Numbers make stories come alive (or raise questions about the storyteller)

Strategic storytelling starts with knowing your audience.

A lot of times we hear that numbers make stores more real. For example:

“I knocked at the door of her apartment”

Vs.

“I knocked at the door of apartment 101.”

When you see “Apartment 101,” I’m betting you saw a door with the number “101.”

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Maybe you saw a wooden door with metal numbers. Maybe you saw a metal door with the number painted on.

Another way to use numbers, especially in business stories, involves using prices.

And here’s where it gets tricky. People judge the way you spend money.

A life coach wrote, “I’m off to a conference. It will cost $1500, which seems like a lot of money, but it’s worth it.”

A business coach wrote, “I thought about going to a coworking space but they now charge $300 a month. No way will I pay that.”

A business owner at a networking event said, “Anyone here should be able to afford $60 for a dinner meeting.”