December 19, 2011 Does your story have guts? Marketing Share this post: Storytelling is all the rage… In a quest for content, brands are looking to create stories to recount (online, in particular). The catch is that the stories must resonate with their audience and, more pressingly, must ring true for the employees. I see marketers (assisted by their ad agencies) attempting to create stories; but, the frequent challenge is that the raw material is weak. Thus, the story does not get traction. The irony of the word storytelling is that, in my distant memory, the term was used as kids in the context of lying: “stop telling stories!” Story in your History As a professional speaker, I tend to like saying that I tell stories. In French, the expression is discrediting: to be a “raconteur d’histoires” is not a glorious title. Can I see your story? Yet, in French, the double meaning of “histoire” (meaning, at the same time, story and history) is quite revealing and powerful. As we know, history (the high-story) is recounted by the victor. In other words, history is just a point of view. And, for many brands, the trick is to rewrite history and make sense of it. When you are living the startup, you cannot be worried about the story that will be told. That will come later with hindsight. [divider] Form, function and content: the storyteller’s mix According to the country or culture, some are more or less open to the role of a professional speaker (in terms of how much more they are prepared to pay). Depending on one’s perspective, more or less importance is given to the content over the form. The value of a professional speaker is viewed differently, particularly in the more “Latin” countries (France, Italy, Spain…) where the generally accepted pedagogical methods do not seem to have evolved. The bigger question may be aligning for what purpose, what function the speech serves. No matter the objective, the ‘truth’ is that one just cannot dissociate the content from the form. The content is transmitted through the form (the limbic part of the brain, where emotions reign). One has only to refer to the famous 78% of non-verbal communication through which a message is passed to give a little more credence to the importance of form. Yet, there remain many doubting neocortical Thomases. Most recently, I was asked to show my speeches. The lady asked me to show my presentations, as if this were the way to see better my stories. When I told her that I had slides that were meaningless without the context (i.e. just an image, one word or an expression), she rolled her eyes. How to show your story? On the way home, I got to thinking. Okay, so how does one show one’s story? How do you show the guts of your story in a powerful way? As a brand, marketers need to be telling their story repeatedly. Rule #1 of communication, especially when navigating through change management, is to keep on saying your story over and over again, so that everyone gets the story. A few key steps: First point of call: what is the story? The story must be relevant and related to one’s history (even if it is reconfigured by the victor). How to make the [short] story compelling? The human element, the acceptance of [an] imperfection, the suspense, the relevant customer insight, the voice… Finally, what is the best form or format? This, of course, depends. But, nothing could be stronger than a well done video. Video is, after all, the third most critical tab (on the top of the google home page) to fill in for one’s eReputation. And, when I say well done, I do not mean perfect, the enemy of action. As Chris Brogan says, marketers and, especially those working in digital marketing, will need to hone their video making skills. So, in order to see my story better, please check this video out. It is only part of the story, but I hope you enjoy. Three of the 5E’s of new marketing. [divider] NEWSletter Subscribe to Minter’s Bi-Weekly NEWSletter and receive a free copy of the exclusive and updated 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation Your Gift For Signing Up 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed! 5e's, 5e's of marketing, branding, Digital Marketing, emotion, marketing, professional speaker, storytelling, tell you story Minter Dial Minter Dial is an international professional speaker, author & consultant on Leadership, Branding and Digital Strategy. After a successful international career at L’Oréal, Minter Dial returned to his entrepreneurial roots and has spent the last ten years helping senior management teams and Boards to adapt to the new exigencies of the digitally enhanced marketplace. He has worked with world-class organisations to help activate their brand strategies, and figure out how best to integrate new technologies, digital tools, devices and platforms. Above all, Minter works to catalyse a change in mindset and dial up transformation. Minter received his BA in Trilingual Literature from Yale University (1987) and gained his MBA at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1993). His newest book Heartificial Empathy, Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence, bowed in December 2018 and won the Book Excellence Award 2019 as well as being shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2019. It's available in Audiobook, Kindle and Paperback. He is also co-author of Futureproof (Pearson, Sep 2017) and sole author of The Last Ring Home (Myndset Press, Nov 2016), a book and documentary film, both of which have won awards and critical acclaim. Minter has a new book on leadership, You Lead, How being yourself makes you a better leader, published by Kogan Page, that released January 2021. It's easy to inquire about booking Minter Dial here. View all posts by Minter Dial Previous post Next post
Does your story have guts? | Specialist in branding, digital marketing ... | Storytelling in the 21st Century | Scoop.it December 19, 2011 at 9:24 pm […] Does your story have guts? | Specialist in branding, digital marketing … Storytelling is all the rage… In a quest for content, brands are looking to create stories to recount (online, in particular). The catch is that the stories must resonate with … Source: themyndset.com […]
Does your story have guts? | Specialist in branding, digital marketing … | Love to read, love to learn! December 19, 2011 at 9:24 pm […] stories to recount (online, in particular). The catch is that the stories must resonate with …Via themyndset.com LD_AddCustomAttr("AdOpt", "1"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Origin", "other"); […]
Does your story have guts? | Story and Narrative | Scoop.it December 20, 2011 at 7:51 pm […] jQuery("#errors*").hide(); window.location= data.themeInternalUrl; } }); } themyndset.com – December 19, 7:33 […]
Does your story have guts? | Specialist in branding, digital marketing, social media and eLearning to help transform your organization. | The Myndset by Minter Dial | organizationalstorytelling | Scoop.it December 21, 2011 at 2:18 pm […] jQuery("#errors*").hide(); window.location= data.themeInternalUrl; } }); } themyndset.com – Today, 6:18 […]
How to find storytelling talent? The pen, the picture and the philm | Specialist in branding, digital marketing, social media and eLearning to help transform your organization. | The Myndset by Minter Dial January 11, 2012 at 7:52 pm […] is about communicating the story in a way that draws you in, makes an emotional connection. A telling story is one where the audience leaves itching to do something, to be someone […]
This Store is a Story: Living lessons for brand marketers | Branding and digital marketing strategy | The Myndset by Minter DialBranding and digital marketing strategy | The Myndset by Minter Dial December 16, 2012 at 11:51 am […] concept (thanks @MarkHurst for showing to me). Story is a store that is devised as a living story. With a temporary theme, a daily happening, a full, sensory experience and a curated set of goods […]
The journey, the sequence, the web: what's your story? | Branding and digital marketing strategy | The Myndset by Minter DialBranding and digital marketing strategy | The Myndset by Minter Dial December 16, 2012 at 11:52 am […] can use storytelling as a technique for a speech. For the more powerful brands, you can build a story, crafted out of its history. You can conceive of a beautiful story to recount in a video, in the […]
Under Armour Storytailing in Shanghai - 80% story and 20% store December 3, 2013 at 5:00 pm […] that seems to know how to break codes. Herewith the storytailing concept, a mixture of brand storytelling and retailing, launched in Shanghai. Below, I wanted to highlight their Shibuya Tokyo […]
How to find storytelling talent? The pen, the picture and the... July 27, 2015 at 7:42 pm […] is about communicating the story in a way that draws you in, makes an emotional connection. A telling story is one where the audience leaves itching to do something, to be someone […]