Welcome back to the Breakout Business English podcast.
My name is Chris and I'm a business English and communication coach.
I've personally worked with over 1000 international professionals, just like you, to improve the way that they communicate online.
At Work in English.
Thank you so much for listening and, of course, for your time.
I know how valuable it is.
And today's topic is storytelling.
So we are back.
You might have noticed that we took last month off.
This wasn't planned.
It started with a week and quickly turned into a month.
We had a slightly chaotic time over here and it took a short while to get everything back on track.
And with everything that happened, I didn't manage to get the podcast out.
So for that, you have my sincere apologies.
But if you're listening to this, then you are still here.
And I greatly appreciate that.
Maybe soon I'll do a podcast on consistency and see if I can pick up any tips for myself along the way.
Now let's talk about storytelling.
I'd be interested to know how important you think the skill of storytelling is for you and for your career.
I would argue that storytelling is very important to all of us at different points in our careers.
If you're working with clients or customers, then storytelling is important for building those relationships.
If not, then it can strengthen the trust that you have with your colleagues.
And of course, in job interviews, it is an essential skill.
Today, we're going to look at a five-part model for telling great stories.
These are five individual tips that you can use to tell really engaging stories.
You can pick one or two to improve your stories, or follow through all five to really bring your listeners on a journey.
And, of course, we'll be looking at some great vocabulary, grammar and English communication tips that can help you along the way.
Let's start with that word, engaging.
If I describe a story or maybe a person or a presentation as engaging, what do I mean?
Something that is engaging is interesting, but also entertaining and makes you want to hear more.
It's a really common word to describe stories that people tell, but also presentations and speeches that people give.
Because of this, it's a really great professional word and a great compliment to give someone.
The grammar here works the same as words like exciting, boring, interesting, or tiring.
By that I mean that we use the ING form engaging, to describe the thing that is causing our emotions.
We use the ED form to describe ourselves and how we feel.
And we use the infinitive basic form to connect our subject and our object together.
For instance, if you come off stage and you've just given a great presentation, maybe I might say that was a really engaging speech.
I was really engaged the whole way through.
Or maybe, it's difficult to engage an audience this big, but you did a great job.
I should say that you can also describe people as engaging if you want to.
And hopefully, after today's podcast, you'll be well on your way to being the most engaging member of your team.
The one who everyone wants to sit next to at team Christmas dinners and things like that.
So let's get started and jump into our five tips.
I think we're going to do two of these today and then we're going to save the next three for the second podcast that will come out next week.
So this week, you're going to get the first two, and next week, you'll get the next three.
Our first point is to talk about location.
A great story should start with where you are.
Give your audience somewhere to build this story in their minds.
A scene to picture.
You should include anything that's relevant, but don't include everything.
If there are five chairs in the room, then feel free to mention it, but only if it's relevant and important to the story.
You want to give just enough detail for the listener to be able to build an image of the story.
So tell me that you walked into your boss's office with big windows that overlook the car park for sure, but only tell me the colour of the walls, if it's important for me to understand the story.
Let's take a listen now to a couple of really native and natural ways to talk about locations in stories.
The elevator was tiny, and there must have been ten of us in there, shoulder to shoulder.
We walked into a vast conference space with wall-to-wall seating all decked out in the company colours.
We walked into a vast conference space with wall-to-wall seating all decked out in the company colours.
The offices were cramped and stuffy definitely not the kind of place I could work for any length of time.
The offices were cramped and stuffy.
Definitely not the kind of place I could work for any length of time.
Okay, so picture an elevator, or in British English, a lift.
Now picture 10 people already in there and you ready to force your way inside.
You squeeze in and move people aside and eventually you find a space to stand.
Which part of your body is most likely to be touching other people?
Well, in my experience, that's always my shoulders.
In our first example, we heard, there were 10 of us in there, shoulder to shoulder.
There were 10 of us in there, shoulder to shoulder.
If you've ever been to a sold-out concert or attended the keynote speech of a big conference, then maybe you've been shoulder to shoulder with everyone else in the space.
If you say that people are shoulder to shoulder, then you mean that there isn't really enough space for them all.
They were squashed together.
Another common way to say this is that they were like sardines in a tin, those small salty fish.
So if you need to describe a place as full of people, you can describe it as shoulder to shoulder.
Often a phrase we hear, of course used to describe morning trains, morning commuter trains, especially if you've ever taken the London Underground.
And I imagine the Paris Metro, New York City MTA and every other metro system in any busy city around the world is shoulder to shoulder in the mornings.
Now, let's jump into our second example and focus on an informal phrasal verb.
In the second example, we heard about a place that was all decked out in the company colors.
All decked out in the company colors.
Maybe you've never heard the word decked used in this context before, but I'm going to guess that you've heard the word decorate, to decorate, or maybe the noun decoration.
If you decorate a space, then you make it look more attractive by adding things to it.
Maybe you paint it or add accessories.
Maybe you fill it with posters and banners in your official company colors.
We can use the word decked to mean the same thing.
However, in real world, spoken English, we usually hear this as the phrasal verb decked out.
Decked out or indeed the infinitive form to deck somewhere out.
So if I go to a sports match and everyone there is wearing the team's uniform, maybe also hats and scarves, and possibly even have their faces painted with the team colours, then a commentator on television might say that everyone has come to the game decked out for the occasion.
Decked out for the occasion.
Or, of course, if we have a Christmas party at work and there is a Christmas tree in the corner and maybe red and green flags all over the office, we could describe this place as decked out for Christmas.
Let's do another piece of vocabulary that we can use to talk about location.
And that is stuffy.
Stuffy.
That's S-T-U-F-F-Y.
So the word stuff that you probably know with the letter Y at the end.
In the third example, we heard the offices were cramped and stuffy.
The offices were cramped and stuffy.
Stuffy has a number of definitions in English, and they are essentially all negative.
They're all bad things.
But let's start with the verb.
And this is the verb to stuff something, to stuff.
To stuff something into somewhere means to push it into a space, often tightly and definitely not carefully.
If I stuff a piece of paper into my pocket, then it will likely get creased.
We often stuff receipts into our pockets without really thinking about them.
If I stuff a jacket into a backpack, then I probably didn't have time to fold it.
So, what does this word, to stuff, mean when we add the letter Y to the end and get stuffy?
Well, a stuffy room is one that doesn't have much fresh air.
This could be for a couple of reasons.
Maybe it's just a room that has been closed for a long time and the air is old and stale.
More likely.
However, this is because it's really hot and therefore a stuffy room is unpleasant or uncomfortable to spend much time in.
And this is the definition that I was going for with our third example.
I once worked in an office with no windows at all.
I spent maybe a year and a half, maybe two years in that office.
It was a great team and it was really cozy in the winter.
But when summer arrived, especially if it was a humid day, then yeah, that office got really stuffy.
I think some companies just put the IT team wherever they can find space.
Finally, another way that you can use the word stuffy is to describe people.
If you describe a person as stuffy, then you mean that they are very old-fashioned, traditional and conventional people.
We can describe organizations and institutions in the same way.
For instance, I didn't like working there.
The company was really stuffy and so were most of the staff.
Needless to say, this isn't a very polite thing to say about someone.
So I need to give credit this week to Philip Hume or Hum.
Hum or Hume.
That's H-U-M-M.
H-U-M-M.
I think it's Hum.
Philip Hum.
Philip is a fantastic writer and YouTuber, and this set of five things, five key ideas to include when telling a story, is his.
So if you want to dive deeper into the world of storytelling in professional contexts, then feel free to check out any of Philip's books or YouTube videos.
Alternatively, you can book some time with me and we can explore storytelling together.
My full-time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills.
So if you need English to do your job but you don't speak it natively, then I would love to meet you.
If you'd like to book some time to meet with me through one-to-one video calls that's just you and me then you can go to breakoutbusinessenglishcom.
That's the title of the podcast, breakoutbusinessenglish.com and find out more.
Starting on our very first call, we can focus on the specific opportunities that you personally have to improve your English and communication skills and the mistakes that you make most often or the ones that cause the biggest problems with your communication.
And right now you can use the code PODCAST30 at checkout to get a 30 discount off your first booking of 30, 45 or 60 minutes.
Sometimes my calendar gets a little busy, so if you have trouble finding a time that works for you, or if indeed you have any questions at all about how we can work together, then you can always send me a message through the contact page on the website and ask if I have any time to fit you in.
I've worked with over 1000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you.
Now, let's get back to storytelling, and right now we're going to focus on actions.
You need to talk about what you did.
And what others did in your story.
And the motions and movements that drive the story forward.
Remember, we're only interested in what's important to the story.
What's relevant to your listeners when they're building an image of your story in their head.
Be strict about the actions that you keep in your stories.
But...
When you decide that something needs to be there, feel free to go into detail.
Also, don't forget that storytelling at work, in a meeting or at an event is a visual art form.
If you can, to some extent, act out what happened.
If someone in your story raised their hand, then raise your hand.
If it was hot and stuffy, then wipe your forehead.
Wipe the sweat from your forehead.
And if you had to duck so that a stapler thrown across the room by an angry colleague missed your head, then do it.
Duck.
Your stories will have far more impact if you let people see what you saw when the story happened.
Let's listen now to some great explanations of actions.
In the elevator, I had to jostle my way to the door when we arrived on my floor.
In the elevator, I had to jostle my way to the door when we arrived on my floor.
My presentation wasn't going to be until the next day, but I wanted to have a dry run before the big moment.
My presentation wasn't going to be until the next day, but I wanted to have a dry run before the big moment.
After a couple of minutes in the stuffy office, I had to crack a window.
After a couple of minutes in the stuffy office, I had to crack a window.
In the second example, we heard the phrase dry run.
Dry run.
As in, I wanted to have a dry run.
I wanted to have a dry run.
That's D-R-Y and then run, R-U-N.
This is one of those phrases that lots of people use but very few know where it actually comes from.
In fact in my research for writing this podcast I found a number of different theories.
However, the one that I like most is that this started with firefighters.
When practicing, to make sure that they were prepared and knew how to use their equipment.
When there was an emergency, firefighters would do a dry run.
In their context, this literally means without water.
This phrase appears in theatre and film a lot also.
For instance, actors rehearsing without an audience might refer to this as a dry run too.
So, how can you use it at work?
Well, one common way is to talk about speeches and presentations.
If you're scheduled to present something at work and you book a room, load up your PowerPoint, stand at the front of the meeting space and talk as if your audience was right in front of you, then this is a dry run.
We might also use this to talk about other important things that you want to ensure go smoothly.
For instance, if you're driving to the airport for a flight and you want to make sure that you know the way, then you might do a dry run the day before.
You might drive there and drive back just to make sure that you've planned everything out correctly.
Let's talk about jostling.
In the first example, we heard I had to jostle my way to the door.
I had to jostle my way to the door.
What does it mean to jostle?
That's J-O-S-T-L-E.
Well, if you've ever been in a crowded, perhaps stuffy place like an elevator, a busy commuter train or a Starbucks at lunchtime, then you've likely been jostled.
If people jostle you, they bump against you or push you in a way that annoys you, usually because they're trying to get past you.
But, of course, sometimes jostling is essential.
I don't know about you, but I always feel a little bad when I have to push my way through a crowd to get out of an elevator.
And, of course, perhaps because I'm from England, this is always accompanied by a lot of apologising on my part.
I should say that the word jostle is sometimes used in more wide contexts.
For instance, if I open my bag after traveling and giving my bag to an airline and they've thrown it on the plane and then taken it off the plane, then maybe things inside will have been jostled around.
So I want to add a quick message today about getting in touch.
There is a button somewhere that says fan mail, which is one of the many ways that you can get in touch with me.
However, if you do use that fan mail button, then I unfortunately have no way to reply.
I think you send fan mail with a text message, so if you found a button that says you can send me a text message, then that could be fan mail.
So thanks for everyone who has sent me fan mail but, as I mentioned, I have no way to reply to you with those messages.
I got a message last week from a gentleman in Brazil, I believe named Carlos.
So Carlos, if you're listening to this, I would love to talk with you.
If you can head over to the website, that's breakoutbusinessenglish.com and send me a message there.
That could be on the contact form or or using the link for WhatsApp or Telegram, whichever is best for you.
Then I'll definitely be able to reply to you.
So don't forget that if you would like to discuss any of the ideas, vocabulary or grammar etc.
In today's episode, then you can book a session to work with me on your English communication skills by going to breakoutbusinessenglishcom or clicking the link down in the show notes and use the code PODCAST30 at checkout to get a 30 discount off your first booking.
As I mentioned previously, I've worked with well over 1000 non-native English speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them to achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you.
Between episodes of the podcast, you can get videos every couple of days on Instagram, TikTok and, of course, YouTube.
Just search for Breakout Business English.
Also, if there's a topic that you'd like to hear me talk about on the podcast, then I'd be excited to hear your ideas.
Leave me a message or a comment on one of my YouTube videos.
And again, I look forward to hearing from you.
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So if you found this podcast useful and you think there are some valuable things in here, then feel free to write a couple of kind words.
And again, I thank you in advance.
Also, that is another great place to request a topic for a future podcast.
That is it for today.
Thank you so much for listening and for your time.
I know how valuable it is.
And I'll talk to you again next time on the Breakout Business English podcast.
Thanks a lot, everyone.
Talk to you next week.
