Scott Friedman is a volunteer firefighter in Pennsylvania. He needs to explain a new strategy to the other volunteers in a full team meeting. And he’s got to deliver some tough news: if they can’t match up to the standards of a modern firefighting organisation, there’s no place for them in his team. Here’s how … Read more
Case studies and testimonials are your strongest tools for winning new customers. As a potential customer, I want to see how you’ve helped people like me. Let’s take a look at one example: Kerry Thompson’s consultancy akeno.co.uk Kerry helps car dealers sell more cars. The car market – and customers’ expectations – are constantly changing. … Read more
Try these tactics when you need to present data and grab your audience’s attention.
“Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative,” sang Cole Porter. “Don’t mess with Mr In-Between.” Sorry Mr Porter, but you’re wrong. To give your story dramatic tension, you need to accentuate the positive and accentuate the negative too. And you can use story arcs like Rags to Riches and Downfall to work out how to do … Read more
Some customers need a great B2B story AND a great B2C story too.
Here are the tactics behind some of the stories I’ve noticed this week:
Take a look at the bookshelves of Storyteller Tactics author Steve Rawling. Practical tips Case studies Theory
Which Storyteller Tactics would be on Jane Austen’s writing desk? How about Don Draper or Bruce Springsteen? We all have our own favourite stories – the novel you can’t put down, the advert that caught your eye, the movie you’d watch again tonight for the seventh time. Or that YouTuber you just spent twenty minutes … Read more
Paul Benn is a business analyst with a problem. He’s got great insights, but he’s worried that when he gets up to present them to clients, it’s boring. He wants to be entertaining, which is why he bought Storyteller Tactics. But should your business presentations really be entertaining? We’re not magicians or comedians, after all. … Read more
Is your story even worth telling? Or are you going to bore the pants off us again? Prof Gary Klein* has a test for what makes a useful, re-tellable story: does it contain If these elements are missing, we will find your story dull. If you include them, not only will we listen but chances … Read more