The Power of Story Continues . . . . . .

 

 

A number of our clients are actively moving many of their communication strategies to the idea of STORY.  Our platform, The Once Upon a Time Project is our approach to empowering the idea of story as a real and true strategy.

The CEO of the design and consulting firm IDEA, Tim Brown, in his new book Change by Design says;  “Storytelling, NOT marketing, drives engagement.”  The idea that you can commit to story as your method of client engagement is gaining more and more momentum across all lines of business.

We often think of story as something done by creative writers, authors, poets and marketing/advertising professionals, but the truth is that story is our most natural way of communication and it only takes a little leverage to apply that natural skill to your business.  Just think about it, we have been storytellers from the time we could walk upright.  From the cave paintings of Chauvet Pont-d’ Arc in France (+/- 35,000 years old) to the greatness of the original HBO series ,Game of Thrones, we humans are experienced storytellers and when you deliver a message in the form of a good story, we can’t help but listen.

Story has only two components; Crafting and Telling.

Here are a few “crafting”  ideas to help you get started:

• PROTOTYPE:  This is a key process in The Once Upon a Time Project and it involves getting something down on paper as quickly as possible.  This usually takes the form of a storyboard or a sketch of the initial elements of the story.  It is critical to jump into the “drafting” process, to create a prototype of your story.  Without something on paper the story is an ethereal idea.  When something physically exists you can fix it, change it, embellish it, you can mold it.

 

 

 

• THE PIECES:  Once you have a preliminary storyboard you will rapidly be able to see the three key pieces, beginning, middle and end.  Spend quality time on ONE PIECE AT A TIME.  This allows you to provide the proper level of attention to each critical piece.  There will be time to see the big picture later, but at the initial crafting phase attack each piece individually.  Here is a good filter to use. The beginning has to be strong enough to grab me.  The middle has to keep my interest.  The end, well the end has to be a killer, something that drives me to action.

 

 

Those are just a couple of ideas we teach in the crafting phase of a story.

Need some help?  Give us a call or drop us a note.