In just 20 minutes, getting a Chamber Leadership group up to speed on organizational storytelling.

1. Your Story
Defining and Communicating
Your Message
for Greater Influence and Reach
Suzanne E. Henry November 2011
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2. He/She who tells the best story wins
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3. Communication Today
• Desperation to be heard
• Exponential channel growth
• Change in fashion
– From messaging to storytelling
– Driving need for authenticity
– Lack of ‘marketing’ tolerance
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4. You Are Not Alone
• Everyone has a story
to tell
• Everyone has a right
to voice it
• It’s easier than ever
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5. No Lack of Distribution Channels
Social media
Traditional media
Marketing materials
Events/trade shows
Sales presentations
‘Cocktail’ talk
Day to day e-mail, phone activity
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6. Message vs. Story
• Story = context
• Message = conclusion
You need both
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7. Once Upon A Time
Have you ever grown tired of hearing,
Let me tell you a story?
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8. EFFECTIVE
Information
when delivered in the form of a story
transfers it
from short term memory
to long term memory
Especially when it evokes the most powerful emotions
(love/affinity, fear, sadness, happiness)
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9. What is Organizational Storytelling?
• Illustrative
• Gives context
• Paints a larger picture
• Beginning, middle & end with a change
occurring
• Shows how you got to the message
you are trying to deliver
Narrative that evokes
emotion, connection, understanding and action
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10. What is Your Story?
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11. Two Stages
Define/discover
Deliver
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12. Define/Discover
• Who are you?
• What is it you are trying to accomplish?
• What prayer do you answer?
• What happened that launched you?
• What dragons or villains have you slain?
• What have you learned?
• How was (or is) your issue being resolved?
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13. Delivering
• Identify your voice
• Choose your language
• Identify anecdotes and illustrations
• Format
• Choose channels
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14. From Story to Storyteller
Story library
• Origin story – Why are you here, what happened?
• Signature story – What is one anecdote that illustrates your
mission?
• The participant story (i.e. donors, members, clients) – What
is the future we can co-create? What is/was the call to
action?
Signature statement
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15. Why was Solomon recognized as the wisest man in the world?
Because he knew more stories than anyone else. Scratch the
surface in a typical boardroom
and we're all just cavemen with briefcases,
hungry for a wise person to tell us stories.
~Alan Kay, Vice President
Walt Disney
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16. Additional Resources
• Books:
– Story by Robert McKee
– Transformational Speaking by Gail Larsen
– The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning
• Blogs
– http://tinyurl.com/FourLeafBlog
– http://www.ishmaelscorner.com/
• LinkedIn Groups;
– Organizational Storytelling - http://tinyurl.com/craftingyourstory
– Storytelling for Business - http://tinyurl.com/storytellingforbusiness
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17. Tell Me a Story!
Suzanne E. Henry
Four Leaf Public Relations LLC
+1 434-972-7278 - office
www.FourLeafPR.com
Twitter: @SuzanneHenry
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/FourLeafPR
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/suzannehenry
Business Storytelling Blog:
http://tinyurl.com/FourLeafBlog
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