Business Storytelling Tips Inspired by an Epic African Adventure

This past summer, I joined 15 of my girlfriends from the Bay Area, Denver, and New York on an adventure travel vacation in Africa. Many of them are former colleagues of mine who are strong leaders and amazing human beings.

It turned out to be a trip of a lifetime that I experienced with people I admire, trust, enjoy, and from whom I continue to learn. We got to know the locals and visited the endangered mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda. And we saw the Big Five (lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, and rhino) in MalaMala, the largest private game reserve in South Africa.

As I reflected on our trip over the past few months, I noted powerful similarities between my work in the technology industry and adventure travel. At a minimum, technology and adventure travel both:

• Unleash potential
• Empower change
• Activate human achievement

Another commonality is storytelling. It humanizes technology and adventure travel and makes them magical because “the human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor.” Storytelling is the new marketing and it’s critical in how we engage and connect with buyers. As Seth Godin said, “People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic.”

Storytelling, particularly to humanize technology as technology needs less from humans , has been fundamental to my marketing work. Likewise, I feel compelled to share our African adventure because this quote from a world explorer rings true, “Traveling--it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

In this article, I’ll share with you a story about our African experience and tips for storytelling in the business world inspired by our adventure.

A Brush with Fate with Endangered Mountain Gorillas

Picture this. Empower Field at Mile High stadium where the Denver Broncos play can seat over 76,000 people. The small ski town of Vail, Colorado has a population of 5,450. It’s hard to believe that there are only ~1,000 mountain gorillas in the world and there are 7.7 billion of us!

Before we began our trek up the mountain, our guide, Francis, instructed us to be respectful of the gorillas--crouch down, don’t look at them directly in the eyes, and don’t run. Indeed, our respect for the gorillas was rewarded with an incredible, magical experience. They shared a bit of their lives and jungle home at ~10K ft as they played, ran around, ate in their giant salad bowl, catnapped, swung on vines, and beat their chests.

We tracked the Umubano family which has 13 gorillas, including a lead silverback named Charles. The gorillas allowed us to get close to them. They even brushed against and touched some of us (including me!) as we followed them through the thick terrain and dodged sharp nettles. Our one hour with the gorillas went by fast, but it was all the time we needed to get to know them, understand their plight, and feel a special bond. I don't have a video of our trek but this video of another group's experience is similar to ours.

Francis’ words at the end of our visit made an indelible imprint in my mind. He said, “The gorillas welcomed you into their home. On their behalf, I thank you for coming and for your support. 90 percent of the cost you paid will go towards protecting them and 10 percent for the surrounding communities. Now, it’s on you to amplify their voice. Share with the world the gorillas’ story and be ambassadors for them.”

The Rwandans and gorillas have an interesting tense yet co-dependent relationship. The gorillas face threats from diseases, poaching, and loss of habitat caused by farming and charcoal harvesting. But people need the gorillas because they are the country’s biggest attraction and a tourism cash cow. Likewise, the gorillas need the conservation funds, resources, and efforts.

For me, the experience was life changing. I came as an adventurer and I left as an ambassador. It’s tough to imagine a world without them. Visit the mountain gorillas in Rwanda or learn about them online and be part of the conservation efforts that help both the people and the gorillas.?

The Magic of MalaMala with the Big Five

MalaMala covers 33,000 acres and shares a border with Kruger National Park. It pioneered the transition from hunting to photographic safaris using habituation techniques. It is also the only game reserve in the region where the benefits of tourism directly support adjacent communities. MalaMala is renowned internationally for the quality of its game viewing , the Big Five and more.

Our experience in MalaMala was equally as incredible as in Rwanda, enjoying wildlife in their natural habitat up close, in a respectful way. In our open air safari jeeps, we found ourselves surrounded by a herd of 40 to 50 elephants, including a female elephant with her one-week old newborn trailing behind. We won a stalemate situation with a bull elephant going in the opposite direction as us on a path at night. With a couple of mock charges and one that felt more serious, our skillful ranger, Bens (aka. wildlife whisperer), revved the engine and the bull made way. Otherwise, we, in our 5,000 lb vehicle, would’ve definitely lost against the 12,000 lb bull.

We hightailed it to the Sand River to witness a pride of 17 lions (aka Kambula pride) come down to drink from the river. We watched the cubs drink from ~15 feet away and a few of them walked up against our Land Rover. A lion and lioness showed us their pre-mating ritual with the lion roaring for her from a kilometer away and the lioness sunbathing on the sand, being coy by ignoring him.

We barreled down trees and thorny branches to follow a pack of endangered and elusive African wild dogs , found the hyena pups alone in their den, ogled over a rare ostrich pair sighting, saw hippos grazing near our cottages, witnessed impalas fighting, oohed and aahed over the beautiful lilac-breasted rollers, and so much more.

We learned a lot from our knowledgeable rangers: animal behaviors, the most vulnerable species and the work to protect them, the dynamics of co-existence, the changing climate, and other interesting facts. Did you know that the impala has a natural ability to control its cortisol levels to manage stress? Otherwise, imagine being at the bottom of the food chain and living amongst predators. The impala would live in fear constantly!

The African People

I remember many of the experiences, sights, and sounds of Africa, but nothing is more vivid in my mind as the stories relayed to us by the locals.

One of our drivers told us a gut-wrenching story about his and his family’s struggle with oppression, death, survival, and rebuilding from the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Most of his family was hacked to death when he was a child. He and his younger sister survived but he didn’t know where she was taken. He later on found out that she ended up in the Congo and they reunited years later. I’ve shared a highly abbreviated and much less moving version of his story here. Although I don’t remember exactly what he said and how he said it, I still remember how his story made me feel.

At Virunga Lodge, the villagers entertained us with local songs and a dance called Intore. It is a warrior dance that tells a story of the army’s elite royal soldiers that protect the king and the kingdom’s borders. We became part of the story as they invited us to dance with them. Given the language barrier, it was a unique and memorable interaction mostly through dance and smiles. The photo below epitomizes what Rwanda is also known as--the land of a thousand hills and a million smiles.

In MalaMala, we reveled in the incredible hospitality of our hosts treating us to cocktails at sunset, preparing delicious home-cooked meals, teaching us Xitsonga (the local language), or simply chatting with us on the verandah. They even convinced us to participate in a dried impala poop spitting contest . We never felt like strangers.

There are those we know for years and those we know for just a few seconds. We should strive to make our presence, no matter how fleeting, always purposeful.

I will always be in awe of our unforgettable African adventure. I also marvel at how 16 of us came together to make this happen despite our busy lives and other priorities, just like most people.

Sometimes freeing ourselves of the many excuses not to is all it takes to start a life-changing journey.

To my fellow African Queens, we’ve created special memories together that I will always cherish. I’m grateful for you and for these memories. Where to next?

Storytelling Tips for Businesses

My solo travels in Africa almost two decades ago and this recent African adventure reminded me of why my work in tech has long been grounded in human-centric marketing and storytelling. There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling. Businesses aren’t B2B or B2C, they are H2H (human to human). In our interrupt-driven and distracted society, stories allow us to catch attention, stand out, help others understand complicated topics, become more relatable and memorable, and be more human. Here are some storytelling tips we can apply in our marketing efforts.

1. Go Beyond Conveying What We Make to What We Make Possible.

Let’s pause a bit to think about adventure travel companies that “make” these itineraries. They offer single and multi-day treks, flights and transfers, all-inclusive packages, different levels of accommodations, optional cultural tours, etc. However, absent conveying what the products “make possible,” it falls short of connecting emotionally with potential buyers.

In tech, for example, a product can help teams collaborate more efficiently, build a more dynamic workforce, improve employee engagement, and foster innovation. At a higher level, technology can help find cures for diseases, create new ways of learning, secure our communities, progress careers, improve the way we work and live, and more. The story should also convey how to make it a reality and our role in it.

2. Make the Customer the Hero and Us, the Guide.

People don’t buy what they want. They buy what they want to be. People want to be someone who can make a difference--innovator, game changer, generous leader, mentor, dedicated parent, etc. Let’s market people’s potential, how we can help them achieve it, and the people they can become.

Customers are the heroes and we are the guides in the stories. We encourage, enable, and empower. We are Yoda to Luke Skywalker or Dumbledore to Harry Potter, much like our trekking guide appealed to us with our potential to become ambassadors for the mountain gorillas.

3. Educate, Entertain, Amaze, and Inspire Action.

It’s not enough to educate and entertain (e.g., use humor, daily life analogies, interactions, photos, celebrities, etc.) with our stories. We also need to amaze and inspire action. Amaze our audience by describing the starting point or problem, the journey, challenges and overcoming them, and the ultimate impact or outcome. Highlight how others have been successful with our guidance.

Inspire people to act (i.e., act on their vision and make us a part of making it real) by allowing them to see themselves in a story about a topic they’re passionate about or they place a high level of importance and urgency. Let’s deeply understand our audience, find their passion or what’s most important/urgent, and make it personal. This is critical as we engage to create demand , especially with empowered buyers.

To provide some inspiration, here's a list compiled by a marketing agency of its top picks of brands that tell great stories. I like Salesforce and Kickstarter from this list. One that's not on the list that I believe belongs is Smartsheet . The company puts the spotlight on its customers' human achievements and can-doers. Another good example is Encompass Technologies . The company tells a vision of digitally connecting the food and beverage supply chain to reduce empty shelves and product waste. It's able to do this by being the innovation engine that powers how its customers and partners make human connections possible with food and drinks, much like sports, music, and the arts bring people together around the world. In the consumer world, think Google's 2020 Super Bowl ad or the classic Kodak Carousel scene in Mad Men .

I believe that it’s less about what we saw, heard, did, or felt when we travel. It’s more about what we learned, shared, or did for others as a result.

My hope in writing this article is to do a little bit of that. If you found this article helpful, please feel free to share it or click the thumbs up icon below and let me know. Share in the comments section your thoughts and ideas.