BMC blog: Grow your own storytelling culture

28 Feb BMC blog: Grow your own storytelling culture

The most compelling report I have seen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began didn’t come from a news anchor perched on a high rise building but a mum interviewed while clutching her two small children at the border with Poland.

As the mum explained the need to flee, you couldn’t help notice her daughters’ woolly hats, not least one with pink ears, the sort of empathy which sparks human connection and is a reminder that we all share the same desire for peace, safety and security for those we love.

As for her husband, he was staying to fight. “They are all heroes,” the mum defiantly announced. It didn’t need saying that some would perish given the weight of odds stacked against them. War. What is it good for?

Moving and memorable, this was storytelling at its very best. A family story within a wider conflict, one of tens of thousands of people being displaced to avoid death. The real-world loudmouth politicians who seek to stir up hatred don’t want you to see it. Go figure.

We all have so many ways and means to connect with people via the immense power of storytelling. It is how we are hard-wired to communicate and relay information between one another.

Tell a child, for example, not to play with matches and the chance are the message won’t be fully received. Meh, in the modern vernacular. Remind them of the time when grandad set his beard on fire as he was trying to light his pipe and the danger rings loud, clear and is fully understood.

We all need to be effective storytellers if we want to get our message across.

I have spent my entire professional career telling stories, to shed heat not light on topics, sometimes to simplify quite complicated issues. At other times the real world throws up uncomfortable truths, less about how we wish things to be rather than how they really are.

And storytelling works best when we do it consistently – not just regularly or even in similar tone and style – but to create a narrative flow so our stories interconnect seamlessly from one to another.

This works across many different forms and lengths. Films and books by necessity are long form, articles, blogs and presentations can best exemplify specific points – but advertising and visual imagery, even straplines and logos are part of an overall picture we can frame whether as a business, campaign group or any other organisation.

That’s why a narrative flow carefully woven through the entire culture of an organisation is so important – not just as sales messages for customers but to explain, inspire and inform internally. That interconnection thing again.

Storytelling comes in unexpected forms too. Take testimonials, for instance. Not only are they relevant but they can throw up unexpected detail. One of my favourites about our own business at CGM wasn’t about a specific service but our approach. “CGM tell you what you need to know, not what you want to hear.”

I like that. It reflects our honesty in addressing the situation as it is and advising appropriately – how we use our experience, expertise and unshakable belief in who we are and what we do.

Creating your own narrative flow can start almost anywhere but can be carefully constructed to address big issues relevant to your business then move onto differing or specific areas.

You can cross reference these to paint a wider canvas and take people on an intuitive tour around your business or organisation – not least on your website where you can also use search engine friendly terms so people can find you and view your fresh and original content.

This hasn’t just been carelessly lobbed there to draw people in, but is authentically crafted storytelling to explain who you are, what you do and, most important of all, why.

That’s why March’s Business Media Club meeting on Friday, March 25 from 10am to midday focuses on how to grow your own storytelling culture and the interconnected ways you can bring this to life.

For further information and for the full 2022 programme visit our Business Media Club page.

To book your place for our March meeting visit our Eventbrite page.