4 ways to find a good narrative
One day, my wasband came home with a bottle of Kelt — not his usual cognac. When I asked why he’d switched brands, he pulled out the box and started reading:
In the 20th century came the age of brands. This meant the spirits were shipped in bottles rather than in oak barrels. The magical effect of the sea was lost as a spirit does not mature once it is bottled.
Kelt has revived the tradition … We send our already aged spirits, still in oak barrels, on a three-month sea voyage around the globe. This, the Kelt Tour du Monde, creates a unique spirit and restores an aspect of quality lost for almost a century.
My wasband takes his cognac seriously. Why did he change his brand? The story made him do it.
The good news is, your brand story probably already exists. In fact, you may already be telling it. Here are four ways to spot a good story that might be right in front of your eyes:
- Tell your inception story. From Nike to Warby Parker, inception stories can form the foundation of a brand’s storytelling. Show how your company solved a problem, challenged the status quo or turned an industry on its head.
- Share your product’s history. Julius Caesar’s soldiers built a stone basin at the site of a carbonated spring. Centuries later, that spring became the source of Perrier water. What interesting stories can you pull from your product’s past?
- Tell the stories behind the lists. Too often, communicators cover employee awards by running lists of winners’ names. Instead of reducing the drama of human achievement to a series of bullet points, run stories about the award winners’ accomplishments.
- Tell your process story. Sometimes “how we make it” can make a great dramatic narrative. Take a tip from Kelt, and tell your process story.
What’s your brand story?
Finding your brand story isn’t hard if you know where to look. From company history to employee achievements, from how we got started to how we make it now, your successful brand story is just waiting to be told.
How can you tell better business stories?
Stories are so effective that Og Mandino, the late author of the bestselling The Greatest Salesman in the World, says, “If you have a point, find a story.”
Learn to find, develop and write stories that engage readers’ hearts and minds at Master the Art of Storytelling, our business-storytelling workshop starting March 3.
There, you’ll learn how to find the aha! moment that’s the gateway to every anecdote. How to start an anecdote with a bang — instead of a whimper. And how to use “the most powerful form of human communication” to grab attention, boost credibility, make messages more memorable and communicate better.
Save up to $100 with our group discounts.
