What would happen if your stakeholders couldn’t resist your story?
Would you be able to bring a new innovation to market? Secure new legislation? Unlock new funding opportunities?
When thinking about what makes a story irresistible, I look towards behavior change. Ultimately, outcomes are driven by our behaviors. If we want new outcomes, we need new behaviors. And guess what? Stories can influence our behaviors. But it’s not as simple as “once upon a time...” We need a story that transforms intent into action. A story that motivates. An irresistible story.
Self Determination Theory (SDT) is one of my favorite behavior change frameworks. I believe that an irresistible story activates SDT’s three core needs for motivation:
🫂 Relatedness
💪 Competency
😁 Autonomy
When we experience a story that we can relate to, reaffirms our autonomy and speaks to our competency, that story becomes irresistible. We can’t ignore it. We must make it ours.
A story that delivers outcomes requires engagement and commitment from all stakeholders. By combining the SDT framework with sound storytelling practices, we can create stories that no one can resist.
What will you achieve with your irresistible story?