What are the benefits and risks of using personal stories or anecdotes in your social media content?

It is important to know why you are telling stories on social media. Ask yourself what you want to do: inspire people, help them learn, or get closer with your followers? Knowing why will help make sure your stories match up with your brand or business. To connect with your audience, you need to make a story that fits your goal. If you want to inspire people, tell stories of how they overcame something difficult. To educate people, give facts or statistics. It is important to think about what will be interesting and relatable for the people who you are talking to. When telling stories on social media, always remember why you are telling it and try to make it meaningful for the audience.

Storytelling on social media is important for several reasons: It helps build an emotional connection: When you share a story, you are engaging with your audience on an emotional level. People remember stories more than they remember facts. It helps you stand out: With so much content being posted on social media every day, it can be hard to get noticed. It can increase engagement: Stories that are engaging and interesting are more likely to be shared, commented on, and liked. This can help increase your reach and bring in new followers. It can help build your brand: Sharing stories that align with your brand's values and personality can help reinforce your brand identity and build brand recognition.

Understanding the purpose behind your story is the compass guiding your narrative. Authenticity in storytelling breeds trust. Be genuine and transparent about your experiences, and avoid fabricating stories for engagement.

One way I help really hone in on my purpose is asking myself this question: "What emotion should people feel when they consume this piece of content?" It becomes my North Star, and really simplifies creating that piece of content.

Knowing your purpose means knowing your personal brand. Understand what are your skills, who is who your audience, how are you different, and what are you passionate about. When you have this understanding, you'll be clearer on your purpose and then you can create authentic content. Make it personal. Educate, inspire, and draw people to YOU.

Step 1 is to figure out the content/stories your followers are interested in and that would connect with. Look at some of the content they're posting and see if you can find a common ground between your experiences and their content. The main purpose of storytelling is to connect with your audience, make your brand stand out, and sharing meaningful content.

To complement the article, I'd like to stress the importance of feedback loops. Encourage your audience to share their stories and experiences in response to your content. This not only fosters engagement but also creates a sense of community. Moreover, consider cultural sensitivity. What may be a harmless anecdote in one culture might be offensive in another.

I agree. However we should realize that there is a long tail of silent consumers who never share their preferences, likes or beliefs. And to tap into this audience, boundaries need to be constantly tested. Not in a derogatory or condescending manner, but in a empathetic and kind manner. And if this silent consumer becomes vocal, then you have another data point that is measurable.

Relatable stories can come from so many different sources! Audience research tools like SparkToro can help you find media publications that your target audience follows, so you can feel the pulse of those stories and share related content. Client/customer frequently asked questions and case studies are incredible social proof. And even by sharing your own stories, over time you can attract an audience of professionals who share similar views or pain points.

This is the most important thing. When you’re doing a pitch, speech or presentation, if you know your audience you know how the story will land. But the key thing to remember is that your story needs to add value to the point you’re making. If it does then it’ll land well but if you’re telling a story for the sake of it then it won’t work.

I never feature my family or non-professional friends on my socials. You give up your right to privacy if you use it to raise your profile. You also risk defining their digital footprint without consent. You can tell personal stories by talking about what happened and how it made you feel without being specific about who else was involved.

This is when it can become a little bit tricky with storytelling. Whenever I am telling a story I always like to remind myself that this is coming from my point of view and also to be discrete in the parts that talk about other people. A lot of people in my family are not comfortable sharing personal matters on social media and I try to be very careful because I think "They didn't sign up for this, I did". This leads me to be a little more careful and vague when I am talking about experiences that involve others or I try to keep the focus on me and my experience.

Boundaries are the foundation of responsible storytelling. Always seek consent from individuals mentioned in your stories, especially if it involves personal or potentially sensitive information. Also, remember the power of vulnerability. Sharing your challenges, failures, or setbacks can make your stories relatable and inspire empathy, but do so thoughtfully and from a position of strength.

It's possible to be light-hearted and goofy, while professional always. I know we were taught ‘we’re not supposed to’, but it is possible to: ? Smile and make smile, even if no one is looking. ? Crack jokes while still being respectful. ? Diffuse stress with humour. ? Replace gravity with levity. 95% of times, the outcome is good. 5% of times you can draw critics, and it can be bad in same way, But even when it turns out bad. It’s not that bad, anyway. Because it makes us and others feel more human. For a brief moment. Even if ‘we’re not supposed to’. Even for a goofy moment ?? Even for a short laughter ?? Even for a brief smile ??

Something I think about when telling a story on social media is: "If this story was being put through Google translate, how likely would it translate correctly?" This helps me keep my language simple, precise, and to the point.

Adapting your tone to different platforms is key because you want your audience who is consuming the content on the platform to engage with your content. You also need to be careful with the tone when you are telling a story and the theme behind it. If you are discussing something deep, using a humorous tone is not a good idea. People might take offense as to why you're making something serious and important into something comical.

Tone is the brush that colors your narrative. Ensure that your tone aligns not only with the platform but also with your brand's voice. Consistency in tone helps build a recognizable and trustworthy brand identity.

The way you tell your personal stories affects how people see you. Use the right tone for your goal and where you share. Be fun on places like Instagram, serious on LinkedIn. It's about what fits.

I got chosen to speak on a panel with TIME magazine hosting non-profit NFT based org.. In this video below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa86oAy-Z1o I come in at about 0:59 seconds This is the best example of master tonality that displays a mixture of being an expert on subject matter and having passionate action plan set in place; after giving some criticism to the way an organization was operating. Watch till the end. I was able to compel them to see their mistake. Quite rare to see a message resonate.

Knowing your audience should inform your tone. Is your audience a professional one? A personal one? Both? Your tone can vary, but it needs to reflect your audience and what they react to. You can determine this by exploring what your audience likes and comments on and using that to guide your own decision on the tone of your posts.

Being prepared for people's reactions is a great way to check your content before posting it. Part of being on social media is being able to handle criticism. People have no problem calling you out and writing mean comments on social media, then it's up to you to figure out whether you would like to delete the content or keep it up and deal with the consequences.

Ethics are the compass of storytelling. Clearly label personal stories or anecdotes as such to maintain trust with your audience. Authenticity goes hand in hand with ethics. Furthermore, consider cultural sensitivity. What may be acceptable in one culture could be offensive in another. Be aware of cultural nuances to avoid inadvertently causing offense.

When sharing personal stories on social media, be truthful, respectful, and avoid making things up. Think about how your stories might affect you and be ready for comments or questions. It's about being honest and careful.

To me ethics is all about our personal values which stems from our personal brand. It's critical that we lead with data driven information and don't talk about things we don't have a tremendous knowledge about, or at the very least, note that this is a personal opinion not backed by data. When we're storytelling, give credit where credit is due. Be clear what is a personal perspective vs widely accepted fact and do your best to cite where you're story is coming from.

As one's network grows, the stories may encompass others. And if you plan to include them in the story, and you want to call them out, seek permission first that they are OK with being referenced.

Having a couple of people that serve as examples is a great way to see what works and also pave the road for the type of content you want to create. This doesn't mean copying what they do but it means observing their method and then making it your own by adding your own spin.

When you share personal stories, you are showing your audience that you are more than just a company. You are a team of people with real lives and experiences. This can help to make your brand more relatable and likeable.

Don’t pattern your personal narrative style on influencers. The whole point of storytelling is to tell stories to your audience in your own unique way. Your audience wants to hear from you, not you emulating Gary Vee. It’s fine to look at how other people structure their stories, but please use your own style, voice, values, mission, and vision. Know your OWN why. Too many influential storytellers on social media are inauthentic and have ulterior motives; or they are simply unoriginal. Then budding storytellers copy them, unaware they are copying poor examples. It only gets worse from there. Storytelling is powerful. Use it wisely.

Influencers and content creators are good for inspiration of formats and approaches as they often use trending features but you should look at your target audience for inspiration of tonality and content they post and engage with to get an ideas of relatability and lastly but importantly, show up authentically to yourself, your audience will see through it otherwise.

Working in the military & veteran community, adding a bit of the "old Sergeant Major" into my communication has helped me connect with people and become more memorable. Being direct, giving advice, mentoring, and taking no BS has kept me authentic, but I've also had to learn that there are limits...and if you stray past them it can alienate others.