Full Stack Recruiter:
The Ultimate Edition

The Power and Importance of Storytelling

Since the beginning of time, we’ve told stories to share our ideas, events, and knowledge. Storytelling is one of the oldest ways to bring people together. Back in the days when there was no TV, internet or other perks specific to our modern society, people used to gather to tell stories of what they saw, heard or experienced. Every culture has used stories as a means to connect, inform, and entertain.

Things haven’t changed much; we still enjoy listening to a good story, and this fact helps when looking to retain talent and hire the people you want in your company. For any company brand, storytelling is the most authentic and relevant way to communicate who you are and what you offer.

The job advertisements that you are creating are small stories that you are sharing with potential candidates. A story can inspire you and make you excited about things you’ve never been excited about before. Using storytelling methods can turn your boring ads into ads that will be tempting to candidates and make them excited about learning more.

Storytelling skills also give recruiters the ability to effectively capture the attention of candidates and sell the opportunity they are offering to them. The best storytellers have an unfair competitive advantage because they are going to recruit much better than others.

Storytelling

Who doesn’t enjoy a good story? We all enjoy most of the stories we hear. That’s why you should focus on improving your storytelling skills.

Stories help people remember things more naturally. So, if you want to make an impact and make sure that a person retains as much as possible of the information you are providing, then a story is the best way to do it. Statistics show that a story helps people to remember more.

In 1969, Stanford professors carried out a series of tests. Students were asked to memorize and recall ten sets of unrelated words. One group retrieved the words in any order they wanted, while the second group constructed a story that contained all the words. When both groups were asked to recall the words, the students who created stories were able to remember six to seven times more words than the first group.

Besides this, people tend to make a connection between the person and what they hear in the story, which can turn the content into a more personal experience. It is easy to understand that graphs and numbers won’t trigger the same results.

A good story, on the other hand, will provoke their thinking process, will stir their interest, and, above all, it will make them care about what they are hearing. Thus, storytelling can be an easy and powerful way to create new connections with people and attract them to your company.

How Can You Create a Good Story?

Good stories can’t be found just anywhere. You need to keep particular aspects in mind if you want to ensure that your audience will be captivated. After all, you want to transmit information but not in a dull and uninteresting manner. Believe it or not, even if you mix statistics with a story, most people will manage to remember those numbers.

Another thing you need to remember about storytelling is the importance of having a clear structure for the story in your mind. Forget about ambiguous and foggy beginnings as they will turn off the interest of whoever may be listening to your story. Instead, try to find that one thing that will make the story exciting and reach for it right from the start. If you do so, you will certainly notice that the attention of the person in front of you will shift immediately.

Every time I speak about storytelling, I like to use the example of SpaceX and Tesla. They are both successful companies, and one of the reasons for that is the compelling story behind them. We have all heard how Tesla and SpaceX sent a Tesla Roadster car and mannequin called Starman into space, and we’ve all heard stories about Elon and his plans. A good story will connect and emotionally engage people with any brand. Moreover, it also has the power to continue to be responsive to their changing awareness, interests, and needs over time.