Using Storytelling to Explain the Law
A good understanding of the law is essential when it comes to how you run your business, how you develop strategies and how you avoid a trip to court. The problem is that when you try to base a meeting, a pitch or even just a conversation on law everyone’s eyes glaze over in five seconds flat.
In reality, navigating the legal landscape is a tedious task for most small business owners. However, if framed in an accessible manner, the law can form the basis for an engaging, ongoing conversation between business owners and their staff, their customers and the numerous third parties with whom they interact.
Storytelling.
The law can be clear, engaging and persuasive when you bring it to life in a story. So where do you start?
Simon Sinek is a master when it comes to storytelling, and he breaks his craft down into 3 parts: why, how and what.
● The ‘why’ is the big picture — the reason that your business needs to shift its strategy, adapt to new legislation, etc. It’s all about the mission statement for the business (providing good services, meeting customers’ needs, making the world a better place).
● The ‘how’ is the legal framework — your business will meet the ‘why’ identified above by complying with the laws and regulations that apply to it.
● The ‘what’ is the plan of action — the specific policies your business must adopt and enforce to comply with the law (the how) in pursuit of the big picture (the why).
The order here is crucial. When you deploy the ‘why, how and what’ method, you are taking your audience through a journey that not only engages them but helps them understand and relate to the more technical aspects of the conversation.
As a practical example, Apple has successfully implemented this strategy in one of the most iconic advertising campaigns of the 21st century.
Think about it. Apple isn’t selling you a product in its ad for iPods — we never even get a close-up of an iPod. Apple is selling you the ‘why’. They are selling you a lifestyle and a feeling: carefree, happy people dancing while wearing iPods. ‘How’ to get an iPod and ‘what’ an iPod is are barely part of the story because they simply aren’t the important part. It’s the ‘why’ that gets people to go out and buy Apple’s products.
It’s the ‘why’ that will get people to buy into your ideas.
So, let’s think about storytelling in the context of a small business. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) is a classic example of a complex piece of legislation that massively impacts how small businesses operate.
Let’s say that you as a business owner need to explain to one of your employees why it’s important that they don’t store any customer data on their personal computer. Starting with an explanation of GDPR probably won’t keep that employee engaged in the conversation or even get across the heavy implications that data breaches can have.
So, instead, let’s start with the ‘why’. Focus on the fact that your business is known for having integrity and for respecting its customers. Weave in an anecdote of how that employee has been a key part of maintaining these high standards. At this point, you’ll have your employee’s attention.
Now, it’s time for the ‘how’. Here, you introduce the fact that the business needs to comply with data privacy law in order to show that it respects its customers’ right to privacy. To keep energy levels up while talking about data privacy law, you will want to keep drawing on the bigger ‘why’ picture you’ve already set out, about the need to respect your customers and behave with integrity.
Finally, once the employee knows ‘why’ you’re having this conversation and ‘how’ data privacy law impacts the why of respecting customers, you bring in the ‘what’. At this point, you show your employee the business’s GDPR Privacy Policy and highlight the key provisions that apply to this employee in terms of safeguarding customers’ data. Your employee should be able to engage with you in a conversation about adhering to your business’s GDPR Privacy Policy because you’ve set up the legal compliance conversation by first talking about the why and the how. If all goes well, you’ve had a productive and motivating conversation with your employee about GDPR compliance, and nobody has fallen asleep!
All in all, storytelling is a fantastic tool that small business owners can use to make the law an asset to their business. Just remember that the law should always be at the end of the story and not the beginning.
For more on Simon Sinek and his work on storytelling, you can watch his TED Talk Here.
This article was written by Angela Mutsotso, Amber Boothe and Alberto Fasan who are participating in qLegal as part of their Law Masters studies at Queen Mary, University of London.
qLegal provides pro bono legal advice to start-ups and entrepreneurs on intellectual property, data protection, corporate and commercial law. See the qLegal website for more details and to book your appointment now. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for regular updates on issues relevant to your business.