Boring Case Study or Engaging Case Story?

I go to a wonderful thing organised by Steve Chapman www.canscorpionssmoke.co.uk called the Lab, which let’s entrepreneurs experiment with new ideas for exercises.

In March I ran a storytelling exercise called

Points of View where, in groups of 4, one person told a true story about a time they were inspired and the others were invited to repeat it but through a different storytelling filter: as a fairytale, a case study, a story that emphasised the less important bits and de-emphasised the important bits and a story from a totally different perspective (so not from the protagonists point of view). It was fascinating. The storytellers heard their stories from different people and different perspectives which enlightened them on ways to change and enhance their story, and it stretched the participants who had to listen to the story and then ‘mould’ it to their brief. What was intriguing was that in the case study, participants felt that had to be boring, ‘salesy’, take out all the colour. We all respond to stories, it is hardwired into us, and business stories should be no different.