Authentic Storytelling - Getting Out of Our Own Way
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What's the criteria? Who would care and why? What's the story behind the numbers? Who will validate it? What's the trajectory? You need to ask yourself these questions when you are writing content for your LinkedIn pages and ask yourself if you are really being authentic about your storytelling.
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Authentic Storytelling - Getting Out of Our Own Way
- 1. 1 Authentic Storytelling: Getting Out of Our Own Way Joshua Reynolds LinkedIn TechConnect September 23, 2014 @bando_Josh #inTC14
- 2. What gets in the way Bastardization of “leadership” Hype and hyperbole Corporate narcissism What unlocks your potential Compelling narratives Viral questions Being in service of something Evidence this approach works Today’s Download
- 5. 5 Bastardization of Leadership in Technology Market Leadership Technology Leadership Thought Leadership Team Leadership
- 6. 6 Market Leadership Gartner’s Real “Magic” Quadrant What’s the criteria? Who would care, and why? What’s the story behind the numbers? Who will validate it? What’s the trajectory?
- 7. 7 Market Leadership Be specific and showcase: Revenue growth Ranking Reputation Customers Employees + Partners
- 8. 8 Technology Leadership Avoid reliance on: Speeds + feeds “Most innovative” Category creation Listing your “ilities” ROI / TCO
- 9. 9 Instead, showcase your: IP portfolio R&D investment Ingredient plays Positive effect on ecosystem Human impact Technology Leadership
- 12. 12 Team Leadership Start with your shared purpose Know what you’re not Coach + co-create, don’t dictate Know who works for whom
- 13. 13 expectations Predict Disruption Reset & Adjust to Salvage ROI Celebrate Customers + Lessons Learned Predict Disruption Bust Myths Thought Leadership: Tech
- 14. 14 Thought Leadership Litmus Test Relevant Useful Provocative Inclusive
- 16. 16 THE FIVE-CHAPTER STORY MODEL Chapter 1: The world has changed Chapter 2: Change creates challenges Chapter 3: A shift in thinking Chapter 4: Enter the hero Chapter 5: The viral question
- 17. CHAPTER 1 THE WORLDHAS CHANGED Tech / Business / Society / Environment / Law
- 18. CHAPTER 2 CHANGE CREATES CHALLENGE Person / Function / Company / Industry / World
- 19. CHAPTER 3 TIME FOR A SHIFT IN THINKING What if …
- 20. CHAPTER 4 ENTERTHE HERO Vision / Company / Solution / Customer
- 21. CHAPTER 5 THE VIRAL QUESTION Why does this matter? What becomes possible? Where do you see this in action? How will you move forward?
- 22. 22 The Power of the Viral Question
- 23. 23 Proprietary Confidential 88% 86% 85% 85% 85% 79% 75% 73% 69% 54% 52% 41% Industry analyst reports Word-of-mouth from peers Financial analyst reports Private consultation with expert Corporate websites Live events and conferences Traditional print news sources and their… Online news sources that do not have an… Broadcast news Blogs Comments posted on social Twitter Total N=813 89% 88% 84% 84% 83% 82% 80% 80% 73% 60% 54% 43% Industry analyst reports Word-of-mouth from peers Financial analyst reports Private consultation with expert… Corporate websites Traditional print news sources Online news sources that do not have… Live events and conferences Broadcast news Blogs Comments posted on social networking… Twitter Sources of Information for Vendor Selection When considering a large business-to-business purchase, how valuable do you find the following sources of information in determining which vendors you will… Percent reporting that source is valuable …ultimately select?…include in a request for proposal (RFP) or product pitch?
- 24. 24 Proprietary Confidential 57% 47% 41% 36% 32% 31% 28% 14% It poses a thought-provoking question around a timely topic It features a challenge or problem I am currently facing It is simple and easy for me to contribute to an ongoing dialogue It features hard data or statistics I know my feedback will be seen The piece is something easy for me to comment on The content is entertaining and fun to read It features a famous brand, celebrity or some name I recognize Total N=761 Reasons for Commenting Online Which of the following reasons describe why you post replies, comments, or contribute your thoughts to news articles, stories or other pieces of content that you view?
- 25. 25 SAMPLE VIRAL QUESTIONS • What’s the real problem here? • What shift in thinking would help? • What myths need to be challenged? • What strategic questions should we be asking? • What role do I play in all of this? • What’s possible for us when we solve this? • What is the cost of doing nothing? • What does the next step forward look like? 25
- 26. 26 Being in Service of Something Big
- 27. Being in Service: Message vs. Story
- 28. Being in Service: Message vs. Story So … What’s your moon shot?
- 29. 29 Thank you! Joshua Reynolds CEO, Blanc + Otus jreynolds@blancandotus.com
Editor's Notes
- This morning I’d like to talk about what’s NOT awesome about the modern state of marketing and communications in the tech sector. What gets in the way Bastardization of “leadership” Hype and hyperbole Corporate narcissism And then after clearing the bracken for a bit, I want to get back into what CAN BE and often IS awesome about tech marketing and communications, and that’s around the modern potential for storytelling. What unlocks your story Compelling narratives Viral questions Being in service of something And then time permitting, I’d be happy to share what research my organization has conducted in this area, and then open it up to a few questions. Whatever we don’t have time to cover this morning, I’d be more than happy to continue in offline conversations. Because truly, marketing and communications remains primarily an exercise in RELATIONSHIPS, and DIALOGUE and ENGAGEMENT. But all three of those things hinge on one core attribute. And before we go any farther, I’d like to level-set on that core attribute, which is …
- AUTHENTICITY. This is a thai buddhist monk who’s deep into the practice of Yantra tattoo, or sak yant. Tattoo comes from a word that means “to tap”, which is how old school tattoos are made. These tattoos represent deeply held mystical beliefs. They are painstakingly considered and thought through before applied, and every dot, every pigment, carries with it deep meaning. These tattoos change what people believe they are capable of in the world. Some sak yant tattoos are said to bestow protection, and there are stories of ancient warriors covered in these tattoos who could deflect arrows simply with the conviction and courage inked into their flesh. Other sak yant tattoos are said to enhance certain skills and abilities, making one an excellent healer or an excellent teacher or an excellent builder. And no two set of tattoos are the same. Which means you don’t get a sak yant tattoo lightly. More than anything, these tattoos are an expression of your true self, your higher self, your authentic self. And the peace of mind, harmony and strength that comes from wearing you who are on your skin … it’s impressive when you see it in person. So what’s the connection between this and tech marketing? We seem to forget that when we talk about branding, the original use of the term brand was to refer to a red-hot piece of iron twisted into a particular shape that you seared into the side of a living animal to communicate who it belonged to. It’s PERMANENT. It’s supposed to MEAN something. And like the sak yant tattoos, a brand carries with it a PROMISE, but also an INVITATION TO A RELATIONSHIP. And without an AUTHENTIC REFLECTION of who you are, what you’re about, what you BELIEVE IN (and we’ll come back to that later), people don’t really know what they’re being asked to be in relationship WITH. Think of this way. Anybody who meets this gentleman on the streets in Thailand, and who sees his tattoos and knows what their about, and sees the smile on this man’s face, instantly has an awful lot of information about this guy and what he’s about. Having met only a few people like this in my life, I have to say it’s easy to decide, fairly quickly, what kind of relationship you want to have with this sort of person. Authenticity is the foundation for everything else we do in marketing and communication. But all too often, we’re blown off our center of authenticity by the pressure to succeed. And nowhere are the hurricanes of hyperbole more horrific than when it comes to that granddaddy of all buzzwords, the center square of buzzword bingo, LEADERSHIP.
- One of the most overused clichés in all of tech marketing is around leadership. All too often, companies claim to be “the leading provider of” their category or “a leader in” the latest trend without giving much thought to what that leadership actually means or why their audience ought to care. The prevalence of “leader” as a buzzword has an unfortunate side effect: the bastardization of leadership as a concept. Market leadership, thought leadership, and technology leadership need to mean something in order for the tech sector to thrive. The dilution of their meaning ultimately hinders growth and perpetuates a view of PR as less strategic, less valuable and less honest than it really is. What’s worse, we’re turning “leader” into a self-appointed accolade that runs counter to everything leadership is supposed to mean. Real leaders derive their strength and influence from being in service of something greater than themselves. Market leaders act in service of their customers. Thought leaders act in service of deeper understanding. Technology leaders act in service of innovation and expanding the boundaries of human potential. And team leaders act in service of the shared vision that inspires and guides their tribe. When a company loses sight of what leadership is really about, they begin the journey into obsolescence. With that in mind, here are some ideas for bringing meaning and impact back into the leadership discussion.
- Market Leadership. It’s easy enough for anybody to claim leadership in any given space. What’s not so easy, but absolutely vital, is to quantify and validate leadership using evidence your audience will value without a lot of extra explanation. That’s why things like Gartner Magic Quadrants and Forrester Waves work—the criteria for leadership are grounded in customer wants and needs and published transparently. As a result, positive placement on one of their graphs means something specific. Without that specificity, those reports would lose their impact—and the same goes for those of us who use the term “market leader” in our marketing. So here are a few options for quantifying the terms of market leadership: Revenue. Most who can use this option, do. But being biggest or richest doesn’t always mean being best. The story needs to be about what revenue leadership lets companies do for their customers, not just what their customers’ money has done for them. Customers. Having the most customers overall, the highest caliber of customers, or even a high success rate with a particular kind of customer is useful validation. But again, what matters more is why those customers chose the vendor and solution they did. Context matters. Reputation and ranking. Winning awards and securing the validation of industry analysts carries a lot of weight. To turn ratings into revenues, companies must be ready to explain how the criteria and assumptions behind the accolades apply to their specific needs.
- Market Leadership. It’s easy enough for anybody to claim leadership in any given space. What’s not so easy, but absolutely vital, is to quantify and validate leadership using evidence your audience will value without a lot of extra explanation. That’s why things like Gartner Magic Quadrants and Forrester Waves work—the criteria for leadership are grounded in customer wants and needs and published transparently. As a result, positive placement on one of their graphs means something specific. Without that specificity, those reports would lose their impact—and the same goes for those of us who use the term “market leader” in our marketing. So here are a few options for quantifying the terms of market leadership: Revenue. Most who can use this option, do. But being biggest or richest doesn’t always mean being best. The story needs to be about what revenue leadership lets companies do for their customers, not just what their customers’ money has done for them. Customers. Having the most customers overall, the highest caliber of customers, or even a high success rate with a particular kind of customer is useful validation. But again, what matters more is why those customers chose the vendor and solution they did. Context matters. Reputation and ranking. Winning awards and securing the validation of industry analysts carries a lot of weight. To turn ratings into revenues, companies must be ready to explain how the criteria and assumptions behind the accolades apply to their specific needs.
- Technology Leadership. For smaller companies, challenger brands and companies in a new or emerging category, claiming to be the most innovative is a common technique. It attracts talent, boosts valuation ahead of an IPO or acquisition, and can even help convince marquis sales prospects to make a bet on an unproven company. But claims of technology leadership need to based on provable data points. A few useful ones include: Intellectual property portfolio. How many patents and copyrights does the company hold? And who else in the industry is benefiting from them? Investment in R&D. What industry challenges is the company tackling, and where is it investing money, time and resource to address them? Ingredient plays. Where and how does this technology enable other technologies? How does it help customers increase ROI from technology bets they’ve already made? Benefit to the ecosystem. Where and how does the company’s technology help adjacent players in its market add value? What win-win scenarios does it create? And why should the industry want to see this technology succeed?
- Technology Leadership. For smaller companies, challenger brands and companies in a new or emerging category, claiming to be the most innovative is a common technique. It attracts talent, boosts valuation ahead of an IPO or acquisition, and can even help convince marquis sales prospects to make a bet on an unproven company. But claims of technology leadership need to based on provable data points. A few useful ones include: Intellectual property portfolio. How many patents and copyrights does the company hold? And who else in the industry is benefiting from them? Investment in R&D. What industry challenges is the company tackling, and where is it investing money, time and resource to address them? Ingredient plays. Where and how does this technology enable other technologies? How does it help customers increase ROI from technology bets they’ve already made? Benefit to the ecosystem. Where and how does the company’s technology help adjacent players in its market add value? What win-win scenarios does it create? And why should the industry want to see this technology succeed?
- Team Leadership Sadly, many of us have a knee-jerk skeptical reaction when we hear things like “we need a vision statement” or “don't’ we need a value statement?” And to a degree, that skepticism is warranted. All too often an exercise around creating a vision or values statement is reduced to a group grope in which everybody’s opinion is sandwiched into the world’s longest and least meaningful sentence. In short, it reads like a buzzword wordle coughed up by a corporate life coach and does everything but what it was meant to do, namely create focus and purpose. After all, a strategy is not a strategy until it tells you what you’re not going to do. And being in service of something greater than yourself requires you to know—and articulate—what that is, and what that is not. That’s why the vision statement matters so much: it tells your group of highly talented by likely overworked people what they don’t need to spend their precious time doing. So here are a few practical pointers for engaging in team leadership as a tech PR professional: Start with “why”. As Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park, “Your scientists were so worried about whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think whether or not they should.” Purpose matters. It attracts talent, engenders patience, and gives people a reason to want to see you succeed. Most of all, it calls forth the best in your team. So be clear about why your company does what it does, what win-win scenarios it creates, and what impact you’ll have. Be clear about what you’re not. Especially for early stage companies, it’s hard to close the door on future opportunity if you’re not quite sure with how your market is going to take shape. But unless you’re clear with what opportunities you’re not going to pursue, you’re going to end up with a loose confederacy of distantly related teams and tactics. Coach, don't dictate. This is tricky for those of us trained in client service who think we’re suppose to have all the right answers. But for team leaders, having all the right questions matters more. Choose to believe in your people and their ability to make the right call. See their full potential before they do, and ask the questions that wake them up. In short, coach. Remember who works for whom. As a leader you work for your company. The cult of personality is a short-term strategy. True, many people enjoy working for a charismatic visionary who knows exactly what to do and say at all times. But too often that dominating figure casts a long shadow and inhibits talent development. So don’t try to be an Iron Man superhero, where yours is the only opinion that counts. Lead a league of X-Men, each with their own mutant power. See that power within them, nurture it, and remember that you work for them even more than they work for you.
- Team Leadership Sadly, many of us have a knee-jerk skeptical reaction when we hear things like “we need a vision statement” or “don't’ we need a value statement?” And to a degree, that skepticism is warranted. All too often an exercise around creating a vision or values statement is reduced to a group grope in which everybody’s opinion is sandwiched into the world’s longest and least meaningful sentence. In short, it reads like a buzzword wordle coughed up by a corporate life coach and does everything but what it was meant to do, namely create focus and purpose. After all, a strategy is not a strategy until it tells you what you’re not going to do. And being in service of something greater than yourself requires you to know—and articulate—what that is, and what that is not. That’s why the vision statement matters so much: it tells your group of highly talented by likely overworked people what they don’t need to spend their precious time doing. So here are a few practical pointers for engaging in team leadership as a tech PR professional: Start with “why”. As Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park, “Your scientists were so worried about whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think whether or not they should.” Purpose matters. It attracts talent, engenders patience, and gives people a reason to want to see you succeed. Most of all, it calls forth the best in your team. So be clear about why your company does what it does, what win-win scenarios it creates, and what impact you’ll have. Be clear about what you’re not. Especially for early stage companies, it’s hard to close the door on future opportunity if you’re not quite sure with how your market is going to take shape. But unless you’re clear with what opportunities you’re not going to pursue, you’re going to end up with a loose confederacy of distantly related teams and tactics. Coach, don't dictate. This is tricky for those of us trained in client service who think we’re suppose to have all the right answers. But for team leaders, having all the right questions matters more. Choose to believe in your people and their ability to make the right call. See their full potential before they do, and ask the questions that wake them up. In short, coach. Remember who works for whom. As a leader you work for your company. The cult of personality is a short-term strategy. True, many people enjoy working for a charismatic visionary who knows exactly what to do and say at all times. But too often that dominating figure casts a long shadow and inhibits talent development. So don’t try to be an Iron Man superhero, where yours is the only opinion that counts. Lead a league of X-Men, each with their own mutant power. See that power within them, nurture it, and remember that you work for them even more than they work for you.
- Team Leadership Sadly, many of us have a knee-jerk skeptical reaction when we hear things like “we need a vision statement” or “don't’ we need a value statement?” And to a degree, that skepticism is warranted. All too often an exercise around creating a vision or values statement is reduced to a group grope in which everybody’s opinion is sandwiched into the world’s longest and least meaningful sentence. In short, it reads like a buzzword wordle coughed up by a corporate life coach and does everything but what it was meant to do, namely create focus and purpose. After all, a strategy is not a strategy until it tells you what you’re not going to do. And being in service of something greater than yourself requires you to know—and articulate—what that is, and what that is not. That’s why the vision statement matters so much: it tells your group of highly talented by likely overworked people what they don’t need to spend their precious time doing. So here are a few practical pointers for engaging in team leadership as a tech PR professional: Start with “why”. As Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park, “Your scientists were so worried about whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think whether or not they should.” Purpose matters. It attracts talent, engenders patience, and gives people a reason to want to see you succeed. Most of all, it calls forth the best in your team. So be clear about why your company does what it does, what win-win scenarios it creates, and what impact you’ll have. Be clear about what you’re not. Especially for early stage companies, it’s hard to close the door on future opportunity if you’re not quite sure with how your market is going to take shape. But unless you’re clear with what opportunities you’re not going to pursue, you’re going to end up with a loose confederacy of distantly related teams and tactics. Coach, don't dictate. This is tricky for those of us trained in client service who think we’re suppose to have all the right answers. But for team leaders, having all the right questions matters more. Choose to believe in your people and their ability to make the right call. See their full potential before they do, and ask the questions that wake them up. In short, coach. Remember who works for whom. As a leader you work for your company. The cult of personality is a short-term strategy. True, many people enjoy working for a charismatic visionary who knows exactly what to do and say at all times. But too often that dominating figure casts a long shadow and inhibits talent development. So don’t try to be an Iron Man superhero, where yours is the only opinion that counts. Lead a league of X-Men, each with their own mutant power. See that power within them, nurture it, and remember that you work for them even more than they work for you.
- Thought Leadership. Tech companies often need to make the leap from being seen as a vendor to being seen as a trusted advisor. One way to do this is to be the voice of reason around an emerging technology and help people distinguish hype from reality. But thought leadership backfires when it’s reduced to jumping on the latest buzzword bandwagon and substituting a product pitch for meaningful discussion. That’s why B&O applies the following litmus test for thought leadership: Relevant. It addresses a technology or topic that’s already top of mind. Useful. It deepens people’s understanding of that technology or topic, not just your own specific offering. Provocative. It changes the way people think of that topic and challenges unhelpful assumptions that inhibit the creative use of the technology. Inclusive. Rather than dominating the discussion as the lone voice, it invites constructive dialogue from the industry
- Thought Leadership. Tech companies often need to make the leap from being seen as a vendor to being seen as a trusted advisor. One way to do this is to be the voice of reason around an emerging technology and help people distinguish hype from reality. But thought leadership backfires when it’s reduced to jumping on the latest buzzword bandwagon and substituting a product pitch for meaningful discussion. That’s why B&O applies the following litmus test for thought leadership: Relevant. It addresses a technology or topic that’s already top of mind. Useful. It deepens people’s understanding of that technology or topic, not just your own specific offering. Provocative. It changes the way people think of that topic and challenges unhelpful assumptions that inhibit the creative use of the technology. Inclusive. Rather than dominating the discussion as the lone voice, it invites constructive dialogue from the industry
- All compelling narratives follow a universal story pattern that is rooted in Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey …
- The hero’s journey had 12 stages. In corporate storytelling the pattern adjusts nicely into five chapters, each of which serves a function
- Chapter 1 establishes your story as topical and timely. Ask yourself what existing trends you’re playing into. And realize your story could be told from different perspectives. Pick a lens through which to look at change: Economy? Technology? Industry? Human Behavior? Something else? But all stories start with change. The players in the story are thrown out of their ordinary world. Classic FISH OUT OF WATER story.
- Chapter 2 creates emotional voltage. Now you have to pick a persona and convey what the change means to THEM. Challenges exist on multiple levels—individual, departmental, organizational, industrial, national, global … just map it to something the audience would agree HURTS NOW.
- Chapter 3 introduces THOUGHT LEADERSHIP. It recasts the challenge in a new way. It challenges assumptions and opens up new possibilities. And chapter 3 is best posed as a WHAT IF statement.
- Chapter 4 now presents YOU and YOUR COMPANY and YOUR SOLUTION into the story, only now it’s in CONTEXT. Now you are clearly in service of something bigger than yourself. And THAT’S the defining characteristic of a hero. It’s not about you. It’s about your mission and what it can do for your audience.
- Chapter 5 closes with a provocative, open-ended question that’s meant to drive dialogue and participation. Rather than dictate the benefits statement, rather than dictate the end of the story, leave it open to your audience to close it out with some guidance from you in the form of this question they ought to consider. Think of it as giving them a SMARTER QUESTION to ask themselves than the question they had in mind before.
- The most important component of modern storytelling is THE VIRAL QUESTION
- Messages alone are disconnected and not persuasive.
- But when messages are put into the proper context, they can reveal some of the most compelling and meaningful narratives of our age.