Editor’s Desk: The Storytelling Issue Jessica Grossmeier, PhD, MPH 1 F ifteen years ago, I was sitting in a board room with several senior executives of a large health system. My colleagues and I had been tasked with longitudinally measuring the financial outcomes associ- ated with their employee wellness initiative, and we were there to deliver our annual report. I was nervous about the presentation because we had a complicated story to tell. Our analyses demonstrated a significant positive impact on financial outcomes, but the target goal for the return-on-investment calculation was not met. We knew the wellness initiative’s future was in jeopardy due to recent changes in executive leadership. We were told that the chief financial officer was dubious about the value of the wellness initiative and that we needed to deliver an ironclad financial justification to win his support. We had conducted many different sensitivity analyses that yielded the same conclusion: The initiative was making a positive impact but had not yet reached the targeted cost savings that the executives were expect- ing. My colleagues and I spent an hour going through the numbers, fully detailing our methodology. The leaders peppered us with ques- tions until they had finally exhausted their critical review. Then ... silence. We waited with bated breath for someone in the room to reveal their reaction about the findings. Would our positive results be enough to sustain their support for the wellness initiative? Or would the failure to reach the targeted goal signal its demise? What about all of the good the initiative was doing to support the health and well-being of their employees? The finance executive at the end of the table took a deep breath and let it out in one long, slow sigh. He removed his glasses and carefully buffed out a smudge on the lenses. Putting them back on, he leaned forward with clasped hands on the table and spoke, ‘‘I’ve got one more question that needs to be answered.’’ I could feel my breath catch in my throat as he asked, ‘‘Are we making a difference in people’s lives? Is the wellness initiative changing behavior and improving health?’’ I exhaled with relief because it was a question we could answer with a resounding ‘‘yes.’’ Previous analyses demonstrating substantial impact on health behavior and health outcomes had been shared with human resource leadership in a separate presentation months before, and we assumed these leaders would have been given a copy of that report. We were quick to summarize both the health impact results and to reference the testimonials included in the report to humanize the numbers. The meeting ended on a positive note, and I wondered to myself as we filed out of the room how we could have missed the need to tell a more complete story about how the financial outcomes aligned with the nonfinancial indicators of success. More than 90% of the employee population had been exposed to some aspect of the wellness initiative; most engaged in 3 or more components; and the majority were highly satisfied with the elements in which they participated. Health beha- viors and outcomes were substantially improved. The truth was, it would take a bit more time for the financial outcomes to emerge based on these leading indicators of success. In the meantime, it was the positive employee testimonials about the impact of the program on the quality of their lives and how the health and well-being initiative made them feel cared for and valued that sustained leadership support. As obvious as it seems now, I know I’m not alone in having to learn the hard way the important lesson about the need to tell a more effec- tive story. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman had a similar insight when he attempted to use probability statistics to influence the Israeli government to take immediate action to prevent a war with Syria. He was so stunned by the reaction to his carefully prepared report that he gave up his scientific pursuit of decision analysis reflecting, ‘‘No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.’’ 1 Carmine Gallo underscores how critical storytelling is to our very identities. In The Storyteller’s Secret, 2 he writes that ‘‘Storytelling is not something we do. Storytelling is who we are.’’ But how does one become a better storyteller? Isn’t storytelling a gift that some people are just born with? Can you really build it as a skill? And even if you 1 Health Enhancement Research Organization, Waconia, MN, USA American Journal of Health Promotion 2019, Vol. 33(3) 468-483 ª The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0890117119825525 journals.sagepub.com/home/ahp In This Issue Editor’s Desk: The Storytelling Issue By Jessica Grossmeier, PhD, MPH ................... 468 Storytelling to Inspire, Educate, and Engage By Carmine Gallo, MS ............................ 469 How to Be a Storyteller (Even If You Think You’re Not) By Laura Putnam, MA ............................ 472 The Power of Storytelling for Behavior Change and Business By Brian Passon, MS ............................. 475 Learning Through Story Listening By Shawn McCann, EdD, Jody Barto, EdD, Nancy Goldman, EdD ............................ 477 The Power of Video to Promote Corporate Wellness By Elena Valentine, BA ........................... 481 The Unlimited Potential of Storytelling as a Tool for Health Promotion By Sara Johnson, PhD ............................ 482