Do you recruit good public speakers?

Are you thinking – 

What’s in it for me? 

Wheres the profit in this?

The bottom line for a business is profit. For generations, employers regarded qualifications as the peak of the employee’s mountain of attributes. The more qualified your team is, the more profit you can generate.

In today’s world, there has been a shift. It is now the employee’s skill set that brings in the big bucks. Qualifications are still deemed important, as they show a level of knowledge in a specific sector. But in a world where all industries are using robotics, artificial intelligence and automated systems, it is the skill set that is king.

And the king of the skillset is ….the ability to speak with confidence to shareholders, investors, stakeholders and customers. More importantly, it’s the ability to tell stories.

Storytelling is the new in-demand job, with organizations like Microsoft showcasing how storytelling is the new commutation tool

Why do companies like Microsoft hire storytellers?

Public speaking is the most sort after skill in 2020. More specifically the skill to share ideas through storytelling.

This essential skill, for many organizations, is an income generator.  Microsoft use storytellers to help the world understand who Microsoft is and the impact it’s technology and people have on the world. Source: Steve Clayton

Its not just in the tech industries. Presenting research papers using storytelling can give you the edge over a competitive scientist during the high pressured funding process. Being successful here can result in a million(s) of grant funding.

Telling stories to stakeholders

Large organizations are accountable to shareholders.  In today’s world, people invest not just to make money but to make a difference. Being able to communicate the organizations values, vision and mission as a story can lead to an increase company shares being bought

Imagine an engineering company has won a contract to build a new engine that allows a car to go faster while using less fuel. This is great news! To increase share prices a spoke person at a press conference explains “we have built a car with a new engine that will save the consumer fuel cost” – who wouldn’t buy into this? I imagine hundreds and thousands of customers now considering this new engine.

But at the same time, many environmentally friendly people would protest at yet another car polluting the planet, putting potential investors off. 

A storyteller will first think about the message they want to share, a storyteller can frame the story showcasing the value of their product, the value to the customers and stakeholders.

A story helps sell the product while at the same time finding solutions to stakeholder problems. To gain support from the environment supporters, while increasing sales, a story can be framed to find multiple solutions. “we set out to design an engine that will decrease immissions by 35% making this the greenest car on the market. Our engine will take to on the same journey while only using half the fuel of a standard car”

These two examples show you how powerful communication really is in today’s workplace. A story is more relatable, comes across more honest and has an emotional pull.

Employers like Microsoft understand the power of storytellers and storytelling. To stay competitive you will need to teach your team public speaking skills, storytelling techniques and the ability to share your message to the world

Author – Chris Delaney Confidence Coach