Research and Discovery Tools for Experimentation - 17 Apr 2024 - v 2.3 (1).pdf
Authentic Storytelling: Getting Out of Our Own Way
1. 1
Authentic Storytelling:
Getting Out of Our Own Way
Joshua Reynolds
LinkedIn TechConnect
September 23, 2014
@bando_Josh #inTC14
2. What gets in the way
Bastardization of “leadership”
Hype and hyperbole
Corporate narcissism
What unlocks your potential
Compelling narratives
Viral questions
Being in service of something
Evidence this approach works
Today’s Download
5. 5
Bastardization of Leadership in Technology
Market Leadership Technology Leadership
Thought Leadership Team Leadership
6. 6
Market Leadership Gartner’s Real
“Magic” Quadrant
What’s the criteria?
Who would care,
and why?
What’s the story
behind the numbers?
Who will validate it?
What’s the trajectory?
7. 7
Market Leadership
Be specific and showcase:
Revenue growth
Ranking
Reputation
Customers
Employees + Partners
8. 8
Technology
Leadership
Avoid reliance on:
Speeds + feeds
“Most innovative”
Category creation
Listing your “ilities”
ROI / TCO
9. Technology
Leadership
Instead, showcase your:
IP portfolio
R&D investment
Ingredient plays
Positive effect
9
on ecosystem
Human impact
16. 16
THE FIVE-CHAPTER STORY MODEL
Chapter 1:
The world has
changed
Chapter 2:
Change creates
challenges
Chapter 3:
A shift in thinking
Chapter 4:
Enter the hero
Chapter 5:
The viral question
17. CHAPTER 1
THE WORLDHAS CHANGED
Tech / Business / Society / Environment / Law
18. CHAPTER 2
CHANGE
CREATES CHALLENGE
Person / Function / Company / Industry / World
23. Sources of Information for Vendor Selection
When considering a large business-to-business purchase, how valuable do you find the following sources of information
in determining which vendors you will…
23 Proprietary Confidential
88%
86%
85%
85%
85%
79%
75%
73%
69%
54%
52%
41%
Industry analyst reports
Word-of-mouth from peers
Financial analyst reports
Private consultation with expert
Corporate websites
Live events and conferences
Traditional print news sources and their…
Online news sources that do not have an…
Broadcast news
Blogs
Comments posted on social
Twitter
Total N=813
89%
88%
84%
84%
83%
82%
80%
80%
73%
60%
54%
43%
Industry analyst reports
Word-of-mouth from peers
Financial analyst reports
Private consultation with expert…
Corporate websites
Traditional print news sources
Online news sources that do not have…
Live events and conferences
Broadcast news
Blogs
Comments posted on social networking…
Twitter
Percent reporting that source is valuable
…include in a request for proposal (RFP) or product pitch? …ultimately select?
24. 24 Proprietary Confidential
57%
47%
41%
36%
32%
31%
28%
14%
It poses a thought-provoking question around a
timely topic
It features a challenge or problem I am currently
facing
It is simple and easy for me to contribute to an
ongoing dialogue
It features hard data or statistics
I know my feedback will be seen
The piece is something easy for me to comment on
The content is entertaining and fun to read
It features a famous brand, celebrity or some name
I recognize
Total N=761
Reasons for Commenting Online
Which of the following reasons describe why you post replies, comments, or contribute your
thoughts to news articles, stories or other pieces of content that you view?
25. 25
SAMPLE VIRAL QUESTIONS
• What’s the real problem here?
• What shift in thinking would help?
• What myths need to be challenged?
• What strategic questions should we be asking?
• What role do I play in all of this?
• What’s possible for us when we solve this?
• What is the cost of doing nothing?
• What does the next step forward look like?
25
Thought Leadership. Tech companies often need to make the leap from being seen as a vendor to being seen as a trusted advisor. One way to do this is to be the voice of reason around an emerging technology and help people distinguish hype from reality. But thought leadership backfires when it’s reduced to jumping on the latest buzzword bandwagon and substituting a product pitch for meaningful discussion. That’s why B&O applies the following litmus test for thought leadership:
Relevant. It addresses a technology or topic that’s already top of mind.
Useful. It deepens people’s understanding of that technology or topic, not just your own specific offering.
Provocative. It changes the way people think of that topic and challenges unhelpful assumptions that inhibit the creative use of the technology.
Inclusive. Rather than dominating the discussion as the lone voice, it invites constructive dialogue from the industry
Thought Leadership. Tech companies often need to make the leap from being seen as a vendor to being seen as a trusted advisor. One way to do this is to be the voice of reason around an emerging technology and help people distinguish hype from reality. But thought leadership backfires when it’s reduced to jumping on the latest buzzword bandwagon and substituting a product pitch for meaningful discussion. That’s why B&O applies the following litmus test for thought leadership:
Relevant. It addresses a technology or topic that’s already top of mind.
Useful. It deepens people’s understanding of that technology or topic, not just your own specific offering.
Provocative. It changes the way people think of that topic and challenges unhelpful assumptions that inhibit the creative use of the technology.
Inclusive. Rather than dominating the discussion as the lone voice, it invites constructive dialogue from the industry
All compelling narratives follow a universal story pattern that is rooted in Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey …
The hero’s journey had 12 stages.
In corporate storytelling the pattern adjusts nicely into five chapters, each of which serves a function
Chapter 1 establishes your story as topical and timely. Ask yourself what existing trends you’re playing into. And realize your story could be told from different perspectives. Pick a lens through which to look at change: Economy? Technology? Industry? Human Behavior? Something else?
But all stories start with change. The players in the story are thrown out of their ordinary world. Classic FISH OUT OF WATER story.
Chapter 2 creates emotional voltage. Now you have to pick a persona and convey what the change means to THEM. Challenges exist on multiple levels—individual, departmental, organizational, industrial, national, global … just map it to something the audience would agree HURTS NOW.
Chapter 3 introduces THOUGHT LEADERSHIP. It recasts the challenge in a new way. It challenges assumptions and opens up new possibilities. And chapter 3 is best posed as a WHAT IF statement.
Chapter 4 now presents YOU and YOUR COMPANY and YOUR SOLUTION into the story, only now it’s in CONTEXT. Now you are clearly in service of something bigger than yourself. And THAT’S the defining characteristic of a hero. It’s not about you. It’s about your mission and what it can do for your audience.
Chapter 5 closes with a provocative, open-ended question that’s meant to drive dialogue and participation. Rather than dictate the benefits statement, rather than dictate the end of the story, leave it open to your audience to close it out with some guidance from you in the form of this question they ought to consider. Think of it as giving them a SMARTER QUESTION to ask themselves than the question they had in mind before.
The most important component of modern storytelling is THE VIRAL QUESTION
Messages alone are disconnected and not persuasive.
But when messages are put into the proper context, they can reveal some of the most compelling and meaningful narratives of our age.