Reflection- Storytelling    Challenge & Selection    With every passing day, internet is becoming more and more engrained in the fabric of our  existence. From booking tickets to ordering food, internet has drastically changed the way  we do things. But still there remain a lot of domains where the complete power of the  internet has remained un-utilized. One such example is job-search and career services  websites. Although, the recruitment industry has evolved as a whole, the success of  websites such as Linkedin and Monster are a testament to that, resumes are essentially  same as they were a hundred years ago. Apart from the fact that a resume can be digitally  circulated via mail, other properties of the resume are frozen in time. It is quite strange that  in today’s world people use videos to learn, to communicate and consume content, but still  have to ‘read’ and ‘write’ resumes. In order to materialize this idea, I decided to put  together a cross-functional team of programmers and designers. I had to approach these  people and delivered a compelling pitch about how this idea, with the correct execution,  has the potential to help thousands of people and transform the recruitment industry. In  order to get people interested in working with me, I had to get people excited and  optimistic about the success of the idea. As said in the lecture, I had to create the feeling  that ‘ any state would be better than the current state’. The storytelling tool helped in a big  way to convince people to work on the idea.       Application    In order to convince people to come on board, I had to prepare a compelling pitch. As said  in the lecture, the most important part of storytelling is to understand the audience and tell  a story that would excite and engage them. The people I was pitching to were programmers,  hence very analytical and rational in their approach. To win them over, I had to present data  and facts. In my pitch, I included all the data-backed insights that I had received after  interviewing various H.R. professionals. I kept them involved in the conversation by asking  for their inputs about making this a better product. As said in the lecture that a good  storyteller must find a core idea and lean on it. I employed the same technique. My core  idea was “Why would you read something that you can watch”. Examples of this thought  are ubiquitous. Although famous as books, Harry Potter or Game of Thrones, became a  phenomena only after they were adapted into motion pictures. This idea resonated with  everyone in the meeting and hence they felt more involved and attached  to the project.    I also discussed with them the possible directions this product can take in the future and  how each of them were essential in that. Since all of these people had an office job, taking  time out of their schedule was a concern for everyone. We decided to meet up in a few days  and prepare a plan of how many hours each person could contribute weekly. By the end of  the meeting, each person felt extremely motivated and was looking forward to working on  the project.

Insight and Approach    I learned a lot from this exercise. I realized the importance of a well thought out story in  convincing people. Having done extensive research allowed me to confidently push my  ideas as I had data to back them. However, the most important thing that I learned was that  if the audience is engaged in what you are telling them, they will ask insightful questions  which even might not have come in your mind. And in order to get the audience excited  about your idea, you have to put yourself in their shoes and try to think things like “Why  should I listen to the idea?”, “What benefit would I get if I invested myself in the idea?”,  “What are the credentials of the person delivering the idea?”. I kept in mind all of this while  preparing my pitch. I had done quite a bit of research in the area, and they knew me  personally, so I was able to establish my credibility. I told them that since they would be the  leading their respective teams, they would have a large degree of autonomy in their  functions, also how working on such a project from scratch would help them learn and grow  in their fields which would be beneficial for their career ahead. All of this kept them hooked  throughout the meeting and contribute constructively. However, I felt that I would have put  across my ideas in a better way if I used diagrams and visual aids. I will keep this in mind the  next time I am in such a situation.

