Visual Storytelling 101 FlowingData | Data Visualization, Infographics, and Statistics How To Become The Superhero Of Your Own Story - Personal Branding Strategy By Robin Fisher Roffer Last week I was in a pitch meeting with a television network. I was in the president’s office seated with six of his key executives on chairs and sofas around a large coffee table. The informal setting was cozy and the vibe was warm and friendly. After introductions, my prospective client said, “Tell me about yourself and your company.” I started at the very beginning – sharing that my dad was a single parent who taught my sister and me the ad business at an early age. Here’s what I didn’t do: whine about not having a mom growing up, elaborate on personal challenges, complain about difficult clients, lie about my accomplishments, go off on tangents, diminish my talents, overstate what I could deliver or drone on without focus. Building a captivating story about yourself involves sharing the epic moments in your life that reveal your true character. In addition to creating a signature story, it’s important that you demonstrate that you’re on a heroic quest.
Google Plus as a Storytelling Platform One great value of Google+ is that it makes a great platform for cultivating visibility. If your organization is hoping to “save a seat at the table” in between sales calls, one way to do this is to create compelling content that nurtures your business relationships by educating your community and by making them the hero in their own story. Said differently: If you want to nurture leads while they’re still at the wide end of the sales funnel, using Google+ is an effective addition to your content marketing strategies. Using Google+ for Content Marketing First, realize that Google+ indexes any post you submit to the “Public” sharing option, meaning that the information in such a post is searchable in Google (the search engine, not the social network) within a few hours. It’s not enough to write a post that just says “AJ Bombers is the best restaurant for kids in Milwaukee.” If you can’t see the video click here. Why? Mix It Up A Bit Build an Editorial Calendar Editorial Calendar – Sample
Why Stories Sell: Transportation Leads to Persuasion Psychological research on persuasion suggests that stories which transport people are more likely to be persuasive. Marketers have known for years that stories are a powerful tool for persuading people. That’s partly because stories (unlike statistics) are easy to understand. That’s why politicians try to persuade us by telling stories about their vision of the world. They do spout statistics as well, but normally only in support of some kind of grand narrative. We instinctively understand that people resist being told what to do, but will respond to the moral of a story. Engage to persuade Research suggests that trying to persuade people by telling them stories does indeed work (Green & Brock, 2000). Stories work so well to persuade us because, if they’re well told, we get swept up in them, we are transported inside them. Transportation is key to why they work. Stories which contain emotional elements draw in those looking for an emotional charge. Crafting better stories
The New Rules of Customer Engagement The rise of the social Web has led to a fundamental shift in the way businesses of all sizes engage with their customers. Rather than focusing on "touch points" during the marketing and sales process, they're using social technologies to form meaningful, ongoing relationships that involve frequent online interactions, oftentimes through social channels. It is paying off: Companies that engage with their customers via social media have more loyal customers. How can your business see this sort of boost? 1. Customer engagement is no longer a series of one-off experiences—it's an ongoing dialogue. Another aspect of this spectrum is the relationships that your customers form with each other. 2. Although communication with your customers is an ongoing dialogue, you need not be chatting just for the sake of it. 3. In the past, company-customer interaction happened in siloed, closed-off settings. You want to be able to interact with your customers in the context of their daily lives. 4. 5.
Leadership and Storytelling Leadership and storytelling go hand-in-hand. In fact, leaders who lack the ability to leverage the power and influence of storytelling are missing the very essence of what accounts for compelling leadership to begin with – the story. If you’ve ever been captivated by a skilled orator whose articulation and eloquence has influenced your thinking, you understand the power of the art of story. I refer to story as an art form because it is. Storytelling requires talent and practice, but as with any worthy discipline, the investment yields great benefit. A story is the root level driver behind successfully communicating any message. There is no denying everybody loves a good story, and there are numerous reasons why. As a leader, it’s your ability to tell a a compelling story that sets the tone from the top. Stories are also quite revealing. By contrast, the authentic and appropriate use of story has an outward focus, and is laced with “we” and “our” as the main points of emphasis. Thoughts?
Tell your story and change perceptions Successful marketers tell a compelling story, and that story creates word-of-mouth. They don’t talk about features or even benefits. They tell a story that we intuitively embrace, buy into, then pass on to other people, writes Robert Clay of Marketing Wizdom. Companies go from start-up to market leadership through the correct use of stories. Present your story to the right people in the right way, and they will intuitively embrace it, buy into it, develop a passion for what you do and pass your story on for you. An Innocent Promise In less than 10 years Innocent has become one of the best selling juice brands in the UK. “An Innocent Promise: We promise that anything innocent will always taste good and do you good. Pret’s Passion Facts Pret have always been brilliant at this, too. “Just roasted. “Chop Chop. Stories like this succeed because they make the invisible visible. Great stories should be aimed at a specific group of people who are in the market right now for what you offer.
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling « Aerogramme Writers' Studio These rules were originally tweeted by Emma Coats, Pixar’s Story Artist. Number 9 on the list – When you’re stuck, make a list of what wouldn’t happen next – is a great one and can apply to writers in all genres. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___.