WiP #02: Introduction to Storytelling

On Friday night, I was at the pub having an annual Christmas dinner with my school friends. As usual, we took it in turns to share slightly exaggerated stories of how we'd all embarrassed ourselves this year. They never get old.

And really up until 1 year ago, that’s what I thought storytelling was. It never crossed my mind that I could be a storyteller or that it would be so important to my career.

The word storytelling is thrown around everywhere. And until I studied it, I didn’t appreciate it. In this weeks newsletter, I wanted to share my thoughts around storytelling and the best storytelling resources I’ve come across to show you why it's important when it comes to personal branding and creativity.

My journey with storytelling in a marketing context started when I studied "Brand Strategy & Storytelling" with Hyper Island last year.

And at the same time, I was taking rap lessons (LOL) and I was also going to acting classes. You could say I was going through a mid-life crisis.

Either way, I found a connection between brand strategy, rapping and acting - it was storytelling.

My rap teacher (I promise this actually happened), challenged me to write raps that told an interesting story - and with that, he introduced me to the Hero's journey framework.

This very same framework was introduced to me in my Brand Strategy & Storytelling class.

To save the word-count, it's best if you watch the video in the resources below to understand how the hero's journey works, but in the context of building your personal brand or creating content online, it comes down to this.

Humans record their lives as one big story and we see ourselves as the main hero in our story. We are all seeking something and are on a journey to get there. Often to get what we are seeking, we need a mentor/an aid to support us and give us belief - now in the case of you building your personal brand and increasing creative confidence, I am trying to be yours.

And I share stories of insecurities/obstacles that I've defeated so you can find yourself in my story. If you see I have found confidence in creating content online, then you will find the belief to do it yourself.

Now if we take some of the finest brands of our generation and analyse their campaigns - you quickly understand how they leverage storytelling:

Nike sells greatness, not clothes.

RedBull sells adrenaline, not drinks.

Polaroid sells memories and nostalgia, not cameras.

Shopify sells the dream of entrepreneurship, not websites.

The best brands sell stories, not things.

By sharing stories, these brands create emotion & they position themselves as the mentor/aid in their hero's (customer's) minds.

Want to achieve fitness greatness? Nike products are positioned as the tool to unlock that in the hero's journey.

In the context of Personal Branding and sharing content online, this is why storytelling is important:

• You give an audience a reason to root for you

• Your audience can see themselves in your story

• The audience use you as a tool to help them in their journey as they believe in what's possible

• Your content will be underpinned with emotion, so it will be seen and engaged with

• People will see how you view the world and either become a fan of yours or decide you're not for them (this is key to building a real audience)

• Your content will be more interesting, compelling and memorable

My favourite storytelling resources:

1 - The Magical Science of Storytelling | David JP Phillips

I guarantee this Ted Talk will make you feel many different emotions. That is the power of storytelling.

2 - The Hero's Journey | Ted

This is what I reference above, this is probably the most important first concept for you to understand in storytelling.

3 - Pixar Story Spine

It's no surprise Steve Jobs had so much success with Apple after his stint at Pixar. He realised how incredible storytelling works. Pixar use a very simple storytelling structure that I always refer to when I want to start putting my stories into chronological order.

4 - The Science of Storytelling | Will Storr

Will Storr is another brilliant resource when it comes to storytelling. His book is brilliant but a bit long, here's him explaining his methodology on the Creative Rebels podcast.

5 - Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen | Donald Miller

This book is brilliant if you want to understand the correlation between brand strategy and storytelling.

CREATIVE CHALLENGE

To be a good storyteller, you must learn to tell stories without the fluff. It's hard to keep people engaged in your stories, but as with all writing. Cut the fluff and you will get better.

So the creative challenge of this week is all around six-word storytelling.

Do you remember how I started this newsletter? I told you about my Friday night Christmas dinner with friends.

Well one of the stories that was shared about me, actually happened at a Client Christmas party the night before.

And if I tell you a six-word story about it, you can let your imagination do the rest:

Drunk at party, regretting it now.

The most famous example of a six-word story is frequently credited to Ernest Hemingway (though there’s little evidence that he actually wrote it): “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” In six simple words, a heartbreaking narrative is told—from the few words but also from what is left out. Here are other short stories in this format:

1. Thirteenth birthday, I laughed and cried.

2. I’m dating him; she’s my girlfriend.

3. Google: how to inflate a liferaft!

Let's practice

Try to write your very own six-word story.

Here's some tips:

1. Have a basic story structure. This short story format should contain conflict—or rather, a teaser of a conflict conveyed with vivid words.

2. Entice the reader to fill in the blanks. In just six little words, you can create a powerful story that evokes emotions. Tease the audience with six words that let their mind fill in the blanks with the bigger narrative and give them a sense of a complete story.

3. Choose your words carefully. With only six slots to fill, you don’t have room to waste with weak word choice. Choose words that have purpose and meaning and drive your story forward. Shorten phrases with contractions to make room for nouns and verbs. Use punctuation marks, colons and em dashes, to join different phrases without having to use conjunctions.

4. Write your own story. Find inspiration in your own life and write a little memoir. Try thinking of a pivotal moment and boil it down to six words that carefully sum up your experience and convey your emotions.

5. Submit your story to [email protected] and I'll share the best ones online!

Share with me.

How did you find this challenge? Let me know how you got on via e-mail at [email protected]

Good luck and look out for the next activity this time next week.