storytelling

Creating and Curating an Experience Your Audience Will Remember

We like to be entertained.

We enjoy storytellers that can transplant us into fantastical realms and take our imaginations on rides that we?d never usually imagine.

We like touchpoints.

We feel more in tune with those that directly reach out to us and hold our hands; guide us; share their experience and involvement with something, and make us feel that we?re the only people that they?re talking to at that given time.

Simply put, we enjoy being?part of the experience.

The best storytellers are that because their audience is enveloped by the words from the pen or the lips of the person telling the story.

The best touchpoints are the ones that leave us with a lasting impression long after the initial touch has happened.

[clickToTweet tweet=”The best #storytellers connect what is and what can be.” quote=”The best storytellers connect what is and what can be.”]

You need to be the storyteller. The touchpoint. The connection between what is and what can be.

This can be for your business, your blog, your online or offline persona ? in other words,?you.

So how do you become the experience everyone wants to be part of?

Create and Curate

Our time is busy ? you need to offer us a reason to take part in whatever your experience is offering. We need to feel that there?s benefit or relevance ? otherwise, is there any point in checking out your experience to start with?

Some areas to consider:

Does it?save me time?
Will it offer me?something I can?t get elsewhere?(or at least be significantly different)?
How much of a role?can I play in it?
What?s the?long-term approach?? is there one or is it just a one-off?

Once you?ve created the experience, your job is only just beginning. But then that?s all part of good storytelling ? raise the interest then keep it going.

Offer me tidbits?and teasers as the experience draws near.

Build excitement?by offering plot points ? these could be a big sale coming up, a new product?s blurred image, a special guest blogger?s shadowed profile only in a teaser post.

Keep the touchpoints alive?by using your storytelling experience to hint at future experiences ? make the experience the first part of an ongoing deal (business events, sales promotions, a blog post series, etc), and ensure your audience knows this is the case.

Create the experience. Tell a story around it. Draw in the crowd with a warm welcome.

Look after the?before, during and after.

Ask readers of your story and visitors to your touchpoints what they enjoyed, and how they?d like to see the tale(s) progress.

Feedback can turn into payback ? don?t lose that impetus.

We want to be entertained, but we want to be entertained honestly and feel that you mean it.

You can do that, can?t you?

Can You Tell Your Story Without Using Words?

A little while back, I took my daughter Salem to the local library, where we played games, made little toys, and read books together.

My wife was at an event all weekend with her publisher company, and my son was playing at the weekly sports curriculum at our local community centre.

Given my daughter loves her books at home, the library was an obvious choice for us to hang out while Ewan did his sports thing (the fact it’s in the same community centre didn’t hurt).

As we were browsing through the books in the children’s section, we came across a shelf marked “Wordless books”. On it were several books where, as the shelf sign suggests, pictures replace words to tell the story.

Salem chose The Boy and the Airplane, by Mark Pett, and we sat down on one of the little sofas and began to read. Or view. I’m not sure what the right term for the activity of going through a wordlesss book would be.

And it was magical.

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words, And More

Before picking up the book, I’d heard of Mark and his reputation as a writer and illustrator. As an introduction to him and his work, The Boy and the Airplane had me wanting more.

As Salem and I turned each page, the story of a young boy’s attempts to retrieve his stranded toy airplane from the roof of a house held the two of us enthralled.

Boy and the airplane — The Boy and the Airplane – Copyright Mark Pett 2013.

Even though Salem was only three at the time, and wasn’t quite at the stage where she can read for herself, the book’s beautiful illustrations made sure she understood what was happening.

When she saw the images above, she looked to me and said, “He’s happy.”

When the boy’s plane landed on the roof in the image below, her demeanour changed and she said, “Oh no, boy sad.”

Boy and the airplane on the roof — The Boy and the Airplane – Copyright Mark Pett 2013

As we made our way through the book, and the various things the boy tries to get his airplane back, we shared little looks and words with each other, and what the boy was going to do next.

When the boy finally resolved his problem (and I won’t spoil it for you – seriously, get out and buy the book, even if you don’t have young kids!), Salem looked at me and said, “Aww, that was a good story, daddy.”

And it was. And it showed how a simple book, with hand-drawn pictures, could tell a story many other books would need several thousand words to do.

How Does Your Story Get Told?

One of the things we’re constantly being told online is that we need to “tell our story” to connect with those we want to connect with – blog readers, business customers, potential employees, etc.

And it’s true – after all, if we don’t connect with the person or business that’s looking to attract and retain our attention over the countless other options?out there, why should we bother?

As a tool to help foster these connections, storytelling is a great tactic to have in our arsenal. Of course, it can be easier said than done.

My friend Mark Evans, one of Canada’s leading tech and startup advisers, has a new book out, Storytelling for Startups, that looks at this in more depth. In it he shares examples of how storytelling can work for pretty much any brand.

Gini Dietrich believes this too, and often shares examples of how storytelling has helped shape a brand’s voice and direction.

So, it’s clear – storytelling can play an important role in any goal we may have when it comes to growth.

The question is, of course, how does your story get told? Is it through words? Pictures? Videos? Testimonials? Employee advocacy?

There are many ways for a story to be told, but only one way for a story to be heard – and that’s through the eyes and ears of your audience as the path to capturing their hearts.

Much like Mark Pett’s wordless book, get that part right and you’ve almost won the battle before it’s even begun.

The Cautionary Tale of Balderdash and Hogwash

Back in the day, two friends named Balderdash and Hogwash decided they wanted to be seen as really smart.

So they decided to share their thinking and position it as Fairly Important Correctionable Tales In Other News (FICTION).

Seeing that there was a market for people looking for information, Balderdash and Hogwash decided that their brand of FICTION was just what the world needed.

So off they set, taking their words of wisdom with them.

Can You Tell Your Story Without Using Words?

Over the weekend, I took my daughter Salem to the local library, where we played games, made little toys, and read books together.

My wife was at an event all weekend with her publisher company, and my son was playing at the weekly sports curriculum at our local community centre.

Given my daughter loves her books at home, the library was an obvious choice for us to hang out while Ewan did his sports thing (the fact it’s in the same community centre didn’t hurt).

And it was magical.

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words, And More

Before picking up the book, I’d heard of Mark and his reputation as a writer and illustrator. As an introduction to him and his work, The Boy and the Airplane had me wanting more.

As Salem and I turned each page, the story of a young boy’s attempts to retrieve his stranded toy airplane from the roof of a house held the two of us enthralled.

Even though Salem is only three, and isn’t quite at the stage where she can read for herself, the book’s beautiful illustrations made sure she understood what was happening.

When she saw the images above, she looked to me and said, “He’s happy.”

When the boy’s plane landed on the roof in the image below, her demeanour changed and she said, “Oh no, boy sad.”

As we made our way through the book, and the various things the boy tries to get his airplane back, we shared little looks and words with each other, and what the boy was going to do next.

And it was. And it showed how a simple book, with hand-drawn pictures, could tell a story many other books would need several thousand words to do.

How Does Your Story Get Told?

And it’s true – after all, if we don’t connect with the person or business that’s looking to attract and retain our attention over the countless other options?out there, why should we bother?

As a tool to help foster these connections, storytelling is a great tactic to have in our arsenal. Of course, it can be easier said than done.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Can you capture the hearts of your audience without using any words to do so? #storytelling” quote=”Can you capture the hearts of your audience without using any words to do so? #storytelling”]

My friend Mark Evans, one of Canada’s leading tech and startup advisers, has a new book out, Storytelling for Startups, that looks at this in more depth.?In it he shares examples of how storytelling can work for pretty much any brand.

Gini Dietrich believes this too, and often shares examples of how storytelling has helped shape a brand’s voice and direction.

So, it’s clear – storytelling can play an important role in any goal we may have when it comes to growth.

The question is, of course, how does your story get told? Is it through words? Pictures? Videos? Testimonials? Employee advocacy?

There are many ways for a story to be told, but only one way for a story to be heard – and that’s through the eyes and ears of your audience as the path to capturing their hearts.

Much like Mark Pett’s wordless book, get that part right and you’ve almost won the battle before it’s even begun.

The Boy With the Bread – A Business Parable

In a small town not far from you, a boy watched his father at work. His father was the town baker, and every morning without fail he?d rise at 3:00am to begin the day?s baking.

Fresh pastries, sugar-coated sweetbread, biscuits of all shapes and sizes and ? the most popular ? the softest bread you could ever hope to eat.

All the ingredients for the bakery came from the local farmers and shops. Since the town was small and fairly isolated, this was more of necessity than choice, although helping the local community was more than just an added bonus.

It was the thing that shaped the boy?s future.

Shared Treasures

As he watched his father hard at work, and the shoppers who would come to the bakery and buy the savouries and pastries and bread, the boy also noted how some could afford more than others.

He?d watch at school how children of the wealthier ? and thus, perceived more influential ? parents would have fresher bread and tastier pastries (not to mention more of them).

As someone who didn?t have to worry about how fresh his food was, he didn?t like the idea of his friends not sharing the same good fortune. So he hatched a plan.

He asked his father if he could learn to bake. He?d watched him enough times in fascination; now he wanted to become more than just the pupil.

His father agreed, and soon the boy was making small pastries and bread rolls. Nothing too fancy, but enough to begin to learn the intricacies of how dough was shaped; how heat would turn a mess of ingredients into a masterpiece of flavours; and much more.

The boy would always bake more than the shop needed, though, and pocket the best ones for school. There, he?d share his treasure with the less well-to-do kids. The boy soon became known as the boy with the bread, and the faces of his friends would light up on baking day.

This continued through high school, where the boy?s skills had become more evident in the soft bread and sweet cakes that even his father had never been able to make. It was even said that the boy with the bread was instrumental in helping the school team win their first football trophy, by keeping players fed on a daily diet of goodness they would never be able to afford.

When time for college came, tragedy struck. The boy?s father, the town baker, became ill and was unable to run the bakery. So, instead of going to college with his other friends, the boy took over the bakery and kept the town stocked with the freshest baked goods.

Years went by and, as with many small towns, the one in which the boy grew into a man changed. Large retailers moved in, chain stores replaced family businesses, and the boy-now-a-man saw his long-passed father?s beloved bakery suffer. He knew it wouldn?t be long before he too, had to close.

But he didn?t close.

Instead, all his life choices came back in one single visit from an old school friend. Someone the boy had fed the secret fresh bread to. Someone who?d been the star quarterback on the football team that was fed to victory by the boy.

Future Legacies

Someone who had never forgotten the boy with the bread and how that boy had made him the person he was today. The boy?s old school friend had aced college, started his own business, invested wisely and was now a millionaire several times over.

The old school friend knew about the troubled times the boy-now-man was going through. This made what had to be done easier. He bought the bakery and told the boy with the bread that the bakery must never shut.

And it never did. It?s still there today, flourishing under the food of the baker and the guidance of the old school friend. They ship their foods further afield now, and fancy restaurants eat the savouries and sweets that only the small town had known about before.

The boy with the bread is now the man with the bread and his father?s legacy remains.

Everyone starts somewhere. We never know who will become what, or how our paths may cross with those that can change our lives forever with one single motion.

In your business, you might be the boy with the bread now. But the decisions you take today will be altering the future already. Instead of chasing that one big client, build relationships with many smaller ones ? one of them might be the next Apple.

Instead of trying to get the attention of the influencers and A-listers for your blogger outreach program, develop touch points and feed the smaller bloggers ? even Seth Godin was an unknown at one point.

Instead of just watching what others are doing, learn your trade and help others grow through it. The earth is round ? your good deed will find its way back around to you at some point, and often when you need it the most.

The boy with the bread is in every one of us; it?s how we share that bread that defines us.

This is a chapter from my Parables of Business ebook, helping businesses understand how old wisdom can help shape new mindsets. You can learn more about the book, and grab your own copy, here for just $0.99.