Category: Uncategorized

The Difference a Story Makes When Seeking to Impress

David Sturt at TEDx SaltLakeCity

First off…I don’t mean “impress” like “impress your friends and family”.

I mean “impress upon the audience the importance of your point” and make that point memorable.

OK, here’s a great example of the difference between you making your point using an example vs. telling a story.

In presentations over the years, I’ve shared how Southwest Airlines became the industry leader for the shortest turn around time. They manage to land their planes, herd the passengers off, herd the next batch of passengers on, and take off in a fraction of the time it takes other airlines.

How did they do it?

They modeled NASCAR pit crews.

Now that’s pretty cool, isn’t it? That little factoid is kind of impressive.

It’s a great way to illustrate the principle “If you want game-changing ideas, stop copying your competitors. Instead, look outside your industry or field.”

But the impact that example makes pales in comparison to the story David Sturt, author of Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love, told me recently during an interview.

Listen to his story about how a group of surgeons from the UK discovered the solution to their “why are we losing so many patients?” problem. As you listen to the story, notice how the story impresses it’s important lesson upon you far more effectively than simply hearing the Southwest airline “take away message” example described above. Notice also what a fun ride it is learning this lesson.

That’s the power of storytelling.

That’s why you want to use stories to make your points “sticky” (as in Made to Stick).

So…here’s David:

For more of David Sturt’s work:

His Forbes.com blog

OC Tanner’s website

P.S. BTW…there’s nothing wrong with using examples. It’s actually really helpful to use examples to illustrate your points. Using examples is much better than just speaking abstractly. However, if you have the time to share a story, it will make a bigger impact.

About The Author: David Sturt is Executive Vice President of the O.C. Tanner Company, the world’s largest employee recognition company.

David is a New York Times bestselling author of Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love. He is a sought-after speaker and has shared research and insights on recognition, innovation and leadership at conferences to thousands of leaders across the world. You may have read his weekly leadership articles on forbes.com, or seen his interviews in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Huffington Post, Human Capital, and other media outlets.

David has over 20 years of experience as a researcher, product developer, marketer, senior executive, and thought leader. He was born in England, raised in South Africa, educated in the U.S. and Asia/Pacific, and has a degree in Training and Development and an MBA. He has a passion for innovation and making a difference in the world.

Aug 17, 2015 | 0 comments View Post

How Your Origin Story Helps the Audience Bond With You

One of the reasons why you want to tell your Origin Story–why you do what you do–is that it helps the audience connect with you human-to-human. It helps you create an emotional connection.

Here’s a great example of the power of an Origin Story to connect you with the audience. It’s from Amy Cuddy’s outstanding TEDTalk
Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are.

While I recommend watching the whole video because the content itself is powerful and very useful, notice how she shifts at 16:00 when she tells her Origin Story and why she believes in her message. She goes from being an interesting intellectual into being a fascinating, compelling human being you care about and want to know. I wonder about the timing of the story. While it does fit in with her addressing the “isn’t this faking?” objection and provides a powerful answer to that question, I think it might have both made her more bond-able in the beginning and helped her feel less nervous. Notice how she becomes much more passionate and powerful after she tells her story.

Aug 12, 2015 | 0 comments View Post

“Stories provide inspiration plus simulation”: Judy Robinett and the guys at ILoveMarketing.com show you how

When I share stories with you, I always try to pick ones that both illustrate how to use storytelling to make your ideas more fascinating and persuasive and…the story itself contains valuable information.

I was just listening to yet another excellent ILoveMarketing episode and heard an outstanding example of how to use a story to provide both inspiration and the ” how to”.

BTW, the quote “Stories provide inspiration plus simulation” comes from an important point made by Made to Stick authors Chip and Dan Heath:

“Stories drive action through simulation (what to do) and inspiration (the motivation to do it)”

At 42:40 in the interview titled How You Can Connect With Powerful, Influential People, she shares a very cool story about how she got in front of super successful TV producer Mark Burnett by finding out she can provide value to him. Check it out, both for the useful advice and for a great example of how to use a story to inspire people to see what’s possible and to provide a model for achieving a particular outcome.

She also tells a great story at 45:40 about what she did to get Mark Cuban’s attention…again by providing value. I recommend you listen to that one, too.

Better still, listen to the whole Judy Robinett interview.

Nov 19, 2014 | 1 comment View Post

Use Self-Effacing Humor to Make You More Relatable and… Your Point Punchy

Even if we aren’t trying to come across as a guru or think we are any better than the people we are speaking to in an audience, just the fact that we are on stage can create a barrier. It can make it harder for people to relate to us. One of the best ways to dismantle this barrier is by telling stories about you making mistakes, about you being imperfect.

Here’s one of my favorite personal examples of using a story to do this. I love to use this story because it not only helps people get it that I realize I’m just a regular guy sharing with them, but that it also helps to make a simple resilience-enhancing technique more memorable because it’s packaged in a funny story.

Stories that include surprise or humor are a great way to make your ideas “Sticky” (vis a vis Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath). They make a simple idea–like the one in the video you’ll see shortly–hit home more powerfully than if you just shared the idea, and…they make your point more memorable.

So…start collecting experiences you’ve had where you were “the fool” and think about how you can use them in your presentations to make you more bond-able and make your points hit home harder.

Here’s the link to the story and video on my resilience website WhateverLifeBrings.com.

Aug 18, 2014 | 0 comments View Post

Use EntrepreneurOnFire.com to Become a Captivating Communicator

If you’re an entrepreneur—or any expert for that matter—who wants to be a more powerful speaker and someone the media wants to interview—tell short, punchy, captivating stories.

You cannot speak in 30,000 foot generalities and hope to get media attention or keep any listener’s attention.

When you talk, the listener needs to be able to play a movie in their head of what you are saying. Better still, you want to create a virtual reality experience.

So how do you get good at telling stories? One obvious place to start is paying attention to people YOU find mesmerizing, people who grab and hold your attention.

Notice how they do it. What do they do that captivates you?

Chances are, a big part of how they do it is by telling stories that make you feel like you’re there, going through the experience they are recounting.

Want a great resource for listening to great storytelling in action?

Check out the daily podcast EntrepreneurOnFire.com by John Lee Dumas. Each day he interviews an entrepreneur and asks them to share stories that illustrate key teaching points, such as an AH-HA moment, their proudest moment, and a failure that proved to be a great learning experience.

It’s no accident that EntrepreneurOnFire.com provides listeners with a rich tutorial on how to be a captivating storyteller. John Lee Dumas explains to his guests in their pre-interview conversation: “They want to hear your journey, not generalities, not vague, aerial perceptions of what you think failure means. They want to resonate with you as a person. I want you to tell a story…to really tell of a specific time in your life. We want to feel like we are there with you…we are all about the story

Here’s an example from a great interview John did with Mike Michalowicz, the entrepreneur behind three million-dollar businesses, and the author of The Pumpkin Plan and The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.

John asked Mike to share an AH-HA moment.

Here’s Mike’s answer (I edited it a bit to make it read smoothly. If you’ve ever read transcripts of great speeches or interviews, the spoken word and written word flow very differently)

The AH-HA moment for me actually came in another dark day, which I was referring to, but has become the most important moment of my life and I think it always will be…

It was the day I had lost all the money I made.

After I sold that second company, I told you I became an angel investor, but I also became arrogant. I believed that my worth was represented by what I had, not in what I was contributing.

So I bought three cars. I bought the Viper, the BMW, the Land Rover… literally all on the same day.

I moved into the biggest house in town; I had all this stuff.

I promised myself I would never be that guy, but I became that guy.

I was a dick, a total dick. I wasn’t rude to people, but I thought I was better than people, which is the rudest thing of all.

After about three years of living this arrogance, I lost everything.

I was investing and losing. I was buying and losing. I was living off savings.

I wasn’t making money. I was trying to figure out what I’m going to do next.

I came home one day, had another fateful call with my accountant. He said, “Mike, your taxes are due now and you owe $50,000 in taxes.”. I literally had $30,000 left in my bank account.

I was like, “I can’t pay my taxes.” He’s like, “Oh, you may have to declare bankruptcy.” I was like, “I’ll never declare bankruptcy, but holy crap.”

I came home and I was sobbing, in front of my family and just saying, “I’ve lost it all.”

Everyone was blankly staring at me because they’d never…I mean…this is your father or your husband, who has done everything to protect the family.

Now he’s lost it all.

My daughter ran away…

She was eight or nine years old at the time.

She comes back about a minute later with her piggybank, and she puts it on the table and she goes, “Daddy, we’re going to make it.”

What I learned in that moment – and I’m choking up now as I remember it – what I learned in that moment is that we are not our number.

We are not our stuff.

We are our authentic self.

That was what taught me about authenticity. My daughter just put out the most of her that she could in the moment, and it changed the moment.

I realized if I put the most of me in the situation, if I put my authentic self out there, that’s where I can change moments and help change people.

So that was my biggest learning moment. It was in my darkest period where my eight-year-old daughter taught me the lesson, the ultimate lesson…

(BTW, at the end of the post, I’ll give you the link to the actual interview, so you can hear him tell the story)

As you read Mike’s story, couldn’t you just picture it? Didn’t the story just grab you and refuse to let go?

That’s what stories well told do and that’s why you want to get good at telling stories.

Think about how different it would be if John asked Mike to share an AH-HA moment and Mike said something like “After building and selling a multimillion dollar business, I felt I had arrived. I felt like I had it all figured out….and then I lost it all. That was a really hard thing to go through…but fortunately…I picked myself back up and now I once again have a successful business.”

How inspiring would you find that?

What about if you are an entrepreneur going through tough times, not generating any income, racking up credit card debt and thinking “Will this every change?”

Wouldn’t you find Mike’s story just the dose of inspiration and perspective you needed to realize “This tough time is just a chapter in my life’s story…it’s NOT the whole story.”

That’s the difference between speaking in generalities and platitudes and telling a riveting story.

So…I highly recommend you listen to EntrepreneurOnFire both for the inspiring and instructional content from the entrepreneurial perspective, but also from the “How to Tell Great Stories” perspective.

NOTE: The story I shared above starts at 13 minutes in the Mike Michalowicz interview. However, I recommend listening to the whole interview. It’s one of EntrepreneurOnFires’s best.

About John Lee Dumas: EntrepreneurOnFire is a top ranked, 7-day a week business podcast, hosted by John Lee Dumas, interviewing today’s most successful and inspiring Entrepreneurs. We share the journey of our spotlighted guest, highlighting a failure and lessons learned, an AH-HA moment and the steps taken to turn that moment into success, and the LIGHTNING ROUND where John asks five questions that extract nuggets of wisdom from his guests.

Since EntrepreneurOnFire’s launch in September of 2012, we’ve had the pleasure of featuring Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, Barbara Corcoran, Tim Ferriss, Chris Brogan and over 500 inspiring Entrepreneurs.

EntrepreneurOnFire is all about inspiring YOU to take YOUR entrepreneurial leap. We know that by hearing the failures, AH-HA moments, and successes of others, you can begin to craft your dream and take inspired ACTION!

About Mike Michalowicz: Mike is the entrepreneur behind three multi-million dollar companies and the Author of The Pumpkin Plan and the business cult classic, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. With a popular, quirky website at MikeMichalowicz.com, he is a globally recognized entrepreneurial advocate. He is a former small business columnist for the Wall Street Journal and now hosts the business make-over segment on MSNBC’s Your Business.

Apr 25, 2014 | 0 comments View Post

The Cost of Perceived Disrespect and Injustice in the Workplace

One of my favorite truisms that I share with managers and leaders is:

“Power may bring immunity from feedback, but not reality.”

In other words, one of the “perks of power”–or having a strong personality–is that people are less likely to give you feedback on how counterproductive your behavior is. The more power a person has, the less likely people are to say: “Hey…it really bothers me when you ______.”

But…just because they aren’t saying it, does not mean they aren’t feeling it. Nor does it mean there are no consequences, no underground blow back to that behavior. Employees have a way of expressing their displeasure in many silent ways: not working as hard, taking “slick days”, not sharing ideas that could make a difference, dragging their heels on projects, complaining about “safer topics” (while never addressing the real source of their outrage).

Anyway…you get the idea.

This post is about how to get this point across in a way that has impact.

One of the ways I try to bring this concept alive and make it more “sticky”- a la Made to Stick–is through a story I tell that comes from the movie Casino titled The Movie Scene Every Manager Should See…But Might Be Afraid To.

Another angle I approach the issue of respect and justice in the workplace, is to share to really cool lines of research and then translate their implications to the workplace.

These two areas of research are:

1. The Ultimatum Game

2. Which doctor’s get sued and which one’s don’t (this is especially fascinating)

Here’s a video clip about this research. My hope is that it will both give you food for thought and…illustrate how to make scientific research come alive and use it to make your key message hit home at more than just an intellectual level.

It also is an example of how to use a story to “challenge without challenging”, so your message doesn’t trigger defensiveness.

If you want to be a more compelling communicator, inject scientific research–told as a story–into your presentations.

If you want to stimulate conversation in your workplace about how to create a more respectful and thoughtful environment, share this video with your team and then do the exercise talked about in the presentation.

Dec 20, 2013 | 0 comments View Post

“You help us make miracles happen”: using a customer video story to connect

Here’s a great example from a wonderful organization about how you can use customer stories to make all of the following more interesting and memorable:

1. Employer Branding

2. Corporate Branding

3. New Employee Orientation

4. Volunteer Recruitment (if you’re a non-profit)

5. Donor solicitation (again…if you’re a non-profit)

At the end of this post, you’ll find more about the power of customer stories to give you a sense of why you want to be capturing and sharing them. But for now…let’s get to this story…

The story you are about to hear is designed to connect with:

1. The most desirable job applicants

2. Potential volunteers who have an endless number of non-profits to choose from.

3. Potential donors who want to feel like their donations are serving a great cause and making a big difference.

The Back Story…

I first met Patsy Murphy, the Executive Director from the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland as part of my work on how businesses can capture client stories on video and use them in their marketing efforts.

I was so taken by her and what she’s done with the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, and with their wonderful stories, that I ended up doing a series of interviews with her and her staff. (in a previous post “For Better Employee Testimonial Videos, Don’t Spout Platitudes, Tell Stories”, you can see another video I shot for them).

A Somewhat Different Kind of Customer Story Video

This video is a somewhat different twist to the “Customer Story” video genre in that:

1. The Customer is not telling the story, instead someone from the business/organization tells the story

2. The Customer is a dog–actually two dogs (well, actually the Customer is also their new parents)

Customer Stories That Speak to What Employees Want in a Work Experience

As you watch this video and take in the charming story, notice the psychology behind it. More specifically, notice what human needs it taps into. Notice how it addresses what today’s employees want in an employer and work experience. Notice especially how it speaks to the caring, idealistic individual who would be drawn to non-profit work.

These core human needs include:

1. The need to know you can make a difference

2. The need to know you are doing good in the world

3. Feeling like you’re part of something greater than yourself

4. Being part of a group that makes you feel good about yourself

5. Getting to work with people you enjoy seeing everyday

6. Working in an organization where fun is on the menu

Using a Story to Subtly Overcome Potential Objections

Also, you will notice that the story subtly addresses a potential obstacle to a tenderhearted person–the kind ARLGP wants to hire–from applying. Notice how it challenges the perception that working at a shelter might be a “downer” because the story involves what people might imagine would be impossible-to-place animals.

Also notice that the theme of the video isn’t “Aren’t we awesome”…it’s “Because of you, we can do wonderful things”.

It’s Not “All About Me”

This is actually a nuance I learned from Ritz Carlton years ago, when I saw Diana Oreck, their VP of Leadership Development, present at the first ever onboarding conference (I wrote about this in ” Onboarding That Welcomes and Inspires”).

I was impressed by the video Ritz Carlton had created for their new hire orientation because it combined the message “When you join the Ritz Carlton, you have joined the top 1% of people in the hospitality industry” with “We are so thrilled to have you join us”. They very artfully framed this new employer-employee relationship in a way that communicates “We’re both lucky” vs. a one-sided “We rock…you’re lucky to be working here” or “We’re so very thankful you chose to work here…”–neither of which sends a desirable message on its own.

While the story in this video communicates that ARLGP does great things, it is framed in a “You-centric” way, rather than in a “We-centric” manner.

So…while I know you will enjoy the video and the story (especially if you are an animal lover), let it be a catalyst for you to gather and tell your own customer stories.

In Conclusion: About The Power of Customer Stories

In an article I wrote called The Power of Customer Stories and Testimonials to Engage Employees , I cited the fascinating research conducted by Dr. Adam Grant, management professor at Wharton, (and author of the new book Give and Take). His research reveals the power of customer stories on employee engagement. Here’s an example of what his research found:

Dr. Grant and his team have conducted multiple studies involving university fundraisers who call alumni seeking contributions for university scholarship funds. In one study, a scholarship recipient visited a group of fundraisers and shared their story about the difference the scholarship made in their ability to attend the university and in their lives. In the control group, no such story was shared.

A month later, the performance of both groups was measured. The control group showed no increase, not surprisingly. The callers who had listened to the story about how their difficult work made a difference in the world, averaged twice as many calls per hour. Not only did they work twice as hard, they also produced exponentially better results.

Their average weekly revenue increased from $411.74 to $2,083.52 — an increase of over 400 percent.

That gives you an idea of the power of customer stories for just ONE of their uses.

So…go out and collect and share those customer stories!

Jun 23, 2013 | 0 comments View Post

Soloshot Serves Up Marketing-with-Storytelling in Style

This morning when I checked out the surf report, I saw the above banner.

I was curious about the great tagline “Saving relationships since 2012”.

Why was something about saving relationsihps on a surf report site? Knowing how addictive surfing can be, I imagined that it had something to do with spending too much time catching waves and not enough time with your significant other.

Well…it wasn’t quite that, but once I clicked on the banner and the video started, I could see how perfect–and amusing–the tagline was.

Their very fun video started out by speaking to the dilemma any young hardcore surfer can relate to: Wanting to get some footage of them shredding–both for fun and to get feedback on their technique–but not wanting to lose their girlfriend because she’s tired of spending hours videoing him doing his thing.

After that hook, they then expand the view of who would want this cool product, how it works, and its overall awesomeness.

Check out the video as a great example of how to use video storytelling to connect with your customer and explain how what you offer gives them what they want.

It’s a great example of how do it so in a fun, cool way:

Way to go Soloshot!

May 04, 2013 | 1 comment View Post

How to Use Employee Stories to Make Your Employer Branding and New Hire Orientation More Effective

Most employers do a really poor job of communicating their Employer Brand. Just go onto Youtube and put in “Great place to work” or “employee testimonials” and watch a few. While some are incredibly well produced, what they have in style they lack in substance.

While saying things like “I love the people I work with” or “We get to do really cool work with really cool people” is fine as a start, you need to say more than just that if you want to diferentiate your organization from others competing for talent.

Just Say “No” to Interchangable, Say Nothing Employee Testimonial Videos

How many of these employee testimonial videos can you watch before they all blur together?

How does one video featuring employees stating in general terms why they love working for their employer differ from all the other videos doing the same?

How many times can you hear phrases like:

“High integrity”

“Great environment”

“Great opportunities for growth”

“Work with great people”

…before they become meaningless?

This is Where Stories Come to the Rescue

Communicating your Employer Brand in a way that makes it meaningful and memorable is yet another context where storytelling shines.

So for instance, rather than just say “We empower employees”, give an example.

Tell a story.

Rather than just say “I love it here because even as a new employee, you can make a difference”, give an example of this.

Tell a story.

But What If We Don’t Have the Budget for Fancy Videography?

Not to worry, especially with Gen Y talent who grew up in a Youtube world of homegrown videos. Videos that look more “grassroots and homegrown” than corporate slick are perceived as more honest and real. They also communicate “here’s a real message from a peer” rather than “more CorporateSpeak BS from some older guy in a suit”.

Sally Falkow

Notes Digital Media guru, Sally Falkow, named a Top 1% Social Media Influencer by Kred:”With the technology available today there is no need to spend tons of money or time on a video. That said, the production value must be as good as you can possibly get it. People respond well to videos they see as “real and genuine” rather than corporate hype. But they do prefer a good quality video over a grainy, shaky, badly produced one.”

Here’s an Example

Here’s an example of using storytelling in your employee testimonial videos which I shared with participants at the Strengthening Your Talent Acquisition, Onboarding, and Employee Engagement Strategy Through Storytelling program I gave, along with Diana Oreck of Ritz Carlton, at the ERE conference this spring.

The video is from one of my favorite local organizations–the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland. It was shot with a Kodak Zi8 and edited with Microsofte Live Movie Maker by a real video editing neophyte (moi).

The employee sharing why she loves working at the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, is Lynne McGhee, Community Relationships Manager.

Notice how after she states in general terms why she loves working there, she shares some examples of what she is talking about.

She shares some stories.

Notice how the stories make the qualities she speaks about come alive. They give you a clearer understanding of what it is like working there.

Also, notice the text commentary in the vidoe and how it helps communicate directly to the type of person they want to attract. It speaks to the work experience qualities they care about and what motivates them.

Apr 24, 2013 | 0 comments View Post

A Video “Perspective Shift Story” about Self-Image and Beauty

Perspective Shift Stories are a powerful, yet gentle, way of inviting a person to look at themselves or their situation in a new, more empowering way.

Sometimes you can use a short “video story” to help someone shift their perspective.

I just came upon an example of this kind of video this evening.

Earlier in the day, I stumbled upon an article about a video that spoofed how guys are the opposite of women in terms of their self-assessment of their attractiveness–i.e. the majority of men rate themselves as above average in looks (I’m sure women readers don’t find this surprising…).

The video is pretty funny, and…it made me wonder about the video it was playing off of which was sponsored by Dove and about women being out of touch with just how beautiful they are.

And then…low and behold, the ad to a Dan Pink video I wanted to send to a client just happened to be the original Dove video the other video was based on.

Besides being very moving, it’s a great example of using a video story as a vehicle for helping the listener engage in a perspective shift about whatever they see as “not enough” about who they are.

If you want to increase your ability to experience how to use this video as an example of using a video story to create a perspective shift, think about some aspects of yourself that you are less than kind to yourself in your assessment–whether something about your looks, your abilities, your accomplishments, etc.