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Scented Narratives: The Art of Storytelling Through Smell With Melinda Lee · Speak In Flow

• 0:01
  Melinda Lee: Welcome to speak in flow podcast. I am so glad
• 0:05
  you're here. Today we're going to talk about descriptive
• 0:08
  storytelling, how to use a multisensory effect in your
• 0:14
  stories. You can use visuals, you can use sound, you can use
• 0:18
  smell, you can use touch. And all of these senses will add a
• 0:23
  depth and richness into your stories. If you didn't catch the
• 0:28
  last episode, I talked about how to use sight and sound,
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  including those into your story, how to do it effectively. And
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  today, we're going to focus in and hone in on scent and smell,
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  right how to do that in a way that evokes an emotion that
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  evokes memories. I like when I talk about these things, you're
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  going to start to feel something, you're going to start
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  to have these memories of things. And so how cool is that
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  when you can do that within your audience. This helps bring your
• 1:02
  message home, this helps increase your influence. And
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  then it inspires people to act to think differently, to behave
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  differently. And in this world, in this chaotic time, we want
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  more leaders like you to inspire people to act more positively.
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  And so let's dive in. How do we bring in the sense, the sense of
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  sense of smell into our stories, I can just demonstrate with a
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  story right now. As I walked into the conference room, I can
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  smell the freshly brewed coffee in the air. I looked down at the
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  big long conference table, the cleanliness of the freshly
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  polished table. I sat down in the chair, the vinyl chair,
• 2:00
  plastic. I looked at my manager, and she gaze back at me. And she
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  said we're not doing it that way, Melinda. I immediately
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  tensed up. I wanted to blurt back at her. But at that time, I
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  was tired. Because we had already been in previous
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  meetings talking over each other, going in circles not
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  getting anywhere. So I threw my hands up in the air. And I
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  decided to go back to reflect, think back at all the
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  conversations that we were having or not conversations more
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  like arguments and going in circles. And how it made me feel
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  it made other people feel it was so uncomfortable. At that time,
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  I'd already been at that company 20 years, I knew what I was
• 2:52
  talking about. She did it she just got here. And so I was
• 2:57
  determined to have it my way. But then what happened is nobody
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  heard each other. She didn't hear me, I didn't hear her. And
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  we just didn't get anywhere. And I didn't want to be that leader
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  anymore. I made a decision that was not how I want to show up as
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  a leader. It made me uncomfortable, it made other
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  people uncomfortable in the room. And so I decided to let
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  her make that decision. Or she's gonna make the decision anyways,
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  but I decided to support her on that journey. And we continued
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  the project. And what I realised is, we finally were able to move
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  on as a team, we're able to move on move forward and the
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  initiative, and she ended up allowing me to leave parts of
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  the project in ways that I didn't expect. And so I
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  developed new leadership skills, the team was able to move
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  forward and the whole company was was satisfied. And so there
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  was a bigger mission, a bigger purpose in this. And I
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  discovered more than I realised I discovered more than I
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  expected. And I believe that was what I learned. And I also want
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  to encourage you to communicate that way too. Sometimes we have
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  to let go of what we initially want to discover more of what we
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  could not or see or expect. So there in this story, I included
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  the scent the smell, the sense of smell into the story. From
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  the beginning. I went straight into the story and described the
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  scene and and remember I used the freshly brewed coffee. So
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  that could create some memories within you and you can almost
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  almost smell it and the freshly polished table the cleanliness
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  of the freshly polished table. And so those type of descriptive
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  words evoke memories evoke emotion. I could also add, I
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  just remembered, like you could also tie sense like smell to
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  characters. When I think about my grandmother who's no longer
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  bless her heart is still with us. She always smelled like
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  mothballs. If you don't know what mothballs are there, they
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  are used to, they usually put into closets or cabinets, where
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  they're close to differ or to make the moss like to eliminate
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  the moss or to make them go away because they have the saw such a
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  strong sense. And because it has a strong scent, they actually
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  read it goes into the clothes. And then I could smell it always
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  on my grandmother, every time I hugged her, I could smell the
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  scent of mothballs. So you can tie scent into memories evoking
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  memories evoking emotion, even though the scent of mothballs
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  was so strong, but it also helped me to remember my
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  grandmother, the warmth of my grandmother. And so it's tying
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  in a motion is tying in a character. And so using these,
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  the sense of smell can can have that effect, and increase the
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  richness of your story. And notice how I also use that
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  story, to tie in to a message to hopefully inspire you to act to
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  inspire you to think differently. If you're in an
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  argument that is going in circles and nobody's listening
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  to each other, potentially what you could do, how you can
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  reflect on your behaviour, and how what could be the possible
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  best next steps for you. So I use that story to engage with
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  you. And also tie in a message at the end of what I would hope
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  to inspire you to be to behave and to think. And that is how
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  you can use the sense of smell the sense of smell in your
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  stories to add that depth and also hone in a message that
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  engages the audience and also increases your influence as a
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  leader, as a communicator, and as a storyteller. And in my next
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  episode, we are going to tie in touch, how do we bring in touch
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  into your stories to add even more depth and richness. I hope
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  to see you I can't wait for you to join me again. Until next
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  time, I am your sister in speaking in flow. And when
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  you're in flow, prosperity, health happiness comes to you
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  because you know that's all around you. So continue to
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  embark on this journey with me. Take care