Masters of storytelling august 2012

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Masters of storytellingAugust 2012

Kevin [email protected]

BrandZeal.com

What’s this all about?

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Some context before we startWe spend a large proportion of our time bringing research, ideas, or data to life for our work colleagues or clients. We present actionable insights and make clear recommendations; but are our presentations always as engaging and influential as they should be?

Why is this important?This presentation guides you toward more impactful and influential storytelling. Great stories are memorable, influential and resonate with their audience. They provoke an audience response and act as a catalyst for changes in behaviour.

Who is this session designed for?This presentation was a skills development session originally designed to help encourage brand consultants, account planners, researchers and brand managers to be more effective storytellers. It provides advice on storytelling theory. As well as many practical examples, resource links and tools that create more influential presentations.

I’m an experienced presenter, what’s so important about storytelling?I believe storytelling makes presentations more memorable and influential. Bringing ideas or information to life with stories primes your audience to share and act upon your recommendations.A great story makes your point resonate.

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What’s in the box?Examples of Presentation Tools and Data VisualisationThe first half of the presentation provides a toolbox of ideas and aids to better storytelling.

Dip into these, explore them and they should inspire you and improve your presentation technique. Use them as relevant to your storytelling needs. They don’t provide one fixed template for storytelling and using few should go a long way in any singe presentation.

StorytellingThe second half brings together examples of storytelling theory and tips on how to write

better stories in your presentations.

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Data Visualisation

Data visualisation – go watch this first

• http://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization.html

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Infographics

Bringing data to life in interesting ways

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Both simple and complex information is made more interesting through infographics

But you don’t need a graphic designer to bring your story, thinking or data to life

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Simple infographics you make yourself may work just as well to make your point

Another example of visualising data in a fun way to aid storytelling

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Brand A 8%

Brand D 26%

Brand C 9%

Brand B 12%

In this example the power of the story overcomes a need for exact accuracy in the visualisation – people get the point quickly, even if a cake slice is slightly too large or too small.

Looking for inspiration? Here are over 50 ways to visualise data

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http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html

Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

Wordle – Tip to creating word clouds

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Word clouds should look like thisWord clouds shouldn’t look like this – where

phrases have been separated

(Can’t find the ~ symbol on your keyboard? Then hold the Alt key down and type 0126 this = ~ (Tilde)

FavouriteMyActor

Best

TheAd

Media My FavouriteI love it

The Best

Media

Use the Tilde key ~ between words to join them together in the word cloud.

e.g. My~Favourite

filmfilm

Best Brand

I

love

it

Great Advertising

Advertising

Great

BrandActor

Introducing simple graphic design and storytelling tools

Creating titles, key messages and brand specific colour visuals

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Installing Happiness

30% Ready

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Spell with Flickr

http://metaatem.net/words/

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Create graphic signposting and headlines in presentations to provide emphasis, direction, or punctuation between sections.

Flickr Colr Pickr – add photos that match brand or campaign colours into your presentation

15http://krazydad.com/colrpickr/

Maybe you could use online tools to help spell out your key message in an engaging way?

16http://www.allisnotlo.st/index_en.htmlTry this for yourself

Fiverr : get people to bring your story to life – for $5

17http://fiverr.com/e.g. Video results written on a beach or a success celebrated with a song.Have a graphic designer create icons or key words for you

Fiverr - get people to bring your story to life – for $5

• Laser cut coffee and cupcake stencils to say your message• http://fiverr.com/fabricafifa/laser-cut-a-coffee-or-cupcake-stencil• Pop art pic• http://fiverr.com/makemebark/create-a-pop-art-portrait?autoplay=true• From 35 page PDF to a flipbook emagazine• http://fiverr.com/qualityarticle/take-your-boring-pdf-and-turn-it-into-a-professional-flipbook• Have your message sung to any tune• http://fiverr.com/divalicious09/sing-a-original-song-of-yours-or-cover-version-of-a-song

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Storytelling

There are lots of ways to tell a good story

Different ways of presenting your story: McKinsey v Bain & Co

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Densely complex – nothing missed out, creating almost a mini presentation on one subject or point in one slide

McKinsey Style Example Bain & Co Style Example

Visual and simple – requiring an engaging explanation of the context and correct interpretation – but once the convention is understood, the slide explains the story very quickly

Richard E Mayer – the importance of visuals People listen and understand MORE when a story is spoken and illustrated with relevant visuals

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People understand LESS when the presenter simply reads every word on each slide verbatim

Does your pet food meet the evolving needs of your pet?

Karaoke presentations are ones where a presenter reads aloud every word on a screen.

This causes the audience to listen to how well each word is read aloud – rather than listen to and become involved with what is being said and letting the story itself influence them.

Multimedia learning theory – optimal learning occurs when visual and verbal materials are presented together simultaneously. Meyers = People & Emotional Involvement (Qual inspired storytelling) and Rational supporting data used more sparingly (Quant illustrated for emphasis, not just a pile of numbers).

Karl Kapp – Emotions in storytelling

Emotional storytelling is more impactful.

Emotions, more than facts, lead more strongly to actions and behaviour change in clients.

For example – use anecdotes and verbatims to make the client relate to the consumer’s emotions; make examples relevant to client’s own life

e.g. Don’t just say ‘There is a 3% decline in consideration among 16-24 year olds’ if you could say ‘Younger consumers, like your kids, are growing less engaged and fewer are now considering buying your brand.’

Take a personal approach to presentations – be enthusiastic in congratulating success and deliver warnings in a measured professional tone.

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Kurt Vonnegut: Thesis on storytelling

Beginning End Time Line

Good fortune

Ill Fortune

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The author Kurt Vonnegut studied famous stories and found the most widely known and memorable ones follow commonly repeating patterns.

e.g. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back.


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Good fortune

Ill Fortune

Stores that take you on a rollercoaster but clearly resolve are more entertaining, memorable and more likely to inspire action from clients

Cinderella, or the gospels from the Bible’s New Testament

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ


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Good fortune

Ill Fortune

Nebulous Heroes and Villains: Hamlet, The Sopranos, The Wire

Even stories where there are no ‘good guys’ or where clear success is difficult to demonstrate can be told as gripping stories.

But what if there isn’t a clear positive or hero to your story? Does that mean the storytelling has to be dull?

Storytelling example : Spaghetti Sauce

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http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

A masterclass in storytelling by Malcolm Gladwell. This concerns a researcher who changed the way brands think and what products they offer to consumers; through an insight into consumer needs.

Learning storytelling from Kamishibai

Source: JF Chenier 27

Let the audience construst the story, don’t tell them what to think

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Don’t talk about numbers or things, tell stories about people

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Weave facts around simple story lines, helping the listener organise the information

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Speak with enthusiasm; perform!

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Storytelling is a Show Business – don’t be bashful in showing what you mean

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With stats and details, guide the audience towards the point and give them time to see how this links to your story

Focus the story on what they should see in data

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Don’t forget the candy; give them something positive to think about that they didn’t have before

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Kamishibai storytellers didn’t charge for their story – they sold candy to their audience. What candy do you sell to ensure a warm welcome when you turn up to present again next time?

So you want to be a great storyteller?

Where to start?

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Use visual analogies to help bring story points to life

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Did the client have a big idea, but leave the consumer confused by the ad – a bit like jumbling up the picture shown above? We see that all the parts are there, but the finished work doesn’t quite make sense.

Collect anecdotes that demonstrate relevant examples of your point

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This card was in a box containing a shirt bought from an online fashion retailer. It immediately puts the buyer at ease, reassuring them and leaving them in control if they need to change their purchase. This provides a good example of customer service

Analogies may be more compelling and memorable ways of communicating a key point.

This is Eugene Cernan.

He is one of only 24 astronauts who have travelled to the moon.

He was the last man to walk on the moon.

Do you remember him and what he did?

This is Neil Armstrong.

He is one of only 24 astronauts who have travelled to the moon.

He was the first man to walk on the moon.

Do you remember him and what he did?

People are more likely to remember brands that are first to achieve a major distinction.What unique first and point of distinction will be your brand’s claim to fame?

For example

Crayola Analogy Product fragmentation vs. The Long Tail

39Crayola Crayon Timeline

Your brand needs to be clear at which point ‘doing more of the same thing’ becomes unprofitable and ‘doing something different’ becomes imperative.

Be more interactive – Use vote response cards during your presentation before revealing key results

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AGREE DISAGREE

Particularly useful for auditoriums / large audiences that are otherwise hard to gauge and interact with. Probe by asking people why they voted the way they did.

Use a cultural, entertainment, or iconic thematic to help you build engaging storytelling

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The Brand Trilogy

Set your brand on the path to adventure and success:

What will be your brand’s...

Identity?

Point of Supremacy?

Ultimatum for the consumer?

Example

An idea from AMV


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Brands don’t win awards for the Best Performance without also having

Best propositionBest scriptBest supporting cast


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Or are there heroes to celebrate in your story?

Were there super powers in brands to be dramatised?

http://iconlibrary.iconshock.com/icons/the-ultimate-collection-of-free-movie-icon-sets/


44http://iconlibrary.iconshock.com/icons/the-ultimate-collection-of-free-movie-icon-sets/

Could a brand horror story be discussed with a touch of humour, to defuse tension or confrontation?

Brand Toys – a conversation tool for brands

45http://www.brandtoys.com/#/build

Example: Talk about social media iconically

46http://iconlibrary.iconshock.com/icons/150-best-icon-sets/#more-7314

Appropriate use of graphics make a presentation more engaging

Would icons aid navigation through your presentation?

47http://www.tuttoaster.com/great-web-button-set-free-download/

The Resonant Phrase

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Collect interesting images and quotes and save them on the server – so great ideas are shared and not lost

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The Resonant Phrase

• A good turn of phrase helps to gain audience attention summarise a point or demonstrate an issue to great effect.

• A resonant phrase leaves a lasting impression on the listener or reader. It’s memorable and motivational.

• A resonant phrase may act as a catalyst or clear warning; helping to influence your audience, changing their behaviour.

• Some examples...

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Example resonant phrases*

• Brands with common sense or a sense of humour share the same thing; only they move at different speeds. A sense of humour is just common sense dancing.

• The more you celebrate the difference in your brand, the more there is to celebrate.

• Are we are becoming so specialised that we risk knowing more and more about less and less?

• Conformity is the arthritis that sets into a brand, making it less athletic, nimble and original.

• Advertising shrinks demand for the ordinary and drives brands to astonish.

• Celebrating a brand's uniqueness spreads infectious joy.

• Our work is always a portrait of ourselves. The only question is whether we strive to perfect, or merely reflect a shadow of the original.

51*Some of these are quotes that I’ve adapted and repurposed for relevance in marketing or research

Resonant phrases I love

• Creativity isn't an occupation, it's a preoccupation .- John Hegarty

• Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.

-Clay Shirky

• I don't want to invent anything that won't sell. Sales are proof of utility, and utility is success.

- Thomas Edison

• The simplification of anything is always sensational.- G K Chesterton

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Writing your story

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Using any presentation creation tool shapes the way we think, rather than letting you be innovative in telling a story.

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Pen and paper allow for freeform thinking and let you imagine how your data, ideas and story should come to life.

This is why presentation slides often look the same. PowerPoint is great, but it constrains you; so you work within set parameters.

Create an Oasis of Time and Space

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To write a story you need to think. And thinking works best when it is uninterrupted.

So find a space where you can’t be interrupted; a sort of oasis for writing.

Set both a time and deadline to write in.

Ensure you go to the oasis with a clear understanding of the task – what needs to be done. What does the finish line look like?

Listen to John Cleese discuss being creative at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VShmtsLhkQg

When you have your story – always have it checked over by someone with a fresh pair of eyes

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– Avoid mistakes you will never notice, because you get too close to the work. Every great writer has an editor and a proof reader.

Discuss and build the ideas in your story through discussion with others.

Great storytelling is...

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• Emotively Engaging (involving)

• Different (distinctive)

• Interesting

• Have a clear context

• Uses evidence to support the key points

• Includes actionable insights and clear recommendations

It should also be focused and ideally single minded, as the more unrelated points you raise, the fewer the audience will remember.

By ensuring you include new news, unique information, present with credibility and remain relevant to the audience and subject, you will be more persuasive.

These recommendations are inspired by Millward Brown research

Summary

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Great stories are involving and memorable. They include anecdotes and emotion. They make the audience think.

There are many ways to tell a story. But a story about people and ideas is more likely to influence action among your audience than a story that only sets out facts or numbers.

I hope I’ve inspired you to be more engaged in storytelling.

Kevin [email protected]

BrandZeal.com

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Thank you

This presentation is not all original work. It contains a combination of ideas and material from dozens of talented people. I thank them all and have tried to name them and link to their work where possible.

Technology

Masters of storytelling august 2012