Story Skills
55 posts
The Flipside Of Persuasion
Sales and marketing are as much about understanding as they are about persuading.
The Inner Scorecard
We are acutely aware of what makes us remarkable in the eyes of others. We have learned to live and work by, as Warren Buffet calls it, an outer scorecard—often at the expense and neglect of doing what’s right and what’s right for us.
The Value Shift
Sally studied Film and TV at college. She wants to be a director one day. But that’s a distant goal. In the meantime, she’s decided to put the skills she learned in college to work. Sally built a website and started working for friends of friends on their promotional business videos. Sally is buildi
Reaching Resonance
The impact you make will depend on your ideas resonating with the right people—not just reaching the most people.
10 Benefits Of Strategic Storytelling
Stories do more than help us to tell and sell. Shared narratives are powerful catalysts for change and the building blocks of our culture.
Persuade On Purpose, With Purpose
If we’re in the business of making things that change people’s lives for the better, we must master the art of persuasion and help people to make decisions they’re glad about.
The Myth Of Significance
Lately, we have come to believe in the myth of significance. Put our faith in being chosen, becoming ‘the one’. Striving to be bigger, noticed or more than, while simultaneously recounting a narrative of never enough. In our minds, significance boasts a title, resides in a corner office, speaks from
How Good Is Your Story?
A good story changes how we think. A great story changes how we feel and what we do.
Without You
If I were to ask you to explain your company’s ‘value proposition’ you’d probably hesitate. But if I asked you what your customer would miss if your work didn’t exist, you’d likely have some thoughtful answers about why she needs what you make, serve or sell. Sometimes the language and frames we use
The Two Rules Of Good Marketing
The best marketing does two things: 1. It empowers people to make decisions now that they won’t regret later. 2. It helps people to do the things they want to do. If you’re helping the people you serve to do both of these things, you can proudly say you’re a good marketer. Image by Eric…
Pitch Perfect
The two falafel makers at the weekend market sell an almost identical product but achieve very different levels of success. The marketing tactics they use are similar. Make eye contact with potential customers, offer them a small sample to try and use the time they’re chewing to launch into your sal
Why Do Customers Choose You?
What are the top three reasons customers choose you? What story are you giving those customers to tell—not just to recommend you, but to trust and value, prefer and remain loyal to you or your company? You can make assumptions and best guesses about what’s motivating the people you serve, or you can
How To Tell A Story Using The Story Scaffold
There’s no question that stories are the best way to engage and persuade people. We have good scientific evidence to prove it. According to neuroeconomist, Professor Paul Zak, ‘Narratives that cause us to pay attention and also involve us emotionally are the stories that move us to action.’ It’s our
Signalling
According to the Collins English Dictionary, a signal ‘is a gesture, sound, or action which is intended to give a particular message to the person who sees or hears it.’ We are sending signals to our clients and customers whenever they come into contact with our business or brand—even when we’re not
What The Best Communicators Do
Professor Daniel Kahneman has spent a lifetime researching why and how humans make decisions. His decades of work focused on the two ways we think and decide using one of two modes of thought, System 1 and System 2. System 1 makes fast, instinctive and emotional judgements and System 2 operates at a
