Storytelling is an old art that has now become very popular. Do you know that even storytelling follows a pattern and you MUST have a S.T.A.R. in your storytelling? Some people instinctively do a good job with storytelling. Like the senior medical representative that I met 20 years ago.

Read on or listen to a 7-Min Podcast here: Https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-star-in-your-storytelling/id1553022761?i=100051546245

Back then I was a rookie product manager, and I was visiting Kolkata to meet doctors. The local representative designated to work with me was a fairly senior and a very focused person. He had put in around 20 years in the job. He did not give any importance to my presence.

Back in those days, all pharma companies had a product catalog called visual aid that field members were expected to show to the doctor and give a memorized talk for each product.

Well, I met our man at a designated doctor’s clinic and the first call started. I was expecting our man to open the visual aid and start talking. Instead, he began narrating about a terrible backache that he had late last night. In a dramatic manner he said, ‘This backache had to happen, I rode my bike for 150 km yesterday to meet some doctors. And since there were no doctors at such late night, I took one capsule of our own brand and that is how I can come to work today. The doctor listened to him with a mixture of sympathy and appreciation for his commitment to work. There was another thing. The doctor also agreed that our brand works very well in acute pain.

The call was over without the visual aid even getting opened once. I was disappointed about another thing: he did not even introduce me to the doctor.

The next call. This time he apologized to the doctor for not having met him for the last one month. I was surprised. He was anyway supposed to meet this doctor once every month. But the doctor was far too impressed with his commitment to notice anything else.

And then another story rolled out. This story was about his last visit to his village for a wedding. Where just days before the wedding the groom got a bad chest infection. Again, since there were no doctors available, he took it upon himself to treat the poor chap. He had the groom take an antibiotic, of course, one of our own brands, and the boy was treated well in time for the wedding. He ended by saying that he rushed back since he had this meeting with the doctor today.

The doctor was clearly flattered. Somehow, he asked about the dose of our medicine that our man gave to the groom. Our man answered it accurately. The doctor appeared to be so convinced that it appeared to me that he was just waiting to prescribe our brand to the next patient with chest infection. The call was again over.

In all there were 8 calls that day and believe me, in every call, there were just stories surrounding our brands. We certainly did not expect our field team members to do. We expected our field members to follow a rigid set of guidelines while making a doctor call. But our man was a top-class performer and hence, I could offer no argument. I was also unhappy about another fact. In none of the calls, I could contribute as our man’s stories filled the entire call time.

The Learning

20 years later, I see story-telling as one of the fastest emerging trends in communication and a sure-shot way of getting your point across. I do not know whether our man knew about it 20 years back, but he did use this technique very well. There was also another thing. When I think about all the calls that we made that day, I see not one, but several patterns in his storytelling in every call that we made. And that is the learning. Let me list them one by one.

Firstly, all his stories had a difficult situation that he had to overcome. Secondly, there was always a hero in his stories, most of the time it was himself along with one of our brands. Thirdly, and naturally, the hero emerged victorious in all the stories. Each of the victories gave hope and a promise for many others facing similar situations. Very importantly, he weaved our brand names in his stories in such a way that the doctors would never forget

The S.T.A.R in Storytelling Pattern

Interesting, isn’t it? Do you want to try storytelling? OK, then follow this pattern.

• Firstly, talk about a relatable situation. Include small details that shall help your audience visualize the scenario. Use conversations instead of narration
• Secondly, escalate that relatable situation to a peak challenge or a difficult situation
• Thirdly, talk of an action taken that matches the difficult situation
• Then, talk about resolving the challenge
• Happy Ending.

Most importantly, your story must have an S.T.A.R. i.e. Something They’ll Always Remember. Think about our man. Our brand and how it helped in a difficult situation, was The S.T.A.R. in each of his stories

Story-telling in Pharma? You can do it. Our man did it 20 years back.

Until Next Time. Have Fun Story Telling.