Building a Strong Storytelling Culture

Five years ago, almost to the day, Ed hung the StoryTeller shingle and opened shop.  StoryTeller was founded on his principles and beliefs that everyone has a story and he wanted to help them tell it.  Five years later, many things have changed in our industry and how we do business, but the constant in the wave of change is our storytelling abilities have stayed true to the coarse.  We just now tell our clients stories in many more ways using all of the social media tools available today.

Recently, I came across a video of Andy Goodmen, who owns a communications consulting firm that helps organizations and businesses reach more people more effectively.  Andy was giving a keynote at a conference back in 2006 on the Art of Storytelling.  Now it is rare, when I commit 45 minutes to watching any video, but Andy had me from the word hello.  He illustrated the longevity that storytelling has had in our society, examples of good storytelling practices and how there is no better way to help us remember things and events than to tie it together with a story.

Every individual, every organization and especially our nation is built upon stories.  It is the fabric of our history, where we have come from.  It is what is captured and passed down from generation to generation. Stories are what makes people and organizations interesting.  What would a non-profit be without a story? Stories allow us to learn something.  If you recall in the story of Peter Pan- the question was asked of Peter, “why don’t you grow up?”  To that end, Peter answers “I don’t know any good stories- to know and to tell good stories is to become an adult”.  Somewhere along the way we as adults got way too serious and analytical that we forget our human, and real side and oftentimes forget to tell stories.

There are several things Andy suggests to keep in mind when building a strong storyteller culture and to make sure your story is memorable. Every good story must have the following:

• A protagonist- someone we are going to follow
• A goal- someone who wants something or wants you to do something
• Barriers- what gets in the way of allowing the protagonist to achieve their goal? (The more barriers they have the more interesting the story)
• Resolution- how do they overcome the barriers?
• Payoff- what is the win or how is the desired outcome achieved?

Make sure as a business or organization, you understand your story - how you began, your people, your victories and make sure everyone in the organization knows your story.  It’s the most powerful tool you have.

We intend to hang our shingle for many more years to come and continue to tell the greatest stories you allow us to have the privilege to tell.

Tags: andy goodman, Good Business, storytelling, the art of storytelling

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