Storytelling is the use of stories or narratives as a communication tool to capitalize on the knowledge of individuals for collective benefit.

1. The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian
Development Bank, or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included
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A Guide to Storytelling
Olivier Serrat
2013

2. Conveying Events Naturally …
The age-old practice of
storytelling is the vivid
description of ideas,
beliefs, personal
experiences, and life-
lessons through stories
or narratives that evoke
powerful emotions and
insights.
Storytelling is one of
the most effective
communication tools:
analysis may excite the
mind but it does not
gladden the heart,
which is where one
must go to motivate
people.
Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form.
—Jean-Luc Godard

3. … With Ripping Yarns
Purposeful
storytelling
delivers
results.
• By providing the context from which
knowledge springs, stories increase the
potential for knowledge-sharing.
• By grounding facts in a narrative structure,
stories boost the likelihood that learning will
take place and be passed on.
• By articulating emotional aspects as well as
factual content, stories express tacit
knowledge, always difficult to convey.
… For the story—from Rumpelstiltskin to War and Peace—is one of the basic tools
invented by the mind of man, for the purpose of gaining understanding. There have
been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that
did not tell stories.
—Ursula K. Le Guin

4. Spot The Difference: Version A
In our evaluation of a project in Bangladesh, we noted a wide variance
in the competence of individual villages to develop sustainable and
effective solutions to problems encountered, for example in replacing
broken parts or developing low-cost products such as new latrines. The
lessons to be learned from this evaluation are that we should:
• work against over-dependence on development partners,
• note and encourage entrepreneurial approaches to problems,
• identify existing and repeatable good practices,
• build and strengthen communication between villages to assist
cross-fertilization of ideas at the grassroots level.

5. Spot The Difference: Version B
Bangladesh is a really impressive place … in a positive sense. I was in a
village last year working in water and sanitation. We were trying to
promote the use of improved latrines, but could not produce concrete
slabs and rings locally for a low cost. Somebody told me to visit the
latrines of a lady in the village, so I went along and said, "Can I see
your latrines?" She had made a latrine out of a clay pot with the
bottom cut off. Then, with a potter from the area, she developed a
small local production of bottomless pots, and they became the
latrines. Ingenious. A few weeks later I was in another village and saw
a hand pump; it was broken, just a small piece missing. So I said to the
villagers, "Why don't you repair your pump?" And they said, "Oh, we
just wait for another donor to bring a new pump." So I said, "Why
don't you visit the lady in the village over there? She finds ways of
getting things done for herself."

6. What Stories Are Good At
• Make abstract concepts meaningful
• Help connect people and ideas
• Inspire imagination and motivate action
• Give breathing space and allow different perspectives to
emerge
• Create sense, coherence, and meaning
• Develop valuable descriptions of the situations in which
knowledge is applied and solutions are found
• Examine organizational values and culture
• Communicate complex messages simply
• Operate effectively in networks
• Drive change
Working with stories is one of the best ways to

7. Elements of a Good Story
Good stories are interesting, unusual, provocative, serious,
controversial, surprising, intriguing, or inspiring. They
• Respond to demand.
• Exploit a specific opportunity.
• Include personal and human elements of experience.
• Present the point of view of someone who has been directly involved.
• Use a variety of narrative patterns for different aims.
• Achieve a balance between words from persons and statements from
organizations.
• Recount a successful intervention.
• Describe an unsuccessful intervention.
• Provide a solution to both immediate and broader problems.
• Play to what is already in people's minds.
• Target people with the authority to make decisions and change things.

8. Thematic Applications
If Your
Objective Is To
Spark action
Communicate
who you are
You Will Need A
Story That
Describes how a
successful change
was implemented
in the past, but
allows listeners to
imagine how it
might work in
their situation
Provides
audience-
engaging drama
and reveals some
strength or
vulnerability from
your past
In Telling It, You
Will Need To
Avoid excessive
detail that will
take the
audience's mind
off its own
challenge
Include
meaningful
details, but also
make sure the
audience has the
time and
inclination to
hear your story
Your Story Will
Inspire Such
Responses As
"Just imagine …";
"What if …"
"I didn't know
that about him!";
"Now I see what
she's driving at."

9. Thematic Applications
If Your Objective Is
To
Transmit values
Foster
collaboration
You Will Need A
Story That
Feels familiar to
the audience and
will prompt
discussion about
the issues raised
by the values
being promoted
Movingly recounts
a situation that
listeners have also
experienced and
that prompts
them to share
stories about the
topic
In Telling It, You
Will Need To
Use believable
characters and
situations and
never forget that
the story must be
consistent with
your own actions
Ensure that a set
agenda does not
squelch the
swapping of
stories and that
you are ready to
tap the energy
unleashed by the
reactions
Your Story Will
Inspire Such
Responses As
"That's so right!";
"Why don't we do
that all the time?"
"That reminds me
of the time that I
…"; "Hey, I've got
a story like that."

10. Thematic Applications
If Your Objective
Is To
Tame the
grapevine
Share knowledge
You Will Need A
Story That
Highlights, often
through the use of
gentle humor,
some aspect of a
rumor that reveals
it to be untrue or
unlikely
Focuses on
mistakes made and
shows in some
detail how they
were corrected,
with an
explanation of why
the solution
worked
In Telling It, You
Will Need To
Avoid the
temptation to be
mean-spirited, and
be sure that the
rumor is indeed
false
Solicit
alternative—and
possibly better—
solutions
Your Story Will
Inspire Such
Responses As
"No kidding!"; "I'd
never thought
about it like that
before!"
"There but for the
grace of God …";
"Wow! We'd better
watch that from
now on."

11. Thematic Applications
If Your Objective
Is To
Lead people into
the future
You Will Need A
Story That
Evokes the future
you want to create
without providing
excessive detail
that will only turn
out to be wrong
In Telling It, You
Will Need To
Be sure of your
storytelling skills
(otherwise, use a
story in which the
past can serve as a
springboard to the
future)
Your Story Will
Inspire Such
Responses As
"When do we
start?"; "Let's do
it!"
The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best—and therefore never
scrutinize or question.
—Stephen Jay Gould
The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.
—Muriel Rukeyser

12. Day-to-Day Applications
Storytelling can be a
more compelling and
effective way to explain
reasoning processes,
deliver information, and
convince others than
conventional modes of
communications, e.g.,
electronic mail, reports,
formal speeches, etc.
In organizations, potential applications
of stories include
• Oral histories
• Team or community-building
exercises
• Workshop warm-ups
• Back-to-office reports
• Activity or project reviews
• Monitoring and evaluation systems
• Recreation

13. Evaluative Applications
In the field of knowledge
management and learning,
storytelling has found
expression through tools such
as
• Appreciative inquiry
• Exit interviews
• Learning histories
• The Most Significant Change
technique
• Social reminiscing

14. Further Reading
• ADB. 2008. Conducting Exit Interviews. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/conducting-exit-interviews
• ——. 2008. Storytelling. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/storytelling
• ——. 2008. Appreciative Inquiry. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/appreciative-inquiry
• ——. 2009. The Most Significant Change Technique. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/most-significant-change-technique
• ——. 2010. ADB: Reflections and Beyond. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/adb-reflections-and-beyond

15. Further Reading
• ADB. 2010. Building Narrative Capacity at ADB. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/building-narrative-capacity-adb
• ——. 2011. On Second Thought. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/second-thought
• ——. 2011. Learning Histories. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/learning-histories
• ——. 2012. Interactive Stories of Sustainable Development.
Manila. www.adb.org/publications/interactive-stories-
sustainable-development

16. Further Reading
• ADB. 2012. The Long Reach of Short Tales. Manila.
www.scribd.com/doc/102329913/the-long-reach-of-short-
tales
• Stephen Denning. 2004. Telling Tales. Harvard Business
Review. May.
• Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. 2005. Story
Guide: Building Bridges Using Narrative Techniques. Berne.

17. Video
• ADB. 2012. Harvesting Knowledge. Manila.
vimeo.com/67185512

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