Anthony Hopkins has the best line in the Amistad movie, "Whoever tells the best story wins." He says this to Morgan Freeman's character as they debate how to win the freedom of the Amistad slaves. Besides being a great movie for numerous other reasons the fact that John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins character) so completely understood that the best way to persuade people, juries, judges is to tell the best story is a bonus.
Remember those words when you are trying to persuade, motivate or connect. Whoever tells the best story WINS! This goes beyond just having the best story, you must be able to TELL it, orally or in writing. Those on the Amistad had a compelling story but until they found a translator and told the story they were not winning.
All of our stories are not on the same magnitude as the Amistad but learn to tell your story in the best way possible.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Leading by a Tale
The title of this post is actually the title of an article from the Toastmasters Interantional monthly magazine. The article was authored by Caren Neile, Ph.D, ATMS/CL. In this article Caren talks about her experience trying to convince business professors of the importance of story to business communications. Fortunately she did not give up but recognized the numerous profitable companys who do use story with a purpose.
If you can get a copy of the magazine and the article it is worth reading. It is a quick read and covers not only numerous reference materials but also covers the many ways leaders can use stories.
One interesting point that Ms. Neile makes is that we all tell stories and it comes naturally to us, however some of us are better at it than others. I beleive it is a skill that can be learned through practice and the learning curve can be shortened by finding an accomplished storyteller to mentor you through the process. There are lots of storytellers who can help if you are serious about improving. Find one at the national storytelling site or numerous other state sites. Do a search on coporate storytellers and you will find a host of tellers ready to help hone your skills.
Carol Mon
Story Professional
If you can get a copy of the magazine and the article it is worth reading. It is a quick read and covers not only numerous reference materials but also covers the many ways leaders can use stories.
One interesting point that Ms. Neile makes is that we all tell stories and it comes naturally to us, however some of us are better at it than others. I beleive it is a skill that can be learned through practice and the learning curve can be shortened by finding an accomplished storyteller to mentor you through the process. There are lots of storytellers who can help if you are serious about improving. Find one at the national storytelling site or numerous other state sites. Do a search on coporate storytellers and you will find a host of tellers ready to help hone your skills.
Carol Mon
Story Professional
Monday, February 23, 2009
More Marketing Stories
This weekend, during the Oscars, I saw an ad for True North snacks, powerful and memorable. Why? The ad starts with a person telling a story of something that is important to her. In one it was a woman telling us how she started Inspiration Cafe, a restaurant for the homeless, serving them with respect and dignity. She tells this story with a lot of passion. When the story is done an announcer is heard saying Lisa finds her true north in helping the homeless, we find ours turning an ordinary nut into an extraordianry snack.
You can see this commercial and others at the web site for True North snacks. They had run a contest for stories and have collected over 2000. We all have a story to tell and smart marketers know how to use them to get their point across in an engaging and entertaining way.
Do you use stories? Think about how you can use stories more effectively to win market share. They can be your stories or your customer stories. It doesn't really matter. Remember to make your message memorable, STORIES STICK!
You can see this commercial and others at the web site for True North snacks. They had run a contest for stories and have collected over 2000. We all have a story to tell and smart marketers know how to use them to get their point across in an engaging and entertaining way.
Do you use stories? Think about how you can use stories more effectively to win market share. They can be your stories or your customer stories. It doesn't really matter. Remember to make your message memorable, STORIES STICK!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Newsweek Article
The My Turn page of the February 16th Newsweek Magazine has Ann Banks, editor of "First Person America", commenting on the importance of story in a down economy. Although the artcile is really talking more about personal stories and histories then business stories it still was an uplifiting article to those of us who feel the power of story is not fully understood.
Funny how this article came across my desk as I was looking at some information of the movie industry during the Great Depression. It seems that Hollywood and movies, one way to tell stories, had a huge boom during the depression. Experts say that people would save the little money they had to go see a movie as an escape from the tough times they were facing.
Telling stories is an inexpensive and proven method of entertainment. Spend some time with the family and tell stories. You bond with those you love and it costs nothing! If you get a chance check out Ann Banks article in Newsweek.
Funny how this article came across my desk as I was looking at some information of the movie industry during the Great Depression. It seems that Hollywood and movies, one way to tell stories, had a huge boom during the depression. Experts say that people would save the little money they had to go see a movie as an escape from the tough times they were facing.
Telling stories is an inexpensive and proven method of entertainment. Spend some time with the family and tell stories. You bond with those you love and it costs nothing! If you get a chance check out Ann Banks article in Newsweek.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
LinkedIn Groups
Social media is being talked about everywhere. So how does it help wtih Story? Well although I am more focused on oral stories I recognize stories come in all forms and so therefore I have started a group on LinkedIn for storytellers of all kinds to share their thoughts on story. If you have problems working out a story or finding the right story whatever it is, having others to "talk" to can help the process. SO.....
Check it out, join the group and get a discussion started.
Check it out, join the group and get a discussion started.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Stories Everywhere
Is it just my imagination or are stories everywhere? It seems businesses are catching on to the power of story and are using stories in all kinds of marketing. More and more advertisements are either telling someone's story or asking people to submit their own stories. This is wonderful!
Recently I heard that ESPN is asking for employees to post personal stories or those of their colleagues on the intranet. What a wonderful tool for creating shared experiences and building teams. What can you or or company do to leverage the stories of your employees or customers?
Recently I heard that ESPN is asking for employees to post personal stories or those of their colleagues on the intranet. What a wonderful tool for creating shared experiences and building teams. What can you or or company do to leverage the stories of your employees or customers?
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