Relationship Building | Part 2: Creative Communication Through Effective Storytelling
Skilled and meaningful leadership draws upon relationships to help shape professional development expertise. Last month, techniques to promote leadership skills through active and engaged listening were presented. In Part 2 of the Spotlight’s relationship building series, another core competency – communication – is discussed. This month, strategies to encourage research administration leaders as they build and refine their communication skills are explored.
Consider giving more than a perspective or a directive; share a story.
Communication is not a transactional activity. Rather, it serves as a means for individuals to share who they are, intentionally or not. A primary way people make meaning through communication is by storytelling to illustrate a point, share about themselves, and present a lesson learned. Meaningful storytelling helps create, build, and sustain relationships.
What are the components of storytelling? The act of telling a story involves the storyteller, the listener, and the people who are in the role of the characters in the story. Stories can serve to create agency for the storyteller and listener often in times of disconnection and discontent. Stories have the power to synchronize brain activity between individuals, according to Rodolfo Maggio in the Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology. Coupled brain activity reveals a deep connection between individuals, therefore expanding and strengthening their relationship. A compelling story can change minds, motivate action, and establish space for individuals to be open with each other.
There is, however, a difference between being a storyteller or an individual who is considered a cringe-inducing oversharer. Being an oversharer can isolate individuals and hurt the potential for personal connection. It is critical that stories selected for any given moment have relevance, reveal character evolution, and establish inclusion with the listener. Oversharing comes with the risk of making others uncomfortable and focuses attention on the storyteller at the exclusion of the listener. It is critical to always keep in mind why the story is essential and who is meant to hear it.
Here are some tips to start your story:
- Understand and engage with your experiences: Actively reflect on your experiences personally and professionally, not just to mine your past for anecdotes but to actively reflect on your journey to the present and the insights from your life that you can share with others.
- Determine the message: Know what your central point or plot is while developing a story. It helps to write it down and keep it nearby as you work on a story and compare it to your story building, so you do not lose your purpose.
- Create a journey: Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird, states that the formula for a compelling story is a setup, a build, and a payoff to create tension, denote challenges, and create empathy with the audience so they want to learn more and suddenly, you are on this journey together.
Read more to write and tell a better story: Reading exposes you to new ideas, viewpoints, vocabulary, and themes. Authors go through so much work and process to reach the publication stage. Through this process, their writing serves as a lesson for how to craft a story, the details to linger on or speed through, and the variety of ways in which to share a message. Pick up that true crime thriller, historical fiction, or adventure novel. Learn how to make mystical sourdough with Robin Sloan, incite joy with Ross Gay, and dare greatly with Brene Brown. The greater variety of storytelling you consume, the more opportunity you give yourself to see your own story and to share it with others.
Authored by Hanna Bates, Research Administrator III
Iowa State University
SRAI Catalyst Committee Member
#Catalyst
#September2024
#Spotlight
#ProfessionalDevelopment
#ManagementandOperations
#Featured