Articles on Success, Significance and the Evolving Role of Work

A Key Storytelling Lesson from Yesterday’s MLK Noise

Mahalia Jackson started it.

Dr. King’s closest confidants and advisors encouraged him not to go Baptist preacher on everyone during his March on Washington speech.

He’d given the “dream” speech already. It would be “trite” and “cliché,” they said.

For most of his speech he stayed on script. But I bet you can’t recall anything Dr. King said up until the part he said, “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama…”

That’s when Mahalia Jackson — one of the greatest gospel singers of all time and who happened to be standing behind him — yelled, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin!”

And that’s what he did.

He abandoned the script and told you, me and each generation to come about a promised land in which everybody can be free at last.

Transcending the Noise

Yesterday, you no doubt experienced a surge in content tied to Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy. You may have even participated.

People shared favorite quotes by Dr. King. There were stories about his historic speech. And replays of it. There were stories told by those who walked with him. There were articles on speech-giving, leadership lessons and secrets to his success.

However, I saw one person after another make the same mistake — the mistake Dr. King came close to making that August day in 1963 as he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial.

In a world of noise and sameness, a person’s passion is a powerful story.

And until it’s personal, it’s not powerful.

Instead of sharing a quote, I wish someone told a story about what Dr. King means to them. Or how something he said or did inspired why they do what they do.

I wish I had learned something I didn’t know about someone I follow — a cause dear to them.

Instead, person after person contributed to the noise of MLK Day without transcending it, as Dr. King would have, through the power of narrative.

So I ask you: How has Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired you? What have you learned from his story? What do you stand for? For whom are you willing to be a voice?

Please take a minute and leave a comment. I’m very interested in your story.

Ideas for Packaging Your Story With Other Elements

In a previous post, I challenged you to choose only one thing for your story to sell:

An idea
A belief or mindset
A cause
An organization
A person
A product
A service
An experience

However, once you choose your one thing, you can use others on this list to support your story.

Let’s use TED Talks, as an example to illustrate what I mean.

The TED Talks brand sells one thing: ideas worth spreading. That’s the first bullet on the list above.

However, many TED Talks sell a belief or mindset. The most viewed TED Talk of all time is Ken Robinson’s manifesto on how schools kill creativity.

Others sell a cause. In her 2009 talk, Jacqueline Novogratz sold investing in others even in tough economic times.

Each TED Talk sells one thing — an idea, a mindset, a cause, etc. — however that primary story is packaged as experiences delivered by people. And experiences and people are two other items worth selling on our list above.

Ways You Can Enhance Your Primary Story

What if you sell a service like massage? You can package the story of that service with an experience, like a YouTube video. Or you could package it with a cause, like reducing hypertension.

Wendy’s clearly sold a product — hamburgers — when sales flat-lined in the mid-1908s. Although their “Where’s the beef,” campaign entered pop culture history, the chain found it’s greatest success packaging their hamburger story with Dave Thomas.

So what’s the one thing you’re selling with your story?

Once you’ve answered that, what else on the list above could you package that story with to better connect with those you intend to serve?

How To Figure Out Your “One Thing” In Storytelling

Want to know what the secret to a great story is?

One thing. Just one thing.

And it’s for you to figure out.

But I’m going to help you a little.

Every story you tell is trying to sell one of eight things:

An idea
A belief or mindset
A cause
An organization
A person
A product
A service
An experience

Be very clear (and intentional) about which one you’re selling.

Design your story to sell that one thing.

Use one or more of the other seven things to support your one thing. (But only if they help.)

We’ll dive into how to do that last idea in the next post.

Should You Go Positive or Negative to Get Attention?

Imagine you are clinically obese and your doctor has urged you to change your lifestyle. So you’ve vowed to find a personal trainer and get started.

One personal trainer says, “It’s time you wake up and face reality — you’re fat and going to die if you don’t lose that weight. My 10-week program will save your life like it’s saved the lives of thousands of others. Get started today.”

A second personal trainer says, “You deserve to live a happy, healthy life, because your family needs you. But you need to address your health in safe, smart ways. That’s why we do what we do — we love helping amazing people like you thrive.”

Both trainers are telling you the exact same narrative: “I help people like you lose weight.” But each is telling you a different story. One challenges you. The other encourages you. One tells you what to do. The other invites you in.

Do you see the difference?

Which personal trainer would you choose?

Some say that if you want to get prospects’ attention, go negative. Threaten their security. Scare them into paying attention.

I recently facilitated a strategy session in which some executives suggested their company “be more provocative” in order to get attention with its marketing. Which led to discussion about how they could reveal mistakes prospects were making that could sink their organization.

Sounds a lot like the first personal trainer, doesn’t it?

You and I market and sell in a very crowded, noisy marketplace. It’s incredibly difficult to break through the clutter, which can make gimmicks to get attention sound like something worth trying.

Think twice before going negative.

I believe — and I’ve seen good research that suggests — that aspirational narratives are more effective over the long-run than negative ones.

Design your stories to be personal, aspirational and participative.

By personal I mean that they speak to “you” not “us” or third persons.
By aspirational, I mean that your stories look forward to what can be, rather than simply dwell on what’s wrong today.
And by participative, I mean that you invite your prospects into the story. After all, it’s ultimately their story, not yours.

Your clients (and you) deserve a story worth pursuing.

The Powerful Story a Thank You Tells

I’ve spent nearly all of my career in and around hospitals.

When you work in a hospital, it’s easy to lose sight of how the work you do impacts the lives of others. You just do your job.

This is especially true of physicians, nurses, technicians and other support staff. They can go days, months and sometimes years doing their job with little knowledge of what happens after a patient leaves the hospital.

This year, a patient decided to launch what she called, “The Thank You Project.” Imagine if one of your customers produced a video thanking you for the impact you’ve had on their life!

I could tell you about her story, but I won’t. We’re storytellers, you and I, right?

Enjoy this very moving and powerful story:

Questions:

What story are you telling through your work today?
Is your work thank-you worthy?
Are you offering transactions or transcendence to your customers?