By Contributor,Esther K. Choy
Copyright forbes
Suspense is not just for whodunnit murder mysteries. Suspense is also a key element of leadership stories.
Think of the last time you couldn’t put down a book, or when you found yourself watching another episode of a show when you should have been in bed an hour ago. What happened? Your discipline isn’t lacking a tune up. It’s because suspense was at work — engaging, you, the audience. You wanted to know what happened next. How was the problem solved?
Suspense is not just for whodunnit murder mysteries. Suspense is a key element of leadership stories, also. Suspense does not require telling a life-threatening or thrilling tale. Everyday stories which help explain your data, illustrate your character, or build team morale can also be related in suspenseful ways. Suspense keeps your audience engaged.
Anytime we guide our audience’s attention to things that “don’t add up,” they are interested in solving the mystery — they start asking themselves questions like: why is that? What information is missing? How did this resolve?
Here’s an example: Historically, organic search has been our primary driver for leads traffic. But with the adoption of AI, organic traffic is down. However, we have seen an increase in leads. What is causing this? This missing information builds suspense and your audience will lean forward in anticipation of discovering answers.
So when sharing a leadership story — whether you are on the main stage or one-on-one during a networking event — be sure to use suspense to your advantage. Here are three time-tested ways to set up a suspenseful story: Conflict, Contrast, Contradiction
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Engage Your Audience: Build Suspense with The 3Cs
Conflict builds suspense by putting a main character (perhaps you) against some kind of obstacle. In a fairy tale, it might be a dragon the hero has to vanquish, while in business the obstacle might be poor sales numbers the marketer needs to improve by the third quarter.
Contrast builds suspense by juxtaposing two disparate elements to produce tension. In Cinderella, the poor, beautiful and kind hero is contrasted with her ugly, cruel, greedy step-sisters. In a business story, contrast might look like an unexpected career change, a hedge fund manager who discovers more fulfillment as a firefighter.
Contradiction builds suspense because your audiences’ expectations are upended. In the tale Tom Thumb, the parents pray for a baby. But the baby they are given is not what they were expecting — he’s only as big as a thumb! In business, contradiction might look like a story about a successful leader, plagued by self-doubt.
Engage Your Audience: Story Examples
Here are 3 examples of suspenseful leadership stories that successfully engage the audience. Can you identify what strategies are being used?
Audience Engaging Story #1
I’m standing in front of the high school English class delivering my presentation. The room is hot and I’m nervous. I take a deep breath, finish my last notecard and ask if anyone has any questions. A boy in the back of the class room raises his hand. “Are you from England?” he asks. “You have a funny accent.” “No,” I respond. “I’m from New Jersey.”
This story uses contradiction because we don’t expect the answer to be New Jersey. Now we want to know more — why does the kid think he has a funny accent? What happened next? How does he respond to this question?
Audience Engaging Story #2
In a recent conversation with a new friend. I asked her what line of work she is in and she replied, “I’m in sales. Furniture sales.” “What type of furniture?” I asked. “Furniture for jails.”
This introduction — which leaves out key information in the beginning — builds suspense because it raises a whole host of new questions when the addition of “jails” is added. What kind of furniture do jails need? Where do they buy it from?
Audience Engaging Story #3
“Things had started badly on that June 21, with England losing to Brazil in the Football World Cup, and they had steadily been getting worse; that fateful day ended up with our being finally rescued by the Navy.”
The obstacles in this story leave us wanting to know more. What happened? Why were they rescued?
The Takeaway: Engage Your Audience With The 3Cs.
What will engage your audience? Be creative and use suspense in your next executive summary, presentation or at your next networking event. What kind of suspense will engage them? There are endless ways to build suspenseful leadership stories so turn on your creativity. If you want to test your suspenseful story on an audience before you try it out at work, come to Story Lab and let’s workshop it.
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