business copywriters sydney australia
business copywriters sydney australia
At christopher copywriter, we’re gathering a collection of articles, stories, academic theories, works in practice, other expert opinions and discussions to help prove to our clients, beyond all reasonable doubt, that it’s the story experience of your company that creates ultimate value and consumer desire for your company.
The first of these pieces came out last week. We hope you enjoy reading -
THE POWER OF STORYTELLING.
By Maryfran Johnson, Computer World, May 11th 2009.
Terrence Gargiulo says: “The shortest distance between two people is a story.”
When it comes to communicating and connecting with your fellow human beings, stories rule.
Good ones deliver a lasting impact far beyond any set of statistics. They can outrun the speediest set of PowerPoint slides. They can leap the tall buildings of memory in a single bound. Jeff Neufeld learned about the difference that the storyteller’s art can make while CIO of Fidelity Brokerage from 2003 to 2008.
Early in his tenure, he went on a quest to improve communication skills across his senior IT leadership team. “It was about improving our ability to be business players rather than just IT people,” says Neufeld, now retired. He had 10 direct reports and a few dozen VPs who needed serious help with public speaking. “A lot of them were far from effective communicators. Their style tended toward reading slides and reciting tech stats,” he recalls.
“So people just ignored them.” Neufeld brought in a professional communications coach- Suzanne Bates, president and CEO of Bates Communications in Wellesley, Mass. At first, he used her at executive management offsites and for individual sessions with his direct reports. Then he signed up for some one-on-one sessions.
“As I watched Suzanne working with the others, I thought ‘Wow, I don’t do that so well, either.’” His weakest point was the storytelling. “I was using very few personal stories or anecdotes,” he adds. “I was really missing the power of the personal connection.”
Neufeld discovered what the best speakers will confirm-that what people really remember are those illuminating, entertaining or touching stories that underscore the underlying message. “Traditionally, I’d have all my facts, figures and metrics to make a clear case,” he says. “People walked away understanding it but not feeling it.”
This is a “huge missing piece” in the leadership education of many CIOs, Bates says. “CIOs come up through the ranks giving complex PowerPoint presentations-which might work for technical audiences-but they often fail to cultivate that simplicity of a good story. I think CIOs and CFOs are some of the smartest people I’ve worked with. Once they see the power of storytelling, they really get it.”
In her new book, Motivate Like a CEO, Bates writes about how storytelling can also boost employee morale. “When you uncover stories about your successes and communicate them to the team, they get excited,” she notes.
So how do you tell better stories? Where do you find the right ones to tell? Start by tuning in to the people you consider great communicators. Watch for good stories to add to your repertoire. Listen for the messages behind the best anecdotes and think about why they resonated. Zero in on what you want to convey, then practice your stories with friends and colleagues. Make sure your message is “short, clean and clear,” says Neufeld.
“Do this right and people will recall what it was about years later. The connection is that powerful.”
While there is a few different methods, you also get good at telling stories by telling loads of stories. Story telling is fundamentally a creative experience. One with many different facets happening all at once. At best, the varying aspects of any given story considers the whole picture being communicated to. Targeting stories to niche publications or a certain demographic creates a narrower field which to fill; the rules become more condensed; the style more pointed, honed and certain.
