Scented Narratives: The Art of Storytelling Through Smell With Melinda Lee

Welcome to speak in flow podcast. I am so glad

you're here. Today we're going to talk about descriptive

storytelling, how to use a multisensory effect in your

stories. You can use visuals, you can use sound, you can use

smell, you can use touch. And all of these senses will add a

depth and richness into your stories. If you didn't catch the

last episode, I talked about how to use sight and sound,

including those into your story, how to do it effectively. And

today, we're going to focus in and hone in on scent and smell,

right how to do that in a way that evokes an emotion that

evokes memories. I like when I talk about these things, you're

going to start to feel something, you're going to start

to have these memories of things. And so how cool is that

when you can do that within your audience. This helps bring your

message home, this helps increase your influence. And

then it inspires people to act to think differently, to behave

differently. And in this world, in this chaotic time, we want

more leaders like you to inspire people to act more positively.

And so let's dive in. How do we bring in the sense, the sense of

sense of smell into our stories, I can just demonstrate with a

story right now. As I walked into the conference room, I can

smell the freshly brewed coffee in the air. I looked down at the

big long conference table, the cleanliness of the freshly

polished table. I sat down in the chair, the vinyl chair,

plastic. I looked at my manager, and she gaze back at me. And she

said we're not doing it that way, Melinda. I immediately

tensed up. I wanted to blurt back at her. But at that time, I

was tired. Because we had already been in previous

meetings talking over each other, going in circles not

getting anywhere. So I threw my hands up in the air. And I

decided to go back to reflect, think back at all the

conversations that we were having or not conversations more

like arguments and going in circles. And how it made me feel

it made other people feel it was so uncomfortable. At that time,

I'd already been at that company 20 years, I knew what I was

talking about. She did it she just got here. And so I was

determined to have it my way. But then what happened is nobody

heard each other. She didn't hear me, I didn't hear her. And

we just didn't get anywhere. And I didn't want to be that leader

anymore. I made a decision that was not how I want to show up as

a leader. It made me uncomfortable, it made other

people uncomfortable in the room. And so I decided to let

her make that decision. Or she's gonna make the decision anyways,

but I decided to support her on that journey. And we continued

the project. And what I realised is, we finally were able to move

on as a team, we're able to move on move forward and the

initiative, and she ended up allowing me to leave parts of

the project in ways that I didn't expect. And so I

developed new leadership skills, the team was able to move

forward and the whole company was was satisfied. And so there

was a bigger mission, a bigger purpose in this. And I

discovered more than I realised I discovered more than I

expected. And I believe that was what I learned. And I also want

to encourage you to communicate that way too. Sometimes we have

to let go of what we initially want to discover more of what we

could not or see or expect. So there in this story, I included

the scent the smell, the sense of smell into the story. From

the beginning. I went straight into the story and described the

scene and and remember I used the freshly brewed coffee. So

that could create some memories within you and you can almost

almost smell it and the freshly polished table the cleanliness

of the freshly polished table. And so those type of descriptive

words evoke memories evoke emotion. I could also add, I

just remembered, like you could also tie sense like smell to

characters. When I think about my grandmother who's no longer

bless her heart is still with us. She always smelled like

mothballs. If you don't know what mothballs are there, they

are used to, they usually put into closets or cabinets, where

they're close to differ or to make the moss like to eliminate

the moss or to make them go away because they have the saw such a

strong sense. And because it has a strong scent, they actually

read it goes into the clothes. And then I could smell it always

on my grandmother, every time I hugged her, I could smell the

scent of mothballs. So you can tie scent into memories evoking

memories evoking emotion, even though the scent of mothballs

was so strong, but it also helped me to remember my

grandmother, the warmth of my grandmother. And so it's tying

in a motion is tying in a character. And so using these,

the sense of smell can can have that effect, and increase the

richness of your story. And notice how I also use that

story, to tie in to a message to hopefully inspire you to act to

inspire you to think differently. If you're in an

argument that is going in circles and nobody's listening

to each other, potentially what you could do, how you can

reflect on your behaviour, and how what could be the possible

best next steps for you. So I use that story to engage with

you. And also tie in a message at the end of what I would hope

to inspire you to be to behave and to think. And that is how

you can use the sense of smell the sense of smell in your

stories to add that depth and also hone in a message that

engages the audience and also increases your influence as a

leader, as a communicator, and as a storyteller. And in my next

episode, we are going to tie in touch, how do we bring in touch

into your stories to add even more depth and richness. I hope

to see you I can't wait for you to join me again. Until next

time, I am your sister in speaking in flow. And when

you're in flow, prosperity, health happiness comes to you

because you know that's all around you. So continue to

embark on this journey with me. Take care