Transcript
[00:00:05.330] - Imogen
Hello and welcome to Dear Comms, the coffee break podcast where we tackle your biggest corporate comms challenges. I'm Imogen.
[00:00:12.760] - Amanda
And I'm Amanda. We're here to give you practical, no-nonsense advice so you can focus on the things that will really drive influence, engagement, and impact.
[00:00:23.590] - Imogen
And welcome to our fourth episode on storytelling. Today, we are going to look at where we find stories in a corporate setting, and then the types of stories that we can actually get away with telling.
[00:00:36.900] - Amanda
[Speaker:KATIE_KIRKBRIDE] And this is the point at which, when we're running workshops, people panic. They think they don't have any stories. We're just not that kind of company, and everything we do is just work. But the truth is, there is lots out there, and most organizations are drowning in stories. The problem is they don't recognize them, because they're looking at work as tasks but not narratives. There are lots of stories hide in the everyday, we just need to train our brains to spot them.
[00:01:05.640] - Imogen
Yeah, you, you can't invent stories, you need to discover them, um, and you need to find them in the work that you're already doing. And I think when we're thinking about stories, we look at 6 different buckets, if you like. So the first bucket is a kind of who you are buckets. So, this is personal stories, this is about past, the future, what's happening now, and that can be individuals or that can be the organization. Secondly, you've got those what you believe stories. So, what drives you? Why do you do what you do? These are stories about your purpose, your values, your identity. Thirdly, you have your product bucket, of course, you know, this is what you do. It's always interesting for these stories to look at behind the scenes, look at the people who are actually working on those products and problem solved.
[00:02:05.000] - Amanda
[Speaker:KATIE_KIRKBRIDE] Yeah, people generally have a good idea about products because they're usually asked to talk to the outside world about them, but you make a really valid point that the interesting bit is probably the impact or what's happened to get you to that point and the people that have, you know, developed that product. So yeah, it's not necessarily all about the attributes, is it? We have another 3. Number 4 is your customers. That's where your credibility really lives. Not case studies, just real humans with frustrations, wins, quirks, and needs. There are strategy stories, the future you're building, the gap between where you are and where you want to be. These stories show ambition and they show honesty. And then finally, sharing knowledge. So what are the lessons, the scars, the experiments, the failures, and the breakthroughs that make your organization wiser and more trusted? And I think when you lay out all 6 of them, you realize you're never short of material.
[00:03:21.540] - Imogen
No, and the fact is that they— any story doesn't have to be about one of those things. You know, very often they're combined stories. So you could talk about your customers and your products, you could talk about what you believe in your strategy. You know, there are things that go together very naturally with these bundles that we've found. Exactly. But the fact is you have to go out and you have to talk to people. And I know I hate talking to people generally, but you have to actually be sociable and find these stories and not just hope that they're going to land in your inbox.
[00:03:56.770] - Amanda
It's only half the job, right, though? You know, you have to think and question yourself, what kind of story should you tell? Because not every story is right for every moment, is it?
[00:04:08.710] - Imogen
No, it really depends. Going back to our first episode, it really depends on what you're trying to do and who you're talking to. When I'm giving training on storytelling, I really like to reference a guy called Steve Denning, who wrote a book called Leader's Guide to Storytelling. Now, it's not a new book, but I think it really stands the test of time because every time I refer to it, it still makes sense to me. It basically sets out 8 different narrative patterns for storytelling. Really depending on the situation you're in and the objective.
[00:04:46.190] - Amanda
We're gonna put them in the show notes for you, but we're gonna break down a few of them and show how they actually work in practice. So, the first one is sparking action. This is your classic movement maker. It's the story that says, here's someone like you, they faced something tough, they acted, You can too. Not about perfection, but it is about movement and momentum. So you remember that hero from our last episode that the audience identifies with overcoming a challenge? That's the sparking action.
[00:05:22.040] - Imogen
It's the kind of story you use when you need people to change and kind of seize opportunity. The interesting one about this story that I like is that there's always a happy ending. The unhappy ending is implied by inaction. So I think a really good example, and Nike do this so well and they do it constantly, is that kind of, that marketing they do, the, oh, it's only crazy until you do it marketing.
[00:05:53.940] - Amanda
Yeah.
[00:05:54.260] - Imogen
You know, the Serena Williams kind of things, or they did a great one around the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, et cetera. But it's about It's only crazy until you do it and try it. And your unhappy ending is implied that if you don't take that chance and try, then you're not going to succeed.
[00:06:13.340] - Amanda
Yeah.
[00:06:13.690] - Imogen
Secondly, we've got the communicating who you are story. And this is about building trust and credibility, because we can't expect people to take action if they don't trust you.
[00:06:28.010] - Amanda
Yeah. I guess I would equate this to letting people read about your organizational DNA. You're showing character quirks, principles, the things that make you, you. I think Virgin do this brilliantly. Their stories aren't about airlines or trains, they're about people, people who care, experiment, try, fail, and try again. I've got this song in my head, "I Am Who I Am," going, and that's one of their latest adverts. And it's, it's all about their people. It's great.
[00:07:00.540] - Imogen
Yeah.
[00:07:01.020] - Amanda
The third is transmitting values, and that's similar to communicating who you are. You're telling stories where values are lived, not printed on a poster. These stories, I guess, are like tuning forks. They help everyone hear the same note, and they help people understand how you do things.
[00:07:21.210] - Imogen
Yeah. And these stories, these transmitting values, as you can imagine, are absolutely key when it comes to internal culture building, when it comes to fostering that shared sense of purpose. Ben Jerry's is my go-to here. They live their values in pretty much everything they do, if not, if any, in everything they do, even when it's to the detriment of their personal success. And I think Ben Jerry's are the ultimate company for transmitting value stories. Next up is branding. And this isn't traditional branding, I guess, but this is about the promise that you are making to your customer. So it's not really about products or services as such.
[00:08:12.340] - Amanda
No, this is more about Here's how the world feels when we show up rather than here's what we sell. It's quite an emotional territory, I think. It's about identity and belonging and aspiration. If we bring this to life, I think Patagonia is probably the poster child here because their brand stories aren't about their jackets, they're about their planet-sized purpose. Then we've got one of our, my favorites anyway, fostering collaboration. The "we're better together" stories.
[00:08:43.570] - Imogen
These are about overcoming challenges. These are about how we can work together. Again, it goes back to that common vision and helping in a corporate way and helping teams develop that sort of shared perspective. Now, I think McDonald's do a lot of things wrong, but I actually think that they're fostering collaboration stories. I could take umbrage with that. You could, but you won't. But I think that they're fostering collaboration stories are our masterclass, really. You know, you think about— and people are quite cynical about them, but they do work. You know, you think about these, these stories around children's sports sponsorship. You know, they'll sponsor kids' football, for example, and people are cynical about it, I know. But for me, it's about connecting with their consumers, saying, we have something in common. We both want children to enjoy themselves, play sport, be in a team, and then maybe, you know, eat a Big Mac afterwards. I don't know.
[00:09:49.750] - Amanda
Happy Meal for children, I think, Imogen.
[00:09:52.170] - Imogen
Oh, sure. I mean, my favorite type of story is the next one, which is Taming the Grapevine.
[00:10:00.180] - Amanda
I can see why I like this one. Rumors are like molds. They can— ignore them and they spread. And denying them outright can also backfire. I think the art here is to tell a story that reframes the rumor. Clear, human, factual, but still emotionally intelligent.
[00:10:18.880] - Imogen
It's about convincing your audience that either the gossip is untrue or unreasonable, or if there is truth to the rumor, which there is sometimes, you need to— use this taming the grapevine story to admit the truth and then kind of put it into perspective. And I think Lidl and Aldi are two companies who lean into this and tell some fantastic stories about what they do and manage to spin negative organic feelings about their products into very positive experiences. And I think they're very clever in the way in which they do this.
[00:11:02.170] - Amanda
And considering they're not UK companies, I think they do it particularly well in the UK.
[00:11:06.890] - Imogen
Yeah.
[00:11:07.210] - Amanda
I don't know, tonally, they get it right.
[00:11:09.540] - Imogen
I think they're super smart in the way in which they do this. It would be so easy for them to either ignore what society is saying about their products or to try and go big and just— gloss over the challenges people have with their supermarkets, but they don't. They lean into it, and I think it's super smart. Next up, we have sharing knowledge, and this is a story about lessons learnt, about failure, about insights that you have gathered from your time in the company.
[00:11:45.970] - Amanda
These are your wisdom stories. They say, here's what we learned so far, so you don't have to learn it the hard way. In these kind of stories, you do have to admit mistakes, I think, but only to show the path forward. They're quite generous stories, and people trust generosity. I mean, there are a couple of examples of this. I like David Attenborough and the speech he gave at COP26. He used his experience and the mistakes made to share a powerful story about potential solutions to climate change. I mean, who doesn't love David Attenborough, right?
[00:12:23.390] - Imogen
Indeed.
[00:12:24.020] - Amanda
Finally, we have people, uh, we have leading people into the future. This is your big vision story.
[00:12:30.300] - Imogen
I mean, this should be sort of one of your tools in your leadership storytelling toolbox, because this is about giving people clear picture of the future, showing them how to get there, and really inspiring people to achieve more. I I think Michelle Obama was great at this in, in her latter years. When she first started out, she wasn't so great, but, um, as she got into the role, she became very great at this. And she constantly used her platform to try and sort of galvanize the youth of America into creating some form of different future. And I think this is what President Trump tries to do, but his tone is wrong and the picture that he is setting is not clear enough. And so people don't know how to get there with him. And that's maybe where that story falls flat for him.
[00:13:27.680] - Amanda
She, um, she went on quite a journey, I think, in terms of, uh, her communication skills. And I'm sure there's a whole episode in itself when we could talk about Donald Trump. Much as I wouldn't want.
[00:13:39.690] - Imogen
I'm sure.
[00:13:40.740] - Amanda
There we go.
[00:13:41.390] - Imogen
I'm sure.
[00:13:42.260] - Amanda
I think it's important to stress that both Denning and the 6 buckets or themes that we talked about fit together. So if you want to spark action, you could look to customer or product stories. Lead into the future, look at your strategy stories. Want alignment, go to values or who we are stories.
[00:14:02.990] - Imogen
You know, this is why many corporate stories fall flat, and maybe where a lot of politicians fall flat as well, is that we're pulling stories from the wrong sources. So, if we want to motivate teams, we're not going to use a branding story. It's nice, but it is not very helpful to them. You can't explain values and lead people into the future with a story about product specs. You know, they just don't connect. And I think That's where our challenge lies.
[00:14:36.250] - Amanda
Yeah, 100%. When stories don't land, it's usually because we've picked the wrong type. Not that the story wasn't good, but what you were trying to make it do was wrong.
[00:14:47.070] - Imogen
And so, it always goes back to that audience and objective. What are we trying to do with these stories? And then, how can we figure out what the story is to achieve that? So, a little bit of homework for you. So, pick an audience, pick an objective, And then try and figure out which Denning pattern is gonna help you achieve that objective. And then go out and find what the story is.
[00:15:11.000] - Amanda
Remember that next great story is probably sitting in your inbox. It could be wandering past your desk with a coffee and you just haven't recognized it yet. But you do have to seek them out. Once you start doing it, I think you become known for it and then people connect to what you're trying to do, and then you'll find that it's organic and will grow. Next week, we're going to be pulling everything together in a top 10 tips list for storytelling.
[00:15:40.650] - Imogen
Yeah, and in the meantime, if you want some help in trying to find that story, or you're not sure what's going to work with your audience, or, you know, you simply want to have a quick brainstorm with us, do get in touch.
[00:15:53.830] - Amanda
Bye for now!
)
