You’re launching a digital transformation initiative in the middle of the ongoing pandemic. You are pretty excited about this big-ticket investment, which has the potential to solve remote-work challenges that your organization faces.

您正在持续进行的大流行中发起数字化转型计划。 您对这项庞大的投资感到非常兴奋，这项投资有可能解决组织面临的远程工作挑战。

However, the executive board’s response to your presentation is lukewarm at best. You discover that business teams don’t share your excitement. Your technology team, burdened with multiple priorities, worries that this could lead to more work stress.

但是，执行委员会对您的演讲的回应充其量是冷淡的。 您会发现业务团队不会分享您的兴奋。 您的技术团队担负着多个优先事项，担心这可能导致更多的工作压力。

Don’t we often find ourselves in situations like these?

我们不是经常遇到这样的情况吗？

Even the best-laid plans falter due to ineffective communication. Industry reports say that poor internal communication costs organizations over $37 billion annually. Yet, we don’t pay as much attention to fixing our communication woes.

由于沟通不畅，即使是最好的计划也步履蹒跚。 行业报告称 ，不良的内部沟通使组织每年损失超过370亿美元。 但是，我们对解决沟通难题的关注度不高。

Let’s take a look at the similarities between blockbuster movies, stellar product launches, and successful marketing campaigns. With clear examples, we’ll discuss how technology leaders can transform into storytellers.

让我们看看大片电影，出色的产品发布和成功的营销活动之间的相似之处。 通过清晰的示例，我们将讨论技术领导者如何转变为讲故事的人。

技术领导者可以从专家讲故事中学到什么？ (What can tech leaders learn from expert storytellers?)

Picture your all-time favorite movie. The chances are that you watched it a long time ago. But I can bet that it’s fresh in your memory like you saw it a few weeks ago. What makes these movies so memorable?

描绘您历来最喜欢的电影。 您很可能很久以前就看过它。 但是我敢打赌，就像您几周前看到的那样，它在您的记忆中是新鲜的。 是什么让这些电影如此令人难忘？

Researchers say that there is a deeper connection between great movies, speeches, and business presentations. It’s the emotional arc, also called the “shape of the story.” The emotional arc is the series of emotional ups and downs in the story that hooks the audience, like a rollercoaster ride.

研究人员说，出色的电影，演讲和商务演示之间有着更深的联系。 这是情感的弧线，也称为“故事的形状”。 情感弧线是故事中一系列激动人心的风风雨雨，如坐过山车一样吸引着观众。

Master storyteller Kurt Vonnegut analyzed the shapes of popular stories and constructed their emotional arcs. A plot in which a struggling boy reunites with his girl is cliched, but it never fails to work. Remember “Pretty Woman” or “The Notebook”? They play with the time-tested emotional arc of “boy gets girl.”

讲故事的主要作家库尔特·冯内古特(Kurt Vonnegut) 分析了流行故事的形状并构建了它们的情感弧线。 一个苦苦挣扎的男孩与他的女孩重聚的情节已经过时，但它从未失败过。 还记得“漂亮女人”还是“笔记本”？ 他们玩弄了久经考验的“男孩变女孩”的情感弧度。

Here’s its shape:

形状如下：

It looks simple, right? Notice how the emotions vary in the y-axis. As viewers, we bite our nails when things fall into the negative. We cheer for the hero as he rises again to reclaim the girl, lifting the emotions high up again.

看起来很简单，对吧？ 注意情绪如何在y轴上变化。 作为观众，当事情变得消极时，我们会咬指甲。 当英雄再次升起召回女孩时，我们为他加油打气，再次将情绪抬高。

Vonnegut reconstructs the shape of many other interesting stories, including one of the most famous ones of our times — Cinderella! What’s the commonality across all of these? Each one of them uses a variation of the emotional arc to take the audience through ups and downs.

冯内古特(Vonnegut)重塑了许多其他有趣故事的形状，包括我们这个时代最著名的故事之一-灰姑娘！ 所有这些的共同点是什么？ 他们中的每一个都使用不同的情感弧度来引导观众跌宕起伏。

证明情感弧线重要性的证据 (Evidence to prove the importance of emotional arcs)

MIT’s Lab for Social Machines and McKinsey Consumer Tech team studied thousands of Vimeo videos using advanced analytics to establish the connection.

麻省理工学院的社交机器实验室和麦肯锡消费者技术团队使用先进的分析方法研究了数千个Vimeo视频，以建立连接。

Algorithms that use computer vision and audio analytics scored emotions for every scene, by the second. With the emotional arc for each story sketched out, they used machine learning to club them into eight families.

使用计算机视觉和音频分析的算法可以在第二秒为每个场景评分。 勾勒出每个故事的情感弧线后，他们使用机器学习将他们分为八个家庭。

The final part of this analysis was to bring in the outcomes — user engagement metrics such as “likes” and “comments.” The researchers found that the emotional arc of a story, generated by the AI algorithm, could predict whether or not audiences would like it.

该分析的最后一部分是引入结果-用户参与度，例如“喜欢”和“评论”。 研究人员发现，由AI算法生成的故事的情感弧度可以预测观众是否喜欢它。

您如何运用情感弧线来改善领导沟通？ (How can you apply emotional arcs to improve leadership communication?)

There are three steps to incorporate storytelling into your communications:

可以通过三个步骤将讲故事纳入您的交流中：

1.超越技术 (1. Go beyond technology)

Think about the audience a technology touches. While talking about technology, we tend to focus more on its features. We do a good job of covering the “What” and “How” but miss out on the “Who” and “Why.”

考虑技术触及的受众。 在谈论技术时，我们倾向于更多地关注其功能。 我们在涵盖“什么”和“如何”方面做得很好，但是错过了“谁”和“为什么”。

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPod, he didn’t talk about its cool engineering or the snazzy design. Instead, he told the audience that they could now carry 1000 songs in their pocket. The focus was squarely on the users and their aspirations.

当史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)推出iPod时，他并没有谈论其炫酷的设计或时髦的设计。 相反，他告诉听众他们现在可以在口袋里装1000首歌了 。 重点完全放在用户及其期望上。

Steve Jobs was a master storyteller with technology. His biggest successes were due to a deep understanding of who the customer was and why their needs were unfulfilled.

史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)是技术大师。 他最大的成功归因于对客户是谁以及为什么他们的需求得不到满足的深刻理解。

The journey to connect with your audience must start by first thinking about them. What are your user’s needs and preferences? How do they get their job done, and what are their worst nightmares?

与观众建立联系的旅程必须首先考虑他们。 您的用户的需求和偏好是什么？ 他们如何完成工作，最糟糕的噩梦是什么？

2.超越事实 (2. Go beyond facts)

Make the audience experience the possibilities. To paraphrase Maya Angelou, people may forget what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel. Often, our communications are a dry recitation of facts, and that’s why they don’t connect.

使观众体验各种可能性。 用玛雅·安杰卢(Maya Angelou)来诠释，人们可能会忘记您说的话，但他们会记住您的感受。 通常，我们的交流是事实的干dry，这就是为什么它们没有联系的原因。

Messages delivered as stories are up to 22 times more memorable than just facts, said cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner. Good stories must paint a vivid picture of the scenes as they unfold. They must use words that convey powerful emotions to move people.

认知心理学家杰罗姆·布鲁纳(Jerome Bruner)说，作为故事传递的信息比事实更令人难忘。 好的故事必须描绘出场景的生动形象。 他们必须使用传达强烈情感的词语来感动人们。

For example, when launching your digital transformation, don’t just quantify the pain areas. Get personal by picking a (fictional) user and show us her world. Explain how the challenges lead not only to lost business opportunities but to deep frustrations for the user.

例如，启动数字化转型时，不仅要量化痛苦领域。 通过选择一个(虚构的)用户来获得个性，并向我们展示她的世界。 解释挑战如何不仅导致失去商机，而且给用户带来极大的挫败感。

Introduce your initiative as the hero that will save the day. Describe the outcomes and show how it will put this user out of their misery.

将您的主动性介绍为会节省一天的英雄。 描述结果并说明它将如何使该用户摆脱困境。

3.超越传统叙事 (3. Go beyond traditional narratives)

Introduce variations to build an emotional arc. With a clear picture of the audience and an experiential message to connect with them, now make the story interesting by playing with its emotional arc. Just as a musical note has crescendos and low points, you must introduce variations into your communication.

引入变化以建立情感弧线。 借助清晰的观众画面和与他们建立联系的体验性信息，现在通过发挥其情感弧度使故事变得有趣。 正如音符有上升和低点一样，您必须在交流中引入变化。

Pause for a moment and think about your last business presentation. Did it have any variations? Did you just sequence the good news and bad news? How did you conclude it?

稍等片刻，然后考虑您的上一个业务演示。 有什么变化吗？ 您只是按顺序排列好消息还是坏消息？ 您是如何得出结论的？

Most of our presentations are informative but sequential, and…boring. The insights are arranged logically but fail to connect emotionally.

我们的大多数演讲内容丰富，但顺序却无聊。 这些见解是按逻辑排列的，但无法在情感上建立联系。

View your communication as a series of sections, like the chapters of a novel. In each section, introduce elements of suspense and tease out the resolution. Repeat this structure iteratively to keep your audience hooked.

将您的交流视为一系列章节，例如小说的章节。 在每个部分中，介绍悬念元素并挑逗解决方案。 反复重复此结构，以吸引观众。

Finally, end on a high with a vivid call-to-action to stir your audience towards the next steps.

最后，通过生动的号召性用语结束观众的热烈讨论，以引导您的听众进入下一步。

情感弧线的概念适用于各种商务沟通。 (The concept of emotional arc applies to all kinds of business communications.)

These three steps will be handy whenever you want to hold an audience’s attention and move them to action.

每当您想引起听众的注意并使他们采取行动时，这三个步骤将很方便。

Also, remember that all stories improve through iterations. Take time crafting and critiquing them. Test them out on friends, peers, and sample audiences. Take detailed feedback on what worked and where it needs to get tighter. Then incorporate changes and repeat it all over again.

另外，请记住，所有故事都会通过迭代得到改善。 花一些时间来制作和批判它们。 在朋友，同龄人和样本受众上对其进行测试。 取得详细的反馈，以了解哪些方面可行，哪些方面需要更严格。 然后合并更改并再次重复进行。

Good luck storifying and spicing up your business communications.

祝您好运，并充实您的业务沟通。

This article was first published on The Enterprisers Project. Illustrations have been added.

本文最初 发表 在《企业家计划》上。 插图已添加。