The Art of Storytelling: Part I

Storytelling isn’t just a way to share your business’s stories and information; it’s a way to connect with your audience and elicit meaningful emotions on their voyage through their customer journey. In today’s episode of Aligned, we’re taking a look through the Aligned Archives to relisten to Sean’s conversation with commercial film director Taylor Robinson in this two-part episode. The topic? The art of storytelling.

Applying storytelling to sales:

• The difference between bad and good storytelling is the dialogue that allows the viewer to participate.
• A good story is, above all, relatable to the audience in some way. 
• Taylor’s favorite movie is Jaws, yet he has never been attacked or bitten by a shark. 
• However, he knows what it's like to be scared. And great storytelling finds the shared link (like an emotion) to make the audience experience the story themselves.  
• Often, the most challenging hurdle Taylor encounters when working with clients is the initial creative process, and the marketer or professional doesn’t know their story.
• Companies tend to talk about themselves. But the secret is to stop and ask what stories your audience wants to hear.

Starting a Successful Story:

• Start with two things: First, what do you want to accomplish? Second, what information does the audience need to achieve what I want to accomplish?
• When crafting your story, begin with a hook: an attention-grabbing narrative that establishes the problem.
• Story structure can be broken down into four parts: the problem, the character, the solution, and the place.

Crafting stories to achieve business goals:

• Your business should always be secondary. If you want to create a powerful video, your true star is the relatable emotion or problem.
• An essential secret to storytelling? The stakes, or what the main character stands to gain or lose.
• If you've got a story with no problem, you don't have a story. You have a list of features.

What do I do if I see my competitors also telling people stories? 

• Testimonials are a popular thing, and many businesses rely on them. So how do you make better ones? The good can only be as good as the bad is bad.
• People want to know what happens next. Even if it’s a bad or repetitive story, the journey to the solution is naturally captivating.

You want the audience to be the hero, not the business (or the product.)

• You want the highest possible production value you can afford.
• If you want your brand to appeal to your target audience, you need to create messages that look valuable.
• For smaller companies and organizations, you probably don’t need to (and can’t) spend $2 million on a TV commercial. But companies like Coca-Cola have to because they’re selling more than sugar and water; they’re selling a brand, lifestyle, and identity.

Storytelling is a business tool that can draw more value from your marketplace.

• Your marketing message should look like the brand you aspire to be, not who you currently are.
• The customer should be the hero, not your business. By demonstrating what is at stake, you’ll keep people invested in the outcome. 
• But also, just don’t overthink it. The art of storytelling is very simple, and if you understand the simple elements of a great story, you’ll be successful.

Episode Resources:

• Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull. 
• Order Sean’s book Shift.
• To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page. 
• You can find Taylor Robinson’s production company at sixfootfive.com and his storytelling organization at arcstories.com. 
• Save the Cat by Blake Snyder details the steps to a great story, especially on the screen.