The other day, I posted about one very particular kind of powerful story that everyone should be using to market their business…
The Origin Story
You can check out that post here.
But that’s not the ONLY kind of story you should be telling.
In fact, when it comes to using storytelling in marketing, you should be looking for any opportunity you can find to tell stories as part of your business communication.
That’s because the human brain is wired to pay attention to stories.
Don’t believe me? Get in front of any group of kids (or even adults, for that matter) and say, “Once upon a time…” or some variant of it.
You know what will happen?
That’s right. Everyone will instantly orient toward you. Because they want to hear (as the OG Paul Harvey used to say) “the rest of the story.”
So, what kind of stories (beyond the Origin Story of your business) should you be telling, and how do you find those stories?
Storytelling in Marketing
Here’s how…
Some of the most powerful stories are stories of transformation.
Basically, it comes down to something happened and, as a result, you changed (hopefully for the better).
More specifically…
You want to capture stories of when you found some way to solve a problem that your audience is currently struggling with.
You want to capture these stories so you have a “story bank” to come back to whenever you need a story to make a point that your audience needs to hear.
And here’s a simple way to begin to capture the “kernels” of these stories quickly so you can flesh them out more fully later…
Storytelling Strategies
Just use this easy template structure to get these transformation stories down:
“Once I…but now…” or “Once I…but then…and now….”
Here’s an example from my own experience:
“Once I struggled to understand why some kids responded well to a particular lesson while others didn’t get it at all. But then I attended a workshop by Eric Jensen and he opened my eyes to the direct connection between how the human brain processes information and how much a student learns. And now I understand that there’s a biological reason why certain instructional and management strategies work better than others and that, to make teaching more effective, you have to match how you teach with how your students’ brains learn. That was a huge paradigm shift for me.“
Now it’s your turn. For your action step today…
Using Storytelling in Your Consulting Business
Think about all the things you’ve learned across your career as they relate to the work you’re now doing or planning to do as a consultant. Capture the kernels of those learning experiences–those “Aha!” moments–that led to a transformation in your life.
Once you’ve spent 10 minutes or so mining your brain for these story kernels, go back and try fleshing them out a bit.
Then, in the days ahead, start using these stories in your presentations and your marketing. You’ll instantly see an increase in attention and engagement from your followers.
After all, everyone loves a story!
In my next post, I’ll wrap up the first part of this deep dive into positioning by giving you one more Pro Tip about creating your Persuasive Persona–using “Us vs. Them” to build a band of raving fans for your brand.
Till then…
To Your Success,
Willy
P.S.–Have a particularly compelling (or funny) transformation story you’d like to share? Please send it my way. I love to be inspired (or laugh–preferably both at the same time)!
Just share your story in the Comments, or send it to willy@edconsultantmarketing.com.
