A SUPERsized thank you to Amber and John for taking the time to give us a sneak peek at what’s to come!

Interview by Amber Christian, Founder – ConsultAce

We all want to be captivated – whisked away from the boring drudgery of the same old, same old monotony. Same old approaches that aren’t working like we wish they would. Same old communication styles producing unwanted and often frustrating results. “Why does it have to be so hard?” we say inside our heads. And the short answer?  It doesn’t! In this week’s interview, we feature John Geraci, a SEE Event speaker from CISQUARED on the power of storytelling to improve communication:

Weave for us the story of your transformational journey or “aha” moment that led to the start of CISQUARED?

Christine and I met at a seminar in NYC. I found out that she had tried out for the US National women’s field hockey team two occasions and I was coaching a high school girl’s lacrosse team – we connected over our love of sports. This led to a discussion on coaching, leadership, motivation and how we both believed that communication was a key driver in success. While working on a joint project, we realized that the world of work was changing. There were more interruptions, a faster pace of shifting priorities and a lot of miscommunication. During a fairly unproductive conversation of conflict between Chris & myself, it hit us that this must be happening to everyone! Could we understand why and help people? With our complimentary yet differing backgrounds in psychology and business, could we come up with some innovation to help? This led to 3 years of studying the latest research on Neuroscience and Behavioral Economics learning some big AHA’s. That coupled with our experience and field practice led to 2 key principles and our communication framework THE ART OF THE NUDGE.

What is one key thing that holds many people back from using storytelling to communicate?

Storytelling has been around for 95,000 years and its in our DNA, and while most of us can share and tell stories in personal settings like class reunions and family get-togethers, this doesn’t translate into business. Being effective at telling a story relies on being able to tell a story that makes the right point.  This requires to first have deep understanding of the people and the situation. Only then can you craft a story that makes the right point to nudge people to action.  Then, It all comes down to practice. Understanding the CI2 story framework helps you build, replicate and practice in a succinct way. When you study successful leaders who use story telling skills for big results, you will see that like an athlete, actor or other performer, they practice enough to do this consistently, not just once in a while.  Most people do not spend enough time practicing storytelling to make a usable skill.

Help us understand the balance of art and science that goes into storytelling.

Art of storytelling is deeply understanding and empathizing with your audience, understanding the story they are telling themselves so you can tell a story that makes the right point. The science of storytelling is knowing the building blocks of what makes a compelling story, what the best practices are for how long a story should be, etc. While story has been around for a long time mechanizing the science of it in an easy and replicable format is something that hasn’t been created or taught to most people. We have developed a roadmap for people to follow to build and tell compelling stories, in a simple and repeatable way.  Once they have a replicable framework for building a story and practice, practice, practice their subconscious brain helps them pull it all together, balance the art & science and they start improving rapidly with phenomenal results.  

Can you share one key insight we will hear more about during your session at the SEE event?

We will teach you that story is a communication skill that goes beyond just telling someone a story.  We will show you how story can help you tap into your enormous potential, as well as the potential of those you are trying to influence.  You have a hidden Genie within! Learn how to tap into it to change your next SAPInsights conversation. Its fun, easy to practice and just plain works!

And how about you?  Are you ready to learn a powerful new skill to add to your communication skills grab bag? Time is running out to register. Register here for Super User Experience event October 26-27^th – We SEE you!