Watch through these videos for the highlights of of the Innovation Stories Masterclass I gave for Accenture’s Dublin teams in August 2018. Thanks to Accenture for filming and releasing this footage.
Now watch this example of a story arc in action from BBC’s Planet Earth series:
So how can we use the rollercoaster of emotions in our own stories? And what does it tell us about why stories are so powerful?
Watch these two TV adverts run by Nike in 1984 and 2012 – and see the contrast in storytelling styles:
How can you use stories like this when talking about your own work? And what are the emotional cues that can help you uncover stories about the innovation process?
Here you’ll find the worksheets from the Innovation Storytelling session, and here you’ll find a Keynoteversion of the slide-deck (minus the video clips).
And here are some of the books on storytelling that I think are worth a read if you want to go deeper into this fascinating subject.
Good luck. And send me the stories you’re proud of!
Here’s a selection of tools to help you turn insights into ideas and ideas into stories; to help you sharpen your pitch; and to use tools from fiction to tell great factual stories.
Five short courses over two days, so make sure you pick the right downloads for your session.
“So what are you going to do with a degree in Performing Arts?”
I bet every student who’s ever studied drama or theatre has been asked this question. Ok, so you might get a job in theatre or arts. But you might not. Either way, you’ve acquired some really valuable skills that you could use in any workplace:
Storytelling
Empathy
Improvisation
Here are the notes from the presentation, as a Keynote file. And here’s the basics of what we covered.
STORYTELLING
Business stories must have these basic ingredients:
Stuff happens (who, what, where and when)
People care (how do you/they feel)
The moral (why does this matter)
People in business tend to ignore or gloss over the emotional content of your stories, but they shouldn’t. Emotion directs our attention to what matters and helps people remember the point you’re trying to make. Here’s a great example of emotional storytelling with a very clear business aim:
This TV advert – this story – came out of a business insight that 90% of laundry in India was done by women. So I set the class a challenge: see if you can come up with your own story based on this business insight:
You can use a classic story arc to give your story that roller coaster of emotion that will make it irresistible. As BBC Planet Earth II showed, even a humble iguana can experience a story arc:
In business, you need to tell stories about yourself (Foundation Stories) but you’ll find it easier to keep telling fresh stories about your customers (Brand Stories). Here are two examples of one company telling both kinds of story. First, the Foundation Story, where the company is the hero:
And now the Brand Story, where the customer is the hero and the product barely gets a mention:
So that’s Storytelling. Let’s talk about Empathy.
Empathy means feeling what other people feel. Actors and writers use it to devise credible characters. They start with thoughts, feelings and desires then create words and actions.
But if you switch this around, you’re in the world of market research, commercial ethnography or, as designers call it, empathy. Great designers don’t just make new products because they feel like it. They base their ideas in detailed studies of what their customers do and say, then they try to work out what they think, feel and desire. Because, if you can work these things out, you can sell stuff to people.
Finally, on to Improvisation. This is a vital skill for anyone trying to innovate, to find new ways to solve problems.
Stories can help you pitch or present an idea, they can unlock the kind of culture change you want to see in your business. So it’s amazing how often people fail to use the power of even the simplest stories.
Business stories must have these basic ingredients:
Stuff happens (who, what, where and when)
People care (how do you/they feel)
The moral (why does this matter)
It’s tempting to ignore or gloss over the emotional content of business stories, but don’t. Emotion directs our attention to what matters and helps people remember the point you’re trying to make. Here’s a great example of emotional storytelling with a very clear business aim:
You can use a classic story arc to give your story that roller coaster of emotion that will make it irresistible. Even a humble iguana can experience a story arc:
Here’s a reminder of how Star Wars can be read as a simple story arc.
You’ll need to tell stories about yourself (Foundation Stories) but you’ll find it easier to keep telling fresh stories about your customers (Brand Stories). Here are two examples of one company telling both kinds of story. First, the Foundation Story, where the company is the hero:
And now the Brand Story, where the customer is the hero and the product barely gets a mention:
Get used to telling customer stories in sixty seconds or less. You never know when you’ll be able to drop them into business conversations.
Stories unlock culture change when you:
Identify the change you want to see.
Find stories that illustrate that change.
Keep telling these stories (and refreshing them with new stories) until the change is part of the culture.
Here you’ll find the presentation deck from the Business Storytelling session (minus the video clips).
Good luck. And send me the stories you’re proud of!
Stories really can be simple, so it’s amazing how often people in business fail to tell a good one. The most basic ingredients of a story you can tell about work are:
Stuff happens
People care
The moral
I’ve highlighted “People care” because this is the bit people usually leave out of business stories. But you shouldn’t, because emotion fixes our attention on something and helps us remember it later. If the emotion is strong enough, we’ll go a step further and share your story with others.
Here’s a great example of emotional storytelling with a very clear business aim:
#ShareTheLoad started out from a simple business insight: that 90% of laundry in India is done by women. What are the insights in your business and how could you turn these into stories?
You can use a classic story arc to give your story that roller coaster of emotion that will make it irresistible. Even a humble iguana can experience a story arc:
Your story should NOT be a straight line from “once upon a time” to “happy ever after” with no bumps in the road. You may be tempted to gloss over difficulties along the way but don’t. These are what make your story seem more real.
You’ll need to tell stories about yourself (Foundation Stories) but you’ll find it easier to keep telling fresh stories about your customers (Brand Stories). Here are two examples of one company telling both kinds of story. First, the Foundation Story, where the company is the hero:
And now the Brand Story, where the customer is the hero and the product barely gets a mention:
Journalists and advertisers use all kinds of tricks to hook your attention when they have a story to tell. Think of this as using what’s in the front of people’s minds, not forcing them to dig into the back of their minds. You can get “front-of-mind” attention if you can make your story Timely, Relatable, Unexpected or Evocative.
Here are the techniques I used to help people structure their business stories:
T.R.U.E stories – journalists’ and advertisers’ tricks for grabbing attention.
Aesop is the father of animal archetypes in fiction and his Fables are still entertaining us 2,630 years on. At the other end of the spectrum, try Stephen Lloyd and Arch Woodside’s fascinating academic review of how animals are used in advertising.
The slide deck from this training course is available here as a Keynote file (321Mb). The worksheets are available here as PDF files.
Stupid Mistakes Smart People Make (and what you can do about them) was my attempt to introduce the fascinating topic of cognitive bias in a light hearted way. I’ll post a link to the video when it’s ready, meanwhile here’s the slide deck and your own printable version of the Sunk Cost Fallacy worksheet.
10 Creative Tools gives you a selection of deliberate creative thinking techniques to use by yourself or with your team. Just like picking up any other kind of tool, some of them take a bit of getting used to. Here’s the slide deck and the worksheets.
Storytelling will help you turn your ideas into stories. Storytelling is the best way we’ve developed to remember and spread information, so why not use it for your business? Slide deck and worksheets here.
Storytelling comes so naturally to most of us (once we let it), that we can swiftly move on from a basic (Pixar) structure of a story into fun stuff about story arcs, mentors and animal archetypes.
Here’s the video reminding you why a good presentation is like a washing line:
I’m aware that lots of the archetypal fictional story characters are male, so as a counterbalance, try the Rejected Princesses website, which is full of female mythical and historical characters who are way too badass to be Disney-fied.
Stories can help you describe your work or pitch an idea, but they can also unlock the kind of culture change you want to see in your business. Stories work better than mission statements or strategy documents because we’ve all grown up listening to stories as a way of understanding the world.
All good stories have three basic ingredients.
Your challenge is to go out and find the stories you need and then tell them in a compelling way.
Here’s the presentation and the worksheets from this course.
FIRST RULE of video storytelling: edit in your head before you hit record. If you shoot too much footage a) you’ll struggle to edit it; b) you’ll lose track of the story; and c) the result will be hard to watch. Chances are you’ll lose heart and never finish your first story.
So here’s how to edit in your head. Don’t even touch your camera/smartphone until you’ve asked your potential interviewee these questions:
“Hello, what’s going on here?” Start by asking about action and practical stuff, not opinions, theories, motivations or anything else. Keep it simple. This will settle your interviewee down: you’re talking to them about something they understand. Follow up with “Can you show me?” Again, this reassures your interviewee and puts them in control of the conversation. Plus it tells you what’ll make good pictures. As far as your audience is concerned, seeing is believing.
“What’s surprising about this job? Tell what’s particularly good (or bad) about it?” These questions will start to uncover what’s exceptional or unusual: this is the stuff which grabs your audience’s attention. Listen very carefully for emotion (frustration, satisfaction, pride etc). Play these emotions back to your interviewee in the form of questions:
“So, is it very rewarding? … frustrating? etc” If you’ve been listening carefully, you’ll call this right and your interviewee will really open up. You can follow up by asking “Why do you feel… ?” Don’t be tempted to dodge emotion because if feels a bit uncomfortable or nosey. Every story needs an emotional element.
Bonus questions: “Why does this matter?” or “What should other people think or do about this?” might throw something really interesting up. Always worth asking “Have I missed anything important?”
Ok, so that’s your basic research. Now you’re ready to edit in your head.
First Edit: Just Three Questions. Ask yourself “what are the three questions I can answer in this story?” There’s no point trying to answer more, it just gets confusing. Here’s an example of three basic questions any story can answer:
What’s going on? Can you show me?
How do you feel about this?
Why does this matter?
Second Edit: Show and Tell. Figure out what you can film or photograph that shows what the interviewee is telling you. Remember: seeing is believing.
Third Edit: Practical and Safe. You’ve got to film with decent light and audio, otherwise you’re wasting your time. Don’t interview anyone where there’s lots of background noise. Your ears filter it out, but your camera won’t. And don’t put yourself into any kind of dangerous situation to try and get a good shot.
Here’s a tip for filming with strong light:
FINALLY you’re ready to pick up the camera. Remember to shoot in short bursts. This will make the final edit on a computer much easier.
Stories That Work 