Have you ever come up with brilliant ideas, only to have them rejected? You spent so much time preparing, presenting all the benefits and figures...

You wonder why, because to you, it seemed so promising. In fact, there’s no downside besides the cost of investment.

Features, advantages and benefits sometimes are not enough. To truly convince people, it’s important to stoke their emotions.

If it’s just features, most people would never buy iPhones.

People think they make decisions logically, but emotions often drive them.

To give a clearer example, let me share an experience of mine. It involves requesting additional infrastructure budget to support backups and redundancies.

The company’s current setup includes just a single repository that has been running for years without any backup. The only safeguard in place is a database stored on an external storage system.

How do you convince management to invest in a backup?

Scenario 1: Do you explain that having redundancies in place means that when things go down, operations can continue without interruption? Then justify the investment because of how fast you can resume when one of the servers go down.

Finally you discuss RTO, which refers to how quickly you can recover, and RPO, which indicates how up-to-date your systems can be.

Scenario 2: Alternatively, do you share a story about a company they’re familiar with, one that closely resembles their own. Then describe the situation, focusing on the company’s mindset and decision-making process.

Next, detail the incident where their infrastructure failed—how long they were down, what it took to restore operations, the financial losses, how unhappy their customers became, and the lasting impact.

Finally, explain what they could have done to prevent all of these issues.

Both scenarios were actual experiences I had with a client. Which scenario do you think resonated more with management?

You guessed it right—it was scenario 2.

Stories stimulate the mind. It helps people visualize and live the experience.

That’s why we go to the movies. In fact, you’ve likely encountered stories when you were younger like…

It has been passed down through generations and continues to be shared due to the valuable lessons it imparts.

Now you know how stories can move people and ideas…

So how do you tell stories?

Here’s a simple template to get you started:

• Begin with a hero - Introduce the main character or "hero" of the story. Describe who they are and what makes them relatable or admirable. This helps the audience connect with the character on a personal level.

• Describe their current situation - Explain the hero's current situation or background. What are they doing before facing the challenges? What is their environment like?

• Discuss the challenges they faced - Describe the specific challenges or obstacles the hero encounters. What problems arise, and how do they affect the hero and their situation?

• Explain how these challenges affected them - Detail the impact of these challenges on the hero. How do these difficulties affect their work, relationships, or well-being?

• Present your solution - Share the solution that the hero discovers or implements to overcome the challenges. What actions do they take, and what resources do they utilize?

• Share what life looks like afterward - Conclude with the outcomes following the solution. How has the hero's situation changed for the better?

Make sure to communicate your point clearly. It doesn’t have to be lengthy. Once your message is delivered, that’s all that matters.

That’s it for this week, folks! See you next Tuesday!

Ciao!