Rowley Associates

John Staley, MFA, is the founding director of The Lawyer’s Performance Lab, a Beverly Hills based consulting firm that offers attorneys intensive workshops and private coaching in courtroom presenting and trial advocacy skills. The training combines storytelling, acting techniques, and the principles of adult learning theory to help fuse the lawyer’s voice and body into a powerful instrument of communication and persuasion.
www.thelawyersperformancelab.com

In a recent workshop, I was coaching a trial lawyer on his presentation skills and was having trouble getting him to speak in a manner that was authentic and convincing.  He was a young, thin man in early thirties who envisioned himself to be a modern day Perry Mason.  His opening statement was grandiose and overbearing – he was “acting” the way he thought a trial lawyer should act and consequently came across as a caricature of a TV attorney.  He had all the facts but the story he was trying to tell the “jury” (fellow attorneys) was unimpressive and phony. 

After about a half an hour of little progress, I asked him to grab a chair and tell the other participants his story about why he wanted to be a lawyer.  He started slowly at first, trying to choose his words carefully, but as the story moved along he relaxed and opened up about how both his father and his grandfather practiced law and how he had admired his father’s values about defending those who couldn’t defend themselves.   Because the story was so personal to him, and moved him emotionally, he was able to drop any pretense and show a vulnerability that touched every person in the room. 

When he finished I asked him to stand back up and start his opening statement with the same emotional connection he had to his story.  It was a vastly improved performance and a real breakthrough moment for this young man.

Although this example is in the context of a trial lawyer trying to captivate a jury, leaders in all industries and all walks of life are called upon to inspire, to influence, and to persuade.  The ones who are most successful all have a compelling story to tell.  A story that resonates with the leaders first, and then, because of its authenticity, resonates with others. 

We can find epic examples of great storytelling throughout history – Gandhi’s story of easing poverty and gaining Indian independence, Martin Luther King’s story of a dream for equality, or Marie Curie’s story about a new way to look at the atom.  The accomplishments of these three pioneers were possible because of the personal connection they felt to the work they were doing and the stories they were telling.  Their passion and authenticity inspired others to see the world in a different way.

Even though most of us aren’t called upon to transform world history, as leaders we must still have a powerful story to tell.  A story that inspires employees to see opportunity in an economic downturn, or a story that persuades customers that a product or service is the best value to money, or a story that convinces an “at risk” teenager to stay off of drugs and go back to school.  Whatever leadership position we assume, one of the best tools in our kit is a personal, genuine story that connects to our humanity and moves people into action.