Founder and CEO of OnPrpose Inc., helping left-brain industries tell stories as interesting as the work they do.
When was the last time you landed on an industry website and thought, “Man, I hope I never have to leave. This is interesting, compelling and entirely relevant to my business, my life and my future”?
Yeah, me neither.
Your industry isn’t boring. Of course, you know that, but I bet your website isn’t helping your case. Many websites are the aggregate of information about a business, maybe a sales pitch and a contact form. You might even have some stock images in place to represent “your people” doing the work.
Websites are a great proxy for the problem we see in business communications. Yes, the problem extends to meetings, presentations, collateral materials, emails, etc. We’ve lost the stories—the interesting people, the drama, the action, the struggle, the epiphany and the great resolution. The big wins. The losses.
Instead, we’ve traded it all for corporate speak, jargon, impersonal references to business strategy and results, forgetting what we’re doing it all for in the first place.
People. The human experience. Our place on earth. Our innate need to make progress.
This is where storytelling comes in.
We’ve been telling stories for at least 30,000 years, when drawings lined cave walls. They are the human tool we use to connect, relate and cooperate with each other. We’re wired for stories, so let’s start telling them.
As a positive byproduct, you’ll probably sell more of whatever it is you build or do. You may even have happier, more productive employees who can connect who they are and what they do to something bigger. Something that matters.
But to do any of that, you have to stop sharing information and start telling stories. For instance, if you introduce a classroom of first graders to an astronaut, they’ll think she has the coolest job in the world. But if she answers the question, “What’s it like in space?” with a rundown of the hundreds of procedures and protocols she had to follow before the shuttle launched, she loses the room—and fast.
Why? Because kids want to know how it felt to float weightless, what Earth looked like out the shuttle window and if she ever got scared. They want the story of being in space.
Your next mission: Build an UNboring story of change.
You’re human. You tell stories all day long. Are they good ones? Do they help your important audiences see the world differently, align on a cause or a solution? Do you make it easy for people to connect, relate and get on board?
Here’s how to tell a strategic story that triggers action.
Start with your audience, your mission and the change you want to make.
We tell stories to trigger a response in people, whether that’s one-on-one, with our teams, entire organizations or communities. The first step is finding the meaning you want to share. This is strategy—making choices about the change you want to make with the audience that matters most.
Is it your team, potential employees, your industry or your customers?
Develop your story goal: My goal is to encourage [audience] to go from thinking, feeling, doing [what] to thinking, feeling doing [something better] because [audience-focused benefits].
Set the story arc: the before, the after and the catalyst for change.
All stories have change in them—human change. It’s not a story without it. There’s a moment, a lesson, a trigger that shifts every story from “before” to “after”—hopefully happily ever after.
• Start with the end in mind. What is the desired outcome, the better future state?
• Identify the catalyst for change. Is it a product, service a new way of thinking or doing?
• What’s the world like without the catalyst? What’s the undesirable status quo?
Build a story you’d want to read, watch or hear.
This isn’t about strategies, products, services or performance management systems. It’s about people.
1. Set the scene.
Describe the current situation in terms your audience would use. When you set the scene, you hook your audience and start creating drama—a key element in capturing their attention and drawing them into your story.
“That could be me” is a powerful thought.
2. Establish the stakes.
What happens if we continue doing what we’ve always done? Understanding what’s at risk builds drama and helps create empathy with your audience. If they care, they’ll just have to stick with you to the end of your story to learn what happens.
Think about it: When’s the last time you walked out of the theatre in the middle of a good movie?
3. Reveal the moment of truth.
It’s here: the moment that changes everything. What’s your catalyst? Describe the change, the problem it solves and the potential it creates.
4. Deliver the happy ending.
Welcome to the better future. If you’ve done your job well, the audience will be with you on the journey, wanting the same outcomes.
Once you can describe the basic arc of your story, it’s time to flesh it out with details that matter to your audience. Remember, this isn’t the time to start loading up your story with information like product specs and features. Instead, focus on adding details that stir up authentic emotions, build additional empathy and round out characters your audience can relate to.
Now, go have a conversation with your website. If you don’t fall asleep, see how you can build better stories into the experience.
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