The Art and Magic of Storytelling Transforms the Optical and Exam Room

Recently, my middle school-aged son faced a new milestone — giving his first speech in class. We can all remember that moment: trying so hard to memorize our script, practicing it over and over in our rooms, and that feeling of panic that sets in when we imagine everything that could go wrong. I remember vividly being his age and just the thought of having to stand up in front of a class would make me sweat.

We spent the weekend reworking his speech, fine-tuning what he needed to say, letting him practice in front of us and being a supportive audience. Every time he got frustrated, when he couldn’t remember exactly what his paper said, I resisted the urge to chime in and help. Any parent can attest to the fact that watching our children struggle can be challenging, and we want to do anything we can to help them.  

I then had an “aha” moment. How could I help him learn his speech without just memorizing, and teach him good strategies going forward? The answer? Storytelling! The power of using a story to communicate is so important for all of us. How did it help him? Instead of him trying to memorize his speech word for word, and getting stressed if he fumbled, we stepped back and decided to make it a story. What was he trying to get across, and how could we make it more of a conversation? The result? He immediately relaxed and was able to successfully get through his presentation — not without some early fumbles, but he didn’t completely shut down if he forgot a word.

What can we learn from my 12-year-old son, and how can storytelling be useful to us in our practices? Our goals as business owners are not to get an A in our class, but to attract new patients and increase our revenue and profitability. While we are often so focused on the small details and the technical parts of what we do, telling our patients a story may be the best way to practice success.

Why is storytelling so persuasive, and why should we consider it in business? Stories elicit an emotional response, and research has shown that 80% of purchasing decisions are made with emotion. We often overload our patients with statistics and technical jargon, but stories are more memorable and persuasive than our facts and figures. According to professional storyteller Kindra Hall, “People don’t buy the thing. They buy what the thing will do for them.” Stories in our practices need to be real, organized, relatable, and delivered with great communication to be personable and effective.

How can we change the narrative in our practices and focus more on emotion? Where can we infuse creativity and help harness the power of persuasion?

Optical
The optical is (for me) the number one place that we can see an immediate affect from storytelling. The best way to think about this is comparing features versus benefits. While on the outside these may seem similar, they are quite different and can have a profound affect on your patients. We are usually focused on the “features” in our practices, or the specific attributes or technical specifications of a product. We do this REALLY well. 

Spend some time in your optical listening to your opticians use words such as AR, or antireflective coating, photochromatic or transition lenses, progressive lenses, polycarbonate/high index/trivex lenses, or “seg heights.” We talk about “PDs” and “optical centers” and polarization. We love to show how well-versed we are in speaking about our products, but how does this translate to sales?

I’d like you to consider changing your narrative to talk about the benefits instead. Instead of talking about what a product does, talk about what the patient or customer will experience with those features. Instead of talking about anti-glare lenses, simply ask your patient, “Would you like your lenses with or without glare?”  You can also add in “A glare-free lens allows people to see YOU, not the reflections in your lenses.” We all know what a non-glare does optically, but using an emotional connection changes it from a feature to a benefit.  

Simply put, the features are the “what,” and the benefits are the “why.”

Another benefit to optical storytelling? Patients like to feel that the challenges they face are not unique and know they are not alone. If you have a goal in your practice of increasing your second pair sales, this is a great tool. Our personal practice philosophy is that progressive wears should also have a near vision-only pair for reading. Instead of just offering this to our patients and moving along when they say no, we reframe with a story. “Mrs. Jones, I see you have a book with you today, what are you reading? We are so lucky to have both a great bookstore and library in our community! We have a lot of patients just like you (this is key!) who love to read, and they have found that when they sit down to read their favorite book, they love having a dedicated, reading-only pair. This gives you the entire frame for reading, which is perfect when you want to curl up in your favorite chair or read in bed.” Mrs. Jones now has invested in the story of this other person, has found common ground, and is interested in the same solution that helped them.

Exam Room
Where else can this help? In the exam room! Again, think of the words you use when you are educating patients. Even the phrase “daily disposable” is not as patient friendly as it could be. Instead of asking a patient if they’re interested in a daily disposable lens, I use storytelling. I ask patients how their lenses feel on day two, day seven, day, 14, etc., and I share success stories of other patients who may have noticed their lenses didn’t feel quite as fresh over time. I then talk about how we found success with lenses that are thrown out every day, and how they also are a healthier option for the patient (I don’t even talk about oxygen permeability, transmissibility, or dk/t). I weave in stories about myself as a contact lens wearer and my experiences as well. 

This technique can be used for anything you want to be better at communicating with a patient. The next time you want to talk about glaucoma? Instead of talking about the disease, talk about the patient. Appeal to their human side, and use stories about other patients who have dealt with similar challenges.  

While we may be pressed for time in the exam rooms, I encourage you to just change a few words in your patient education conversations. Encourage your opticians to understand and use features versus benefits and share patient success stories. Try and be conscious of using too much technical jargon, and instead, try to elicit an emotional connection and response.

So, how did my son’s presentation go? While he may not want to be a professional speaker like his mom, he said it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. In middle school, I’ll consider that a success!