![]() In traditional oral storytelling, it’s common practice to just tell the audience you’ve finished the story with a standard phrase such as, ‘So that was the story of …’ Movies often use a version of this, simply finishing with ‘The End’. So when your story ends, say something like, ‘You know, that experience got me thinking …’ or ‘When I heard that story it really got me thinking about …’ There’s a subtle but important difference here, and you still get the opportunity to reinforce some ideas. Rather, you share what the story got you thinking about. This doesn’t mean telling the listener what they should think. So you finish your story and then say something like, ‘Does that remind you of any of your own experiences?’ or ‘Did that spark anything for you?’ Stories often spark other stories in your listeners’ minds, so why not ask them what’s popped into their heads. It’s simple, it’s elegant, it’s effective. At the end of the story, just pause and then move on to the next point. So how can you end a story then? Here are a few options. That way they own the interpretation, and as we know, we are much more persuaded and motivated by our own ideas. It’s much better to let your listener make sense of the story themselves. It’s like telling a joke and then saying, ‘So the reason why that’s funny is because …’ You’re implicitly saying, ‘It’s clear you don’t have the ability to make sense of this story so I’m going to tell you what it means’. You must resist this urge as you’ll kill the potential impact of your story. We’ll finish it and then go on and say something like, ‘So, what this means is …’ This urge seems especially strong when we tell a story at work. There’s an incredibly strong urge that comes over us, right when we end an anecdote, to explain what the story means. ![]()
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