Once Upon A Time – Storytelling
Storytelling is the oldest form of communication.
Long before Hollywood Blockbusters, Prime-Time TV and viral videos, tales of hardship and triumph captured the hearts and minds of humankind. Religion, politics and art is all its forms rely on a simple story structure that can also benefit businesses of any kind or size.
We remember (because we’re old enough) in the times before TV when we would sit around the the radio for “listen with mother” and of course school time was all about stories.
Then of course we have the stories we were told as kids at bedtime by our mums and dads – think about the classics you were read and then went on to read yourself and probably to your children and grandchildren (depending on your age of course)
Storytelling was the basis of our education from the early days and even today parents pass on these traditions. Life evolves around storytelling right from the early days of the Bible even (for Bible read whatever that is in your religion)
Storytelling doesn’t stop there and today in the growing world of entrepreneurs it is important to understand how important your story is and why the world wants to hear it.
We were listening to Nancy Duarte sharing her thoughts on “storytelling” on the during our drive home from the French Alps and wanted to share her tips and advice with you.
Why Storytelling?
According to Nancy
“there is a reason humans are so fascinated with stories. It’s because people are interested in transformation, and in a well told story, they see themselves in that story”
The classic three-part storytelling structure is:
1. Set up the hero as a likable person
2. The hero faces difficulty, which he or she works to overcome
3. The hero emerges, transformed.
From the perspective of your reader the key element is that they see roadblocks being overcome giving hope and creating an emotional connection.
Read Nancy’s Duarte’s Blog and the key points on Storytelling
What Is My Story?
Get tips on crafting your story from marketing expert Nancy Duarte …..
“Amid all the noise and clutter in our world today, the key to good marketing is to resonate with your audience. No one knows this better than Nancy Duarte, CEO, speaker and author of the book Resonate
Draw a map of your relationships and assign stories to the people involved. Write your name in the middle of a piece of paper, then start writing the names of people in your life—relatives, friends, colleagues, classmates, neighbors. Recall memories you shared with these people.
Draw the floor plan of your childhood home. As you create each room in the house, imagine being there. What does it look like? Where is the furniture? What is on the walls? What are the smells? Who is in the room? What are the people doing? This will evoke countless memories as you move through the rooms. Repeat this exercise for your place of business or move through the offices of the jobs you’ve held over your career.
Start to remember third-person stories: movies, books, TV show episodes, stories of people you know. Write them down. For each of these stories and memories, assign an emotion to them—surprise, betrayal, joy, devastation, triumph.
Determine who your audience is. Is it a mom who is struggling with time management? A technology professional looking for a solution? One of your vendors seeking efficiencies?
Then finally, connect the needs of your audience with the theme of a story.”
For more tips on telling your business’s story, read “Once Upon a Time in Marketing” on SUCCESS.com.
Also How to Find Your Story – also on Success.com
Hopefully by the time you have read this blog and checked out the links you will have realised how important storytelling is in your business and in your marketing and how you can build long lasting relationships through the art of storytelling.
We know that we will be getting a copy of Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audience so that we can become even better at our storytelling in our writing, our videos and our speaking.
What about you?
