Reflection - Storytelling:

Challenge & Selection:

Storrytelling is a beautiful tool that I try to use all the time. I work at a global acting  insurance company as an specialist for the investment and pension business. Most of  the time I have appointments in the B2B sector, where my clients are mid sized banks  and their employees. In case of complex circumstances I also participate in  appointments with customers face to face. My industry is characterized by working with  the feelings and needs of people, mosty with those that the customers do not know yet  -  and due to this it is crucial to make the insurance for the people tangible. In addition  to this working with a kind of promise for the future is realy difficult to grasp for the  customers. Insurance and investment topics, aren’t that sexy, ease to use and simple  to explain to the customers. Therefore storytelling helps me conect the values of our  products to the feelings or expectitions.

Application:

Let me explain you how i use storytelling in my daily work and how important it is to  me. I remember one specfic issue i was faced with some month ago. I was an  undergraduate and worked the first year as a kind of junior incurance agent at my  company sector. In this time I had a lot of appointments with customers to advise them  about their retirement and why the should spend rather more on it than less. After a  little initial talk with the customer I presented all the facts of our product – which i was  very convinced of – about the financial strength of our company, the shift in the  demography and the extend on the social insurance system, but nothing moved the  customer to took out an insurance rate. His need was there, he should save a lot, but  I wasn’t able to make clear why it is so important. The following weeks i researched a  lot in the interent (e.g. by joining the course on coursea) and read some books about  how to make complex things easy to grasp by using methods like storytelling. In the  next appointment with an young customer i tried something complete new.

After some smalltalk about him and his job we went to the insurance topic, especially  about how and why he should save some money for his retirement. But this time I  began with some kind of story.

I told him about my study period and my neighbour in my house, where i lived that time.  This man was probably at the beginning of seventy and was well dressed, in a good  mood and every time we saw him friendly and helpful. After some weeks, as we drove  back from university, we sawing him pulling out pledge bottles out of the trash, and as  he saw us he seemed really embarrassed. The next week we met him in front of his  door he told us the story of his life. He told us he worked the hole life and was never  sick longer than a few days, but his pension is not enough to live the life he wanted.

Than I took a short break and began to explain my young customer that this man wasn’t  poor and homeless, but he could not drive often to other cities to visit friends or fly in  holidays e.g. and than as I looked at my customer i really noticed that he was  thoughtful.

I took another short break and asked him: „How do you want to live your live in the old  age? What is most important to you?“

The hole further talk about the complex facts of our social system, the possible  solutions, the impact from the realy low interest rates and so on, I had his hole attention.  This customer was aware of all the possible negative effects, caused by our social  systems and other circumstances, and that he – in order to life a better live in his older  ages – should save money. At the end of our appointment he had his plan, how and in  what way he saves his money for the second half of his life.

Insight & Approach:

It seems stories are hard-wired into our psyche. It was realy a wow effect and an eye- opener for me.  People have been passing information along via storytelling for as long  as humans have had a rich language to draw from.  Stories are a great way to connect  people with ideas and informations, at a human level.  A well-told story – focused on  sharing pertinent details that express surprising meaning and underlying emotions –  eﬀects the emotions and the intellect simultaneously. For daily using it is crucial to be  able to articulate the emotional tone in a couple of words. This is what I train everyday  to be better in it.

Sometimes a little story can do a lot of good. Christina Baldwin once said: „Words are  how we think – stories are how we link.“ This quote describes the purpose of  storytelling pretty well. This couse made me see this and all the other tools in a new  way towards my daily work. As described in my personal experience I was realy fact- based and not focused on the customer, but now I am able to use stories to paraphrase  complex and difficult circumstances and presenting my ideas more metaphorical.


Reflection - Storytelling : Challenge & Selection : Storrytelling is a beautiful tool that I try to use all the time . I work at a global acting insurance company as an specialist for the investment and pension business . Most of the time I have appointments in the B2B sector , where my clients are mid sized banks and their employees . In case of complex circumstances I also participate in appointments with customers face to face . My industry is characterized by working with the feelings and needs of people , mosty with those that the customers do not know yet - and due to this it is crucial to make the insurance for the people tangible . In addition to this working with a kind of promise for the future is realy difficult to grasp for the customers . Insurance and investment topics , are n’t that sexy , ease to use and simple to explain to the customers . Therefore storytelling helps me conect the values of our products to the feelings or expectitions . Application : Let me explain you how i use storytelling in my daily work and how important it is to me . I remember one specfic issue i was faced with some month ago . I was an undergraduate and worked the first year as a kind of junior incurance agent at my company sector . In this time I had a lot of appointments with customers to advise them about their retirement and why the should spend rather more on it than less . After a little initial talk with the customer I presented all the facts of our product – which i was very convinced of – about the financial strength of our company , the shift in the demography and the extend on the social insurance system , but nothing moved the customer to took out an insurance rate . His need was there , he should save a lot , but I was n’t able to make clear why it is so important . The following weeks i researched a lot in the interent ( e.g. by joining the course on coursea ) and read some books about how to make complex things easy to grasp by using methods like storytelling . In the next appointment with an young customer i tried something complete new . After some smalltalk about him and his job we went to the insurance topic , especially about how and why he should save some money for his retirement . But this time I began with some kind of story . I told him about my study period and my neighbour in my house , where i lived that time . This man was probably at the beginning of seventy and was well dressed , in a good mood and every time we saw him friendly and helpful . After some weeks , as we drove back from university , we sawing him pulling out pledge bottles out of the trash , and as he saw us he seemed really embarrassed . The next week we met him in front of his door he told us the story of his life . He told us he worked the hole life and was never sick longer than a few days , but his pension is not enough to live the life he wanted . Than I took a short break and began to explain my young customer that this man was n’t poor and homeless , but he could not drive often to other cities to visit friends or fly in holidays e.g. and than as I looked at my customer i really noticed that he was thoughtful . I took another short break and asked him : „ How do you want to live your live in the old age ? What is most important to you ? “ The hole further talk about the complex facts of our social system , the possible solutions , the impact from the realy low interest rates and so on , I had his hole attention . This customer was aware of all the possible negative effects , caused by our social systems and other circumstances , and that he – in order to life a better live in his older ages – should save money . At the end of our appointment he had his plan , how and in what way he saves his money for the second half of his life . Insight & Approach : It seems stories are hard - wired into our psyche . It was realy a wow effect and an eye- opener for me . People have been passing information along via storytelling for as long as humans have had a rich language to draw from . Stories are a great way to connect people with ideas and informations , at a human level . A well - told story – focused on sharing pertinent details that express surprising meaning and underlying emotions – eﬀects the emotions and the intellect simultaneously . For daily using it is crucial to be able to articulate the emotional tone in a couple of words . This is what I train everyday to be better in it . Sometimes a little story can do a lot of good . Christina Baldwin once said : „ Words are how we think – stories are how we link . “ This quote describes the purpose of storytelling pretty well . This couse made me see this and all the other tools in a new way towards my daily work . As described in my personal experience I was realy fact- based and not focused on the customer , but now I am able to use stories to paraphrase complex and difficult circumstances and presenting my ideas more metaphorical .