A festival of innovation and thought leadership

Put your hand up if you’ve chuckled and nodded knowingly at the phrase “death by PowerPoint”. We’re all so clever we know that PowerPoint sucks and yet it thrives. And so it should, because PowerPoint doesn’t bore people: people bore people.

What we need is a new technique. Hang on, no we don’t. We need an old technique. We need to go back to storytelling.

You don’t need this blog post to tell you that storytelling has been around since the first human needed a way to tell his neighbour something juicy about the woman three caves down.

First we didn’t have paper. Then we didn’t have literacy. So how did you help the rest of the gang remember that the spring flower with the purple buds was going to make them sick for a week? You told them a story.

So how do you tell the potential customer that he’s going to love working with you? You slap up a 42 slide pack and throw in some fancy laser pointing. No, you tell him the story of how you helped another customer.

At the company level it’s all about storytelling these days because it’s all about branding. A brand is a story that tells you something about the company – it believes in helping the environment, it’s approachable, it’s a little bit different. By knowing the company’s story, you can decide whether it fits in with your story.

Knowing a company’s story is how you decide to buy a Google frisbee rather than the same thing without the logo.

While we spend millions on storytelling at the brand level, on the individual level we forgot how to tell a story. And it could be done so well. You all have great stories that would bring what you do to life for the person you’re trying to impress. You’d be engaging their logical brain and the emotional brain that connects with a good story.

But stories are for selling and you’re not selling anything. Of course you’re selling something, if only your expertise. Whatever you’re communicating, you’re trying to sell a message and if you’re bothering to communicate, you must have something you want the receiver to “buy”.

So what makes a great story? And what’s the best way to tell them?
Shawn Callaghan from Anecdote and Spike Jones – master storyteller at Brains on Fire word-of-mouth agency, both have those answers. At the Story craft workshop on 5 June and Spike’s Amplify sessions 24-25 June, they will walk you through the composition of a story, the dos and don’ts of storytelling and tips and tricks that will make your story stick in the minds of your audience. You’ll walk away with a solid knowledge of what makes a great story and how to tell one in your own unique voice.

And if you choose to tell that story with complementary PowerPoint slides, good on you.

You can also participate in AMP’s first live story slam- see programme 25 June. Details of how to enter will be available at “Intimacy with Strangers:http://www.amplify.amp.com.au/creativitytapas-the 5 June workshop.