How to Avoid Common Storytelling Traps that Undermine Your Narrative

Storytelling is one of the most powerful communication tools you can use. People love getting immersed in narratives, especially ones to which they can relate. A skilled storyteller can impart knowledge without becoming pedantic, teach principles without preaching, and inspire without falling into pep-talk cliché. Statistics are about numbers and probabilities. Laws and regulations are about compliance and consequence. Storytelling is about our shared humanity.

However, there are some traps into which even experienced storytellers can fall, dragging their messages down with them. Here are three common pitfalls, and suggestions on how to avoid them.

1. Main character syndrome: This happens when you make yourself the hero – or the victim – in every story you tell. This can make you come off as bragging (or complaining). Also, people can feel put off if you constantly keep the focus on yourself, particularly if they feel you’re not telling the full story.
2. Train-track stories: Like train tracks, these only appear to come to a point – but no matter how far you go, you never get there. If there’s no payoff, people will get bored and tune you out; if you stop and say something like, “I forget where I was going with this,” you’ll seem ineffectual as a communicator.
3. Over-reliance on hypotheticals: Hypothetical stories dealing with specific issues have their place in teaching situations if you’re looking for learners to ponder a situation and come up with potential outcomes. But if you rely too much on “might happen,” “could lead to,” or “there’s a chance,” you lose the power of real-world narrative.

Avoiding the storytelling trap: Three positive steps to take

It’s good to know what you don’t want to do, but it’s better to keep the focus on the positive. To that end, you can best avoid the pitfalls of storytelling by emphasizing these helpful steps.

1. Tell your own stories in full: They’re your stories to tell, and you should tell them – but your audiences will better relate to your experiences if they don’t sound like they’re all about you. Everyone can learn from mistakes; share those narratives, and don’t spare the details of your missteps. Similarly, when talking about successes, don’t leave out the help and advice you got from others along the way. Own and explain your role in it, but remember that your life has an ensemble cast.
2. Know where every story is going – and why: Storytelling needs to have both purpose and structure. What do you want your audience to take away from your narrative: Insight, a best practice, or perhaps caution and concern? Set that as your landing point and then construct your story accordingly, avoiding meaningless detours and tangents. Pull your audience in with greater levels of detail and information as you build the story; don’t overload them early on.
3. Use real illustrations wherever you can: This will require some research, but if you want your audiences to consider real-world issues, use real-world scenarios. SkillPath trainer Chuck Simikian, who specializes in thorny Human Resources issues, is constantly researching for anecdotes to pass on to his learners, either in training sessions or through his “True HR Stories” podcast. In his words:
   
   There are real people in these stories. People resonate with stories. They identify. That goes back hundreds of thousands of years, to telling stories around the campfire. When you tell a story about a situation, people layer on their own experiences. Then it’s like, ‘Oh, OK, I see now.’

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That moment of connection and comprehension is what all storytellers aim for. With a careful strategy – one that charts a course well clear of potential pitfalls – you can more easily get to that destination and bring your listeners along with you.

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