How To Use Storytelling To Standout

"Storytelling is what separates humans from other animals. We can talk about things we've never seen, touched, or smelled." ~David Perell

Yet, most of us underestimate the value of having storytelling as a skill.

The world around us is complicated to understand, and we tell ourselves stories to make sense of it.

This also applies when we meet people we're considering hiring.

Needless to say, mastering the ability to use a storytelling framework for interviewing can go a long way.

You’re probably wondering, “What does that even mean?”

Let me explain.

According to David Perell (The Writing Guy who writes about writing), a good story has two key elements: intention and obstacle.

Intention: This is the purpose or goal behind your story. It's what you want to achieve.

For example, if you're answering an interview question about a challenging project you led to enhance brand perception, your intention (that you should highlight) might be to reduce customer churn by 25%.

Obstacle: These are the challenges, setbacks, or conflicts you encountered while pursuing your intention (goal). This creates tension and makes your story more interesting. Think about your favourite childhood stories, the main character has a goal and a major obstacle that gets in the way of reaching that goal!

For example, in the same interview question, the obstacle you talk about might be limited resources or disagreements within your team about how to reduce customer churn.

The key is to provide an intention, an obstacle, and then explain how you overcame the challenge in your answer. It is important to note the unique way you went about solving this problem.

This approach makes your answer unique, memorable and helps you standout vs. everyone else who is answering interview questions with only ‘numbers and facts.’

Try following this framework when answering questions in your next interview to leave a strong impression about why you are the one the company should hire. 😉 

As always, you can reply to this newsletter to ask me any questions you have or provide feedback!

Okay, I’m off to the Executiv Community September Meet-up!

Until next week. Thank you for being here. I appreciate you so much.

“Great stories happen to those who can tell them.”

Ira Glass

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