Hanson Hosein: Storyteller Uprising for Leadership Tomorrow

Hanson Hosein: A Storyteller Uprising
A Storytelling Uprising
// January.15.2014 //
Hanson Hosein / @hrhmedia / www.hrhmedia.com
Leadership Tomorrow

Hanson Hosein: A Storyteller Uprising 2
Three takeaways from our program
The opportunities
for content
already exist
Make
relationships
through inspiring
content
Those
relationships
lead to trust,
persuasion

You aren’t just leading a
company, you’re
leading a social
network.”
“

The balance of power is
shifting from companies
to the networks that
surround them.”
“

Ask the why…

New ways to engage

PROLOGUE
A Telling Story

August 7, 1998
Judean Desert

A $70,000
plane ticket

August 8, 1998 – Downtown Nairobi
11

What has CHANGED?

August 9, 2014
Ferguson

Hashtag #Power
14

But…
“the gun & the sword”

Fighting fire with fire

A short history lesson in
DIGITAL MEDIA

First we digitized…
19

Then socialized…

And upwardly mobilized…

Geoffrey Moore:
If everyone in the
world has access to
a cellphone, then
you can reengineer
the world.”
“

A new inflection point…
5-year plans?
TRY 2…
and revisit every 6 months

Internal Communications
must FLOW

The story behind Toy Story
26

Hanson Hosein: A Storyteller UprisingINTEL – A Storyteller Uprising
“Early on, all of our movies suck.”
28
1) made up of people with a deep understanding of the process
2) has no authority; no power to mandate solutions -- benevolent
Candor is crucial to the creative process –
identify the root of the challenge at hand.
THE BRAIN TRUST
Screen the film-in-
progress
Director/producer of
film give a summary of
where they think we are
Feedback: what is
wrong, what is missing,
what isn’t clear, what
makes no sense

Communications First: Answer the “WHY?”
29
What action do you want the audience/community to take?
How does your mission, values and brand align with a
catalyzing narrative?
Who should you really be connecting with? How and where?
How does your organization execute on this, inside and out?

Beth Comstock, GE CMO:
When 50 billion
machines go
online…”
“

Hanson Hosein: A Storyteller Uprising 31Source: The Next Web

Tragedy of the commons resolved?
32
Sensors, social accountability, public trust
link

Our shared stories create a
connection to others that builds a
sense of belonging to a particular
community.”
– Dan Siegel
“

Hanson Hosein: A Storyteller Uprising 34link
What are we sharing?

What are we sharing?

Why this mattered
24 months ago?
Humans produced 5 billion GB of data…
From the beginning of time until 2003
Every two weeks since 2011
Every 10 minutes as of 2013

Why this matters even more now
37

So the question is…
How do we persuade someone to pay
attention to what we have to say?

So the question is…
Once they notice us, how do we keep
them interested enough to engage in
some sort of transaction?

Connect through content
The action of telling a compelling story,
which places our users at the center of
the story; stories that are designed to
engage; with the ultimate objective of
influencing behavior

Stories have to have emotional heart
and resonance, be authentic,
insightful and truthful.

Stories should not start and end with
the brand; it is about providing utility
and value to the user through
authenticity.

All great content is built
around an ACTION IDEA

Introducing the Action Idea
46
It’s your core story, the essence, reduced to a simple few lines. It
has a clear beginning, middle and end with an ‘Action’ - or
turning point - that sets the story in motion, focused on a hero.
An effective one should be sufficient to engage and move
those who hear it, powerful enough that it can be expanded
into a fully-fledged storytelling campaign
Source: The Next Web

FILM: A boxer who’s afraid he’s a loser is offered a chance by
the world champion to fight for the heavyweight
championship, but must learn to believe in himself with the
help of his lover before he can step into the ring.
FILM: After a twister transports a lonely Kansas girl to
a magical land, she sets out on a dangerous journey
to find a wizard with the power to send her home.
LIFE: I was an accomplished TV journalist at the height of my career at NBC. But
I saw young independent storytellers my age using digital technology and I
realized it was the wave of the future. I asked NBC to allow me to explore this
technology in my position, they said no. I quit, and learned it myself. NBC
ended up calling me back to work for them during the Iraq War to use those
same skills. I then started my own company, made a film using these principles
of storytelling and now run a graduate program built upon that foundation.

History in 100 objects action idea
48
The head of one of the world’s leading museums, facing
declining attendance, needs to remind people of the
value proposition of his institution. He does so by telling,
“the story through the things that humans have made” –
one hundred of the museum’s artifacts that he considers
emblematic of this shared history. The stories of these
objects bring that history to life, and inject renewed
vibrancy to the museum’s appeal.

History in 100 objects

YOUR TURN!
Exercise Time

Exercise #1
52
Share a one-minute (maximum) short story with your group
that exhibits a particular episode where you demonstrated
personal leadership.
It should be a be an action idea that will resonate with
your colleagues here today.
You have 10 minutes to complete this. In this time each
table will select their group’s favorite story.
We’ll then reconvene as a full group, which each table
sharing their chosen story with the room.

Sample Action Idea
53
LIFE: I was an accomplished TV journalist at the height of my
career at NBC. But I saw young independent storytellers my age
using digital technology and I realized it was the wave of the
future. I asked NBC to allow me to explore this technology in my
position, they said no. I quit, and learned it myself. NBC ended
up calling me back to work for them during the Iraq War to use
those same skills. I then started my own company, made a film
using these principles of storytelling and now run a graduate
program built upon that foundation.

Postscript

Caine’s Arcade Action Idea
55
A young boy decides to build an arcade with the
discarded boxes from his father’s struggling auto parts
store. A filmmaker visits the store, and discovers the boy’s
arcade. He’s surprised to learn that he’s the boy’s first
paying customer, and decides to do something about it,
inspired by the boy’s ingenuity and can-do spirit. A flash
mob descends upon the arcade, and plays all day, to
the delight of its owner. This story goes viral, and inspires
a movement in promoting children’s imagination.

Cane’s Arcade

From movie to movement

Five things I’m paying attention to
58
Communication as central to every organization —
second machine age.
Geo-location gets even more granular. Forget GPS, think
Bluetooth and iBeacons.
Content marketing gets more scientific, and more subtle
as companies and news organizations dig in.
The rise of the millennial: whose cultural and economic
impact will be felt now.
Make sense of all that data, content: data scientists,
designers, data viz, storytellers.

Thank you!
Apply to my graduate program for professionals
A “21st century MBA…”
www.commlead.uw.edu

Hanson Hosein: Storyteller Uprising for Leadership Tomorrow

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