“In many shamanic societies, if you came to a shaman or medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of three questions.
When did you stop dancing?
When did you stop singing?
When did you stop being enchanted by stories?”
Humans have been telling stories for as long as we can remember, probably before we even started speaking. It was the stories of wandering dervishes and Sufi saints that helped us evolve and broadened our horizons. Stories cross the barriers of time, space and culture keeping the spirit of wonder alive within us and giving us the reaffirmation of being human. Stories make our imaginations come alive and help us live them in the most fascinating of ways.
Another empowering function that stories enable us with, is building perspective and a new perspective that storytelling can be viewed in, is the essential role it plays in corporate communications. Company vision and missions have a wider reach and engaging appeal when an interesting story is weaved around them. Every company has a history, an individual with a great idea, a mission or purpose; the challenges, hardships and success stories along the way. The key to building a corporate story is to present those facts in a way that it feels like an emerging from an engaging book or movie.Corporate storytelling means taking the stats and facts of textbook business communication and weaving them together with a relatable narrative that contextualizes the events and gives meaning to the company mission. In short: The perfect mix of fact and some good old Bollywood Drama…
Corporate storytelling is not only a necessary strategy for marketing yourself to potential customers, but also the best way to gain the attention of investors, make partnerships, and establish yourself in the industry. On top of that, storytelling is an excellent way to bring onboard new employees who care deeply about your company’s products and mission.
At Taal Inc. we regularly use storytelling as one of the primary tools in our Drum Talks Corporate Training sessions to infuse creativity and imagination in an employee’s thought process so they can understand the company’s purpose and story in a deeper way and communicate the same by adding their two cents.
I remember as a kid when people asked me what I wanted to become I never had the same answer. I wanted to be a scientist someday and a circus artist the next day, always wanting to live many identities. As I grew up, I had to stick to a more secure lifestyle but in my heart, I always remained that child who found a way to live all those characters through stories. In my stories, I could be anyone, without the real-life responsibilities of it. They gave wings to my imagination and helped me express feelings I could never have otherwise.
On the other hand, in our lives, we play many roles, live many identities but they come with their limitations and boundaries. If only we could change our perspective and imagine our lives as a story of a great adventure, being narrated by a grandmother to a 3-year-old. Imagine the wonderful possibilities of all you could be, besides being the hero of your own story of course. Perhaps the best thing that stories do is, they give us hope that in the end, everything is going to be alright. A happy ending!
Until We Meet Again:
-Aman Joshi
Taal Inc. Drum Circle Facilitator.
Aman Joshi is a drum circle facilitator with Taal Inc., a travel experience curator/facilitator, an avid traveler, cinema enthusiast, and a foodie. Read more about him Click Here