Storytelling over coffee

storytelling
over coffee
the coffee series
changing the way we communicate...
one coffee break at a time.


2
“When I see a story, I ask: is this something
I'd like to be in? Is this something I'd like to
see? And if I'd like to see it, would I like to
tell it?”
Clint Eastwood
“Behind every
small business,
there's a story
worth knowing.
All the corner
shops in our
towns and cities,
the restaurants,
cleaners, gyms,
hair salons,
hardware stores -
these didn't come
out of nowhere.”
Paul Ryan
“So often
corporate
America, business
America, are the
worst
communicators,
because all they
understand are
facts, and they
cannot tell a
story.”
Frank Luntz
“Better the rudest
work that tells a
story or records a
fact, than the
richest without
meaning.”
John Ruskin
“A special effect
without a story is
a pretty boring
thing.”
George Lucas
“In all my
research, the
greatest leaders
looked inward
and were able to
tell a good story
with authenticity
and passion.”
Deepak Chopra
“We often get blinded by the forms in which
content is produced, rather than the job
that the content does.”
Tim O'Reilly
“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp.
The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.”
Ursula K. Le Guin


introduction
The Coffee Series
Storytelling Over Coffee is the first in an ongoing series of ‘Coffee’ guides.
The Coffee series is a bit of a personal challenge. Can I change the way you
think about communications in 15 minutes: the length of a coffee break?
Well... here goes.
Storytelling Over Coffee
I had such big plans for this first in the ‘Coffee’ series. It was going to be all
about ‘content’. It would touch on a major marketing hot spot AND it would
have a catchy title (‘Content Over Coffee’). What more could you want?
But I realised pretty quickly there’s already plenty of (dare I say) content about
content out there. And these legions of guides and eBooks do a great job of
describing today’s many communications content forms.
At the same time, though, I did notice an important question that seems to get
missed... what the hell are we all talking about?
If you think about it, all content – every speech, post, article, release, briefing,
presentation, video, infographic... whatever – has three layers:
• Insights (the human or statistical insights that underpin your story)
• Stories (the insights moulded into a form that will resonate with your
stakeholders)
• Content (the story’s physical form – words, pictures and channels).
While the third layer – the types of content – comes in for all sorts of attention,
the first two are often ignored.
But they’re key considerations for all communicators: from company leaders to
Sales to Corporate Communications to Marketers and Content Marketers.
After all, a good story will work in any form with any (relevant) audience. But if
you don’t have much to say, snappy words or pictures won’t save you.
So, perhaps there’s more to be served by focusing on stories than by churning
out yet another content guide.
Even it if does mean a daggy title.
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© Wayne Aspland. The Content Factory. 2013.


the challenge
You’ve no doubt noticed that we’re slowly drowning beneath an ocean of
content. Before long, our little world of words and pictures will be so flood
bound, it’ll make Tuvalu look like Mt Everest.
That creates a huge challenge for communicators. How do you produce the
stories that will float to the surface... that will engage and inspire people to
belief, action and results?
Thankfully, there’s something working in your favour. You see, almost every
business, brand, project or team is loaded with stories that could help and
inspire others. They’re hiding away in the:
• Case studies about your customers’ or your own experience
• Valuable lessons from the knowledge and experience of your people
• Expert advice based on your data and research
• Information about how to get the most out of your products and services
• Reflections on the world today or the world that’s coming
• Your proud heritage – the world that’s been
• Priorities and progress of your business
• Passions of your leaders – what gets them out of bed in the morning.
The stories are there. You’ve just got to find them.
Of course, this isn’t always easy. Being a storyteller requires an almost
schizophrenic set of skills. You need to be...
A strategist: you can see what you need to achieve (business, not just
communications goals). And you can see how to achieve them.
An explorer: you’re prepared to reach into every corner of the business (and
beyond) to find the insights and stories that will engage and inspire.
A geek: you’re happy to spend hours plodding through statistical and financial
data in search of the big insights.
A linguist: you’re able to speak to, understand and draw knowledge from
everyone – from the CEO to the slightly oddball subject matter expert.
An artist: you’re able to see – and paint – an inspiring picture from the insights
you’ve uncovered.
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
considerations
So, how do you go about creating the stories that are core to your content
strategy? In essence, there’s five things to work through:
1. Know yourself (getting to know your identity)
2. Know why (nailing the strategy)
3. Know where (finding the insights that matter)
4. Be sharing (getting the most from your stories)
5. Be caring (storytelling for your audience)
But before we get to practicalities, there’s two things worth keeping in the back
of your mind.
Content Isn’t King
Stories aren’t king either. Value is king. Stories and content are just the product
– the medium – communicators use to deliver value.
If you’re driven by a need to create content, you’ll risk churning out rivers of
rot. You could achieve nothing for anyone and still nail the KPIs.
But if you’re driven to create ‘value’, you’ll be focused on stakeholder needs.
You’ll be harder on yourself (not much fun) and you’ll produce stories and
content that will achieve far more for all, including your business (lots of fun).
One Story
Corporate and brand storytellers don’t tell stories. They tell one story in many
different chapters. That story is the evolution of your business and its
relationship with those around it.
Bit by bit, with everything they do, the storyteller brings this ever-evolving story
to life.
This has profound implications for any content strategy. Every story you
produce must hang together: it must be consistent and contextual.
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
know yourself
Which begs two questions. Consistent with what? Contextual to what?
The answer is your identity.
Your business, brand, project or team identity is actually a story in the making.
Like all good stories it has:
• Characters – who (purpose), what (values) and why (differentiation)
• A destination – where and when (vision)
• A journey – how (strategy) combined with everything you say and do.
A properly constructed identity has the power to drive your entire business,
brand, project or team. It can guide not just everything you say, but everything
you do – every decision you make.
Jack Welch encapsulated this idea well when he said
“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately
own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”
So, what makes a strong identity? There’s four tell-tale signs:
• It’s aligned: Everything hangs together. For example, you can clearly see
how your strategy achieves your vision.
• It’s stakeholder focused: It’s about them, not you.
• It’s simple and memorable: But it’s supported by deep, strategic detail.
Every plan in the business maps up to it.
• It’s respected: People pay attention to the company’s identity when
communicating and making decisions.
Get to know your identity really well. Become an advocate for it. And, if its non-
existent or broken (like a fancy but unachievable vision), fix it.
Done well, that identity will tell you everything you need to know:
• The stakeholders you need to inspire and what they need
• The interest areas you need to focus on and the stories you need to tell
• What you need to achieve for the business
• How you can marry business and stakeholder needs.
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
know why
David Ogilvy once noted:
“It is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you
can also sell what you create.”
There’s a common belief that good content and the stories that define it
shouldn’t sell. At the risk of being controversial, that’s rubbish. Yes, value is
king. But you’re delivering value to ultimately achieve a business need. Don’t
confuse a subtle sell with no sell at all.
For any storyteller to be successful, they must be able to sell four things:
• They must be able to sell to the business:
• That this story (or program) should be supported
• That the results have delivered genuine business value.
• Their stories must be able to sell to the reader:
• That they are worth reading
• That the belief or action advocated should be adopted.
One way to achieve these aims is to start at the end. Imagine your program has
been completed and you’re presenting the results to your leadership team.
What will you say? How will you demonstrate the results?
Ask yourself these four questions:
1. What business needs am I capable of meeting and how would I measure
success? Try to focus on business – not just communication – needs and
on things you can (and can claim to) have a material impact on. If its
material but there’s no ready way to measure it, put something in place.
2. What stakeholder needs can I meet and how do I measure success? Also,
how do my stakeholders consume information and media?
3. What stories can I produce to address the needs I’ve identified? How
should I deliver them?
4. Where can I find these stories and how do I go about getting them?
This process should give you everything you need to map your program.
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
know where
Here’s a test for you. Pick a fact that everyone knows. Think of the most
interesting way of sharing that fact and then share it with some colleagues. As
you do, count the blank stares.
You can’t engage and inspire people by telling them things they already know.
You need insights that are new, unique and compelling. To achieve this,
storytellers must also be explorers.
Now, I should make a distinction here. These days, people often think about
‘insights’ as data. But this isn’t just about data. Human insights are equally as
important. Even an original joke is an insight.
There’s three sources of insights and it pays to draw on all three. Doing so helps
to optimise both the quality and quantity of your content.
• Cultivated: The insights drawn from your internal networks (see below):
the internal, primary and secondary information held by your business.
• Created: Insights that are drawn from research and interviews conducted
specifically for communication.
• Curated: Third party insights, articles and other content drawn from
specialists, the media and commentators.
Whether you’re working with one or all of these sources, building a strong base
of insights requires a deep understanding of your business or project:
• Its model, strategy, operational metrics, culture and history
• Stakeholder needs and the changing world around them
• Market and operational trends and metrics
• Who knows what – both within and outside the business.
You need to build a network of subject matter experts, analysts, thought
leaders and internal and external researchers. And you need to watch these like
a hawk, because the most mind-blowing insights often come from the least
obvious places.
You also need to network with the leaders of the business. They (should) have
the most refined view of the world and the company’s internal machinations.
By building and working these networks, you’ll start to create a strong flow of
insights that will feed your storytelling. Oh, and there’s another benefit too.
You may well become a subject matter expert yourself.
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
be sharing
No, this isn’t about sharing your content across social networks. As important
as it is, online content sharing again fits into the ‘done to death’ category.
There’s advice and tools everywhere.
Rather, this is about the importance of sharing and integrating the stories you
produce across the business.
When most people think about content today, they think digital. But, if done
right, the teams producing these insights, stories and content can contribute to
ALL communications and be a major source of thought leadership as well.
So confining the content function to digital can create a huge opportunity cost.
Your output needs to be shared – and used – everywhere.
Structurally, there’s a number of ways of doing that. A recent report by The
Altimeter Group*, discusses six possible structures and it’s well worth a read.
But there are others. Should content be an extension of Strategy? Or of the
Insights team? Should it sit in Communications or Marketing or stand alone?
Ultimately, the best model will depend on your situation. But, whichever
structural model you choose, there’s three things worth considering:
• Knock down the silos: There’s a tendency in many businesses to produce
content in silos. Marketing, communication and sales often have their
own people telling their own stories. This is inefficient. It also complicates
and muddies the story you’re trying to tell. Think about integrating these
functions or aligning them through careful planning and close ties.
• Maintain a calendar of stories: Maintaining a calendar will help you tell
others what you are working on so they can contribute, align and plan
their own activities. As an aside, it will also will help enormously in
finding insights and planning your ongoing storyline.
• Develop the skills: Can your content people talk turkey with Finance,
Strategy and HR? Can they write speeches or reports or prepare strategic
presentations? At the risk of stating the obvious, if you’re aim is to
provide content to the whole business, you’ll need the skills to do it.
The bottom line is this. Content marketing is an important function. But the
value of a content team to the business can (and should) be far more than that.
*The Altimeter Group report can be foundat http://www.slideshare.net/Altimeter/organizing-for-content-
models-to-incorporate-content-strategy-and-content-marketing-in-the-enterprise-19795236
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
be caring
You’re not just a storyteller, you know. You’re a leader too. And, like any good
leader, you’re practising what Dwight D. Eisenhower described as:
“the art of getting someone else to do something because he
[or she, of course] wants to do it.”
You won’t achieve this by telling people how good you are. You need to step
into their shoes, understand what they want, need or value and deliver it.
You’ve got the insights, you’ve got the story. To close, here’s a few things to
think about as you commit it all to paper (or pixels).
BEN
One acronym I like to use in my own work is BEN. It stands for what I believe
are three critical elements of any good corporate or brand story:
Benefits: Everyone who views your work does so with one question in mind –
“What’s in it for me.” Beyond all else, aim to answer that question.
Education: Your unique expertise and knowledge creates a powerful way to
engage. Share it, because education beats spruiking any day.
Natural language: Corporate speak and internal language are the enemies of
effective storytelling. Talk like a human being… after all, you are one.
Personalisation
Remember to personalise for your audience. This works on three levels:
• Personalising the message so that it’s relevant to each stakeholder
• Personalising to the media consumption preferences of each stakeholder
• And, in digital, making sure your stories work on any device.
Emotion
Finally, what’s the difference between an analyst and a storyteller? Emotion.
Do people park their emotions at the office door each morning? No. We are
emotional beings and we make emotional decisions. So don’t be afraid of
emotions. Don’t be afraid to wow, inspire, challenge, prod, urge or tickle a
person’s funny-bone. And don’t be afraid to be human with your audience.
That, above all else, is precisely what they want.
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Wayne Aspland
The Content Factory
www.thecontentfactory.com.au

Storytelling over coffee

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