There was a man who punished his 3-year-old daughter just before Christmas for wasting a roll of wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a cardboard box to put under the Christmas tree.

On Christmas morning the little girl brought the gift to her father and said, “This is for you, Daddy.”

The man became embarrassed by his overreaction earlier, but his rage continued when he saw that the box contained nothing and was empty. He yelled at her; “Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?”

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, “Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, Daddy.”

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child.

Her father kept the box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the innocent love of the child who had put it there.

A timely reminder that the heart of the giver is always more important than the gift itself.

There are stories, there are good stories, and then there are stories that transform, like the one above. Great leaders understand the difference and use emotional stories to connect with and move their audience.

Its biological and research has proven that emotional stories have transformative power. Emotional stories connect better with the brain, hold a person’s attention longer, and enable greater retention of the information and concepts communicated.

Great leaders become great communicators by following a simple formula for the content of their messages:

65% emotion (pathos), 25% evidence (ethos), 10% logic (logos)

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.