason and emotion?
- Have you ever experienced a situation in which you gave a list of tasks to a colleague, only to find at the end that he had failed to do the job properly?
- In your opinion, how can we use an effective form of storytelling in the corporate world?
He will tell us how we can impact talent development, leadership education and mentoring to bridge the generation gaps in our businesses.
His session is being held on Monday, June 18 at 2:00 PM, so get this one on your calendar. Come learn how to weave a story to get results. I will also be in this session, as I am a big believer in the power of storytelling, so be sure to say hello. Storytelling is one of those human factors that automation has not yet mastered, so this may be a great skill to have in order to keep your job in the future.
Alfredo Castro is the President of MOT, a consulting company based in Miami, Lisbon (Portugal) and São Paulo,(Brazil). Chairman of the ASTD Advisory Board in 2010 (ICE Chicago). Technical Director for ABTD (the Brazilian T&D Association). Author of 10 business books. Co-author of ASTD Sales Management Handbook and ASTD Management Handbook. International business consultant experience in implementing blended learning programs and human resources projects, in more than 120 companies, and in 25 countries.
Originally published on Omega HR Solutions blog.
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