What's your best storytelling technique for showcasing your brand?

Knowing your audience is crucial in storytelling. There is no point in saying “Tobacco kills” to an addicted person. Instead, tell them this - “You are a chain smoker & you wish to ditch smoking, yet fails in it daily. Don't worry. We are here to help you”. Do you think the audience will be attracted with the first statement or the second storyline? The second one right? That's why knowing our audience in storytelling is crucial.

We can only know our audience when we stop thinking about correct in isolation and make our messages connect. Telling a child, “Do not eat too much sugar” is a correct message. Telling an employee, “If we do not change our ways of working, we will lose market share” may be a correct message in your case But all of the above rarely leads to a desired action, Kids don’t stop eating sugar Employees don’t jump and change ways of working Why? Because the story we told ourselves was that being correct when communicating is what we need to do. And forgot that if something is correct but doesn’t connect, it is handicapped of making a change happen.

Look for your point of view on the story, the direction from which you will reach the story and tell it to your audience. You should stick to this point of view throughout the story, not change glasses in the middle. After you know what your point of view is, start telling the story to others.

Showcasing your brand is important and evident with storytelling. - When you create your thoughts out of your interests, goals, and vision, you build resonation with audiences. - To build resonation, you have to understand your audience, about their taste and preferences. - Understand how to build better narratives to bring people with your words. - Try to find out what people want to consume. - Choose what you write that aligns with what resonates with audiences.

The best storytelling is the type that resonate with your audience aligning with your brand's value and originality. Identify your type of audience to understand the storytelling that will compel them enough and also spark their interest. That goes with your tailored content and delivery mode to ensure perfect understanding and grasping of your message.

People remember great stories and great design too. A branding process works best when the company name, logo, and visual elements evoke a combination of emotional and physical responses that evoke feelings of how the brand should make them feel. Multiple stories and a good brand story work intimately to direct the way people interact with your brand.

I found this insightful. There's no denying that maintaining a constant theme in your narrative is important. I constantly find myself swaying away from the targeted central theme. But, I have found a solution. If one has a clear hook and CTA down, it gets easier to avoid swaying from the theme. I hope it makes sense! Loved the explanation! ??

Absolutely, storytelling isn't just about words; it's painting a vivid canvas of experience. Imagine taking your audience on a rollercoaster ride through the valleys of real-life challenges, guiding them up the peaks of your journey's triumphs. ?? Instead of simply telling, you're an artist - crafting tales with brushstrokes of authenticity. ??? You pave the path, allowing others to step into your shoes and walk alongside you. ?? It's not just sharing obstacles; it's offering a treasure map, step by step, to buried success. ?? No generic facts here; you're the constellation illuminating their way. Your storytelling isn't just narration; it's an immersive experience, an adventure they crave. Keep it authentic, keep it captivating!

To find the theme of a story try asking yourself these questions: 1. What problem do I want to address? 2. What solution do I want to provide? 3. Who are my target audience? 4. Which is suitable for this problem and Target Audience - Non-fiction or Fiction? 5. What genre can I convey this message in? (For fiction) 6. What is the purpose of writing this story? 7. What do I want out of sharing this story? 8. What emotions do I want my readers to feel? 9. What is my CTA?

Let's craft a theme for a brand focused on empowering individuals to embrace creativity and pursue their passions. The central idea could revolve around "Unleashing Your Inner Artist: Embrace Your Creative Journey." This theme will align with the brand's core value of fostering creativity and their mission of empowering individuals to explore and develop their artistic side. Throughout the story, characters will navigate challenges, doubts, and triumphs on their artistic path, highlighting the importance of perseverance and self-expression. The story's events and outcomes will emphasize growth, self-discovery, and the joy of pursuing one's artistic passion. The theme will consistently encourage the audience to embrace their creativity.

Audiences often resonate with narratives that reflect their own experiences. Therefore, it's a compelling approach to cast the customer as the hero, with the brand serving as a trusted guide, assisting them in reaching their objectives. It's essential to recognize that customers will pursue their goals independently, regardless of your brand. Avoid conveying a message of inferiority unless someone makes a purchase. Instead, the brand promise should focus on simplifying or enhancing the journey when customers choose to engage with it.

Your brand is not the hero, your customers are. The character should be who your customers are. You (the brand) are the mentor / the Yoda to Luke Skywalker. Your brand helps overcome the challenge your customer is facing and move from the current status quo to the new status quo because of your brand

After working for decades at Disney I realized the Hero's Journey is one of the most powerful tools ever created to tell stories. In my work, I use Walt Disney's interpretation of it: "When I'm working on a movie, I always focus on 3 things: 1) Telling a great story, 2) Doing it through adorable characters and 3) always bringing an innovation to it.". When it comes to brand narrative, I apply this every single time to define 1) an inspiring brand story, 2) doing it through clear main characters (customers as heroes; the problem or struggling moment as the villain; and the brand as a mentor or guide), and 3) the uniqueness of the brand as the innovation bringing differentiated value to its customers.

Your customer should ALWAYS be the hero. They are the main characters of their lives and if you express your story in their POV, they relate to it. Now, what about your brand? Cast it as a guide, as a mentor. Who helps the hero reach their destination. Remember: If you show how your customers can win, you eventually win too!

The hero’s journey resonates deeply with humans because it mirrors the challenges and growth we face in our own lives. Through trials, transformation, and triumph, the hero's journey taps into universal themes of struggle, discovery, and redemption. By weaving this archetype into storytelling, creators evoke empathy, connection, and inspiration. This is a powerful tool to engage and captivate audiences. Whether it’s in the narrative landscape or the corporate one, the impact will be profound. ?

Everybody says 'show, don't tell.' But here's the HOW: Telling: She fell on her knees, unable to breathe properly. Showing: Her legs trembled and suddenly she sunk to the ground. Her mouth was open, gasping for the air. Remember: Your goal is not to TELL them, it's to make them FEEL what's happening.

The concept of show, don’t tell builds the core of all storytelling techniques. Why? Readers, audience, customers, do not want another motivational essay. But what they absolutely love is a story of how you fought against toxic stereotypes and found your way to a better place in life. This is what show, don’t tell is all about. It is when we take our readers on a journey and share the exact process, steps, and strategies used to reach where you are today. Takeaway: - talk about real problems - share how you overcame it - give them the step-by-step process - avoid sharing general opinions and facts

A good story would always show you because it takes you on a journey. The whole idea is show a character's emotions, traits, plot through vivid description, dialogues and sensory details. This approach engages your audience by allowing them to experience the story more actively, encouraging them to draw conclusions and immerse themselves in the narrative.

To make it memorable, a brand's message should talk to both the right and left parts of the brain..both the creative and the logical parts of the brain. How can one do that? When your message combines facts wrapped in context and delivered with emotion, it strikes a chord. Recollect the famous speeches or the brand messages that stuck with you..almost all of them had those 3 elements. If your brand can internalise this communication technique and treat its audience as a humans who are buying your product or services to solve their problem, then communicate how it solves their problem rather than speaking about the 132 features it has got. Don't say your mobile phone has got 50 GB storage, make it relatable..say it can hold 500 songs!

Coca-Cola campaigns are big on show don't tell. For example in their "MasterPiece" Campaign, instead of saying "drinking a bottle of Coca-Cola gives you inspiration", they show how an uninspired artist suddenly finds his spark after he is handed a bottle of Coke. The entire ad is truly a master piece show-don't-tell and I highly recommend watching it.

Social media is really noisy, making it hard for your brand to stand out. But one great way to get noticed is by telling authentic and relatable stories. When you connect with people in a real way, they trust and stick with your brand. So, make your brand feel human, and people will like and trust you more.

Authenticity is so important, especially with younger generations (Gen Z and Gen Alpha). In a world full of marketing noise, authenticity is your competitive advantage. When you're not authentic as a brand, your potential customers will see through the facade.

Humans are flawed beings. Showing yourself as an expert in a field is good, but to be honest, we all know no one is perfect. Perfection is something that can never be achieved; we can all be a better version of our past selves. If you are promoting your personal brand, you should define who you are, what your beliefs are, and stick to them no matter what people say about the algorithm of LinkedIn. Honesty is often overlooked, but when you stick to your beliefs, there will always be people who will notice you, whether small or big. You won't experience growth on the same scale as other big creators, but your authenticity will build you an audience that truly admires you, in addition to your professional knowledge.

Authenticity is the most important characteristic for any brand to possess while marketing itself. Genuine and authentic stories break through the hubbub of social media and help secure customer trust. With reams of information and messaging thrown at customers these days, it is very difficult to establish a unique brand identity that sticks long. A genuine and authentic brand that doesn’t shy away from sharing challenges, vulnerabilities and is empathetic to customer needs is a long-term winner.

A story can make the best impression when we give the audience a sense of transcendence completeness to be the origin being original Being beyond oneself is decisive

My approach to storytelling in a B2B environment has evolved over time and through experience. We now conduct a significant amount of secondary research to identify the areas in which the brand is struggling. In most cases, without explicitly naming the brand, we craft a story that highlights the problem areas in the industry targeting and present the solutions so that the prospect understand and appreciate it. Additionally, tailor the story according to the persona targeting, recognizing that the story will differ for a CEO, CIO, and CFO since each of them has distinct goals

Your audience (customer persona) should feel like the hero of the story. And as much as humans believe we don't like to be told what to do, an invitation to do something and a relevant CTA is always a great idea. Ask them, call on them, invite them, welcome them. Depending on its length, you can sprinkle them in a variety of places in your content. Think about the last time you engaged, commented, or shared someone's content; what drove you to take that action? We can learn so much from the content we consume.

It's hard to participate in something that is already done. If you want people to be participants in a collective story —rather than mere consumers of content— you should embark on a journey together. Instead of declaring, "This is the path," suggest, "Let's discover the path together!" Rather than announcing, "This is the program for our conference," engage others in co-creating the program. To get started, you can use open-ended questions, which allow for multiple answers, in contrast to 'yes/no' questions.

All stories are more or less interactive in a way. For example, when you read fiction, you are pulled into the fictional world and made to live with the characters. But the only difference is you cannot change the plot. You stay as an observer. A few ways to make the reader interact with the plot is by: - interactive storytelling where people can choose what happens next through choices provided - narrator communicating directly with the reader - making the reader the hero/centre of the story - making people a part of the world building process - combining all their contributions to make a story

It depends on the environment. If you are building a personal brand, then engage with your audience repeatedly If this is a B2B setup, then co-create the problem and the approach together to get greater buying If this is a B2C setup, then take regular consumer testimonials or host livestreams for your audience

One of the most important elements of brand storytelling is to repeat yourself. You don't say three things one time; focus on one key message and highlight it three times. You may know your brand inside and out, but others do not, and repetition can go a long way.

The ABT (and but therefore) model is a great storytelling technique that provides context, creates conflict, and offers resolution in your narrative. The main concept of the ABT method is that information becomes much more compelling when there are connections drawn between different pieces of information, which build tension (and interest) and are ultimately resolved. Don’t be afraid to share the difficulties your main character goes through this builds intensity and suspense in your story.

OPEN A GAP (3 types) 1. Create and maintain a gap between what you're telling and what they want to know. A "hook" is another way of saying "create that gap as soon as you possibly can". As long as there is something they are curious about, you have their attention. 2. Stopping short of saying it all is an effective way of telling an engaging story. If you succeed in giving your audience just enough information to complete the story themselves... 3. When speaking your story, silence is a potent tool. Give them time to wonder or guess what's coming, then close the gap.

I solve their problems. You start from researching and finding what's bothering people. You come up with a plan. This usually includes making reader aware of the problem and why they need your brand. Basically every story needs to be thought provoking or the listener won't act. That's all, what else there is to do afterwards.

I have 3 alternative frameworks of storytelling 1. 2C2R ? Provide, Context, ? present a Challenge, ? how you Responded, ? Reveal the final Result. 2.Pattern interrupt → After hook , show alternative paths that challenges us to believe that it's a possibility to try . Eg. Harry Potter train boarding season in season 1 3. Self talk → Use inner dialogues with yourselves or characters to show subtle conflicts and they resolve with self help. Eg. Talks Harry Potter has with himself.