“I have some learning to do” is not the same as “I’m not good enough.”
Today’s post is a little more personal. As 2020 winds down and we look forward to a more hopeful 2021, I wanted to reflect on an aspect of storytelling that I don’t think we give enough attention to: The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.
Read MoreIn past articles on this blog, we’ve talked a lot about character development and the traits needed for one to be compelling. One of those traits, that makes it more likely for audiences to lean in and pay attention, is hunger. And an element that goes hand in hand with hunger is optimism. It’s largely what keeps them going throughout the story. But can a character have too much? Can WE be too optimistic?
Read MoreThere are a lot of things we can’t control right now. Getting a better handle of what’s actually in our grasp and putting some structure around it can help us feel a greater sense of confidence. There’s a storytelling methodology for planning for unknowns that has helped me tremendously in my life lately. Maybe it could help you too.
Read MoreA story isn’t just a marketing tool that you can use to persuade customers and clients to invest their time in you, or to influence investors to help fund your mission. Sure, those things are important - but your story should do so much more than that. Your story should guide everything you do. It should guide your decision-making process as you strive to stay true to it, it should drive your culture and it should drive the best work you do. When you’re living that story though, day to day, it’s so easy to follow the wrong threads and stray from what makes that story vibrant and exciting and meaningful to you on a personal level.
Read MoreWe know that character driven stories do better than brand anthems and stories about abstract concepts. That's a no brainer. What isn't necessarily obvious to people, or at least what I see practiced in the real world, is that people connect much more strongly with individuals than with groups.
That poses a really interesting challenge to corporations, organizations and nonprofits; they inherently are groups and they communicate as groups. In order to tell their stories, you come across a conundrum. How do you tell the story of a group when the science tells us not to?
Read MoreLet me start with the end: we need to be featuring more BIPOC protagonists in our stories.
Now, you might be thinking, “Ok Amina, tell me something I don’t know.”
I’ll admit, the statement above is incomplete: we need to do a lot more than that. But as storytellers, we’re trained to see others’ perspectives. We’re practiced in presenting arguments in a way that opens people’s minds. We have a great opportunity to shape the next narrative for society, and provide a launchpad for meaningful discourse and action. But, as with all storytelling, it starts with understanding our target audience, and how their brains work.
Read MoreCollaboration is the lifeblood of storytelling, because great stories come from and are developed and shared by communities of people. You can trace storytelling itself back to its roots in sharing information and cultural heritage across generations of people who added to and developed their ongoing stories. Great voices tell great stories, and the more voices you can bring together, the stronger your narrative becomes.
Read MoreOne of the main findings that I found to be the most interesting was that it's not the knowledge of scientific facts that makes people do things like wear masks, or believe in global warming or actually do something to change the world around them. It’s the presence of scientific curiosity.
Read MoreIn times of crisis, the right story has the power to persuade, to inspire, and to drive action—whether you are a small business struggling to survive or a governor pleading for ventilators.
Read MoreGreat stories have a strong beginning, an engaging middle, and a memorable ending. They have a character with a question, a journey to find answers, and a resolution that leaves you feeling inspired. This is what I want our educational events to be, and this timing workflow is an important part of creating that structure.
Read MoreThere’s one brilliant element people seem to be missing about Elon Musk’s PR stunt. Tesla’s failure was a triumph in storytelling—and not just because it got everyone talking.
Read MoreBy telling the “wrong” story about ourselves, we may be attracting the “wrong” client — and the wrong client often means a lack of creative freedom and passion in our work.
Read MoreWhat do you do when you’ve got a skeptical audience? Do you talk to them differently? Or do you treat them the same way you would a “believer?”
Read MoreMy dad was recently diagnosed, and it got me thinking… I help companies motivate their audiences toward new behaviors all the time. I use narrative persuasion in my job every day. How could I not use it to save, or at least extend, my dad’s life?
Read MoreA rabbit hole of market research and analytics. Turns out, when you procrastinate with purpose, you’re actually being productive.
Read MoreThree days after I published my previous blog post about using storytelling to elicit cognitive ease, I found a study that, at first glance, contradicted what I wrote. So which one is true?
Read MoreBrains are lazy. It’s not an insult… it's an evolutionary adaptation. It’s more efficient to not have to work too hard. But when you've got a complex message that requires more thinking on your audience’s part, how can you leverage storytelling to get through?
Read MoreIt’s a question that has fundamentally changed how I perceive the world.
Read More“The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”
Read MoreIt’s inevitable. At some point in our lives, we’re going to encounter a cheater—someone that’s willing to win at any cost, even at the expense of their integrity. It happens in business, politics, sport… Humans are both social and competitive, and sometimes those two qualities get in the way of each other.
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