Just Story It

Aaaarrrgghhhh!! See me running down the corridor screaming. I can't believe that this kind of material about storytelling is being shared -- and at SXSW no less.

I love John Hagel and his wriitings on biz storytelling. Gotta say though, I'm disappointed with this latest twist. Now I will say, I don't know exactly what Hagel said at the conference, and the article is someone reporting on/interpreting what he said.

According to this author, Sarah Skerik who was reporting on Hagel's presenation at SXSW, stories are out, narratives are in. Sounds like a marketing ploy to me.

Why? Because Hagel is saying that stories are not participatory, that they are told to the reader from the vantage point of the teller. Then the reader moves on to other things.

Whoa -- stop the trains! This perpetuates the myth that storytelling all about 'telling'. Story dynamics demonstrates over and over again that all stories are participatory. The medium determines the degree of participation. Writing is engaging -- just less so than oral storytelling. No one simply reads a story passively. A story is being created in the hearts and minds of the reader -- especially if it is a compelling one.

Any experienced well trained storyteller -- in business or otherwise -- knows that telling is only half the equation. Listening to the audience and creating a co-created experience is the real value of sharing stories. And the secret to using stories in business is the all about listening and story sharing. That means you are listening to the stories customers and prospects share with you in return. That is highly participatory!

Hagel's next point is that narrative trumps story because a narrative can be never ending but stories stop -- narrative is always evolving, and promotes participation/engagement.

What a false dichotomy! All stories evolve and are shaped over time. Your core biz stories evolve if you are doing the story sharing and listening thing right. Your biz story -- made up of smaller stories -- is always emerging.

If we are going to talk of narrative at all, your business narrative is the accumulation of all of your business stories. And they are always in a dynamic flow, especially if you are building stories together with your clients/customers.

In the end we agree -- business marketing is moving into living brand streams. Based in clearly understanding story dynamics. Not through making these distinctions as Hagel that creates a false mythology about business storytelling.

Bottom line -- we are both saying that listening to your audience, co-creating stories, and leveraging participation are the real functions of business storytelling. That's where you need to pay attention.

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it 

While this article focuses on reading, think of all the biz stories you tell in your content creation across platforms -- blogs, websites, emails, articles, presentations, videos, digital stories, and the like. 

The results will be the same. And the research holds true for sharing stories in person, too.

It is fascinating that the more a listener is engage in a story, the more empathy grows over time. People become more empathetic through storytelling.

What's the take-away here for businesses? If you want emotional engagement and people feeling empathy towards you and your company, share stories.

But not any old story. Share stories with characters they can relate to. If they can't relate, no engagement, no empathy. And it must be told in a way that people can connect to. In other words, deliver a story badly and you won't get the engagement, empathy, or result you are seeking.

Leaders need to know this when sharing stories about values, vision, change efforts, etc. Marketers need to know this for brand loyalty. Small businesses and entrepreneurs need to know this for relationship sales.

This is a very short article with powerful points. Even better, there's a link to the original research so you can really get all the insights.

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it

Here author and story practitioner David Lee tackles how to connect employees and customers around storytelling to build engagement, enhance customer service, and build both branding and corporate culture efforts.

Like David's previous article on employee orientation and storytelling, articles about the specifics (not platitudes) of how to link customers and employee together so stories are generated are few and far between.

There are both good insights and good tips here. Particularly about addressing the common 'line of sight' problem. Enjoy!

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it

This article by Alan Snitow goes right along with the other article I curated today on Anthrocapitalism. 

Here Snitow talks about the massive shifts in consumer attitudes/behaviors that are creating shifts in marketing and branding.

The author suggests that one of these huge shifts is away from 'aspiration' marketing, where consumers aspire to buy their way into a better life, to 'inspiration' marketing. Inspiration marketing is focused less on what companies can give, and more on what consumers themselves can achieve. In other words, making customers the hero of the story.

But there is more here to the discussion and I encourage you to read the article. It's not that long and makes great points.

Even better, Snitow shares short videos of companies who have moved from aspirational to inspirational marketing. Perhaps this is what your business needs to do.

And once again, I wonder about the influence of storytelling. Of course stories fit exceedingly well into inspirational marketing.

Yet how much has the awareness, education in, and experiences with stories shaping the conversation and this movement? Maybe it is more of a chicken-and-egg syndrome.

In any event, I find it fascinating that this article and the one on anthrocapitalism show up on the same day but from different sources. And on the same day I received an email newsletter talking about how businesses are now in a post-Demming-process era and now in the era of valueing people in business. And the business was re-defining all of its work to meet this new direction. 

Well, certainly these discussions about the value of people over profits in business have been around for years. Only time will tell if trend watchers are actually seeing shifts that will stick, or if we are all just spitting into the wind again.

How will you show up in 2013? Your thoughts?

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling atwww.scoop.it/t/just-story-it