Once Upon A Time at the Business Media Club

31 May Once Upon A Time at the Business Media Club

Storytelling is in our genes. It’s how we understand the world. We exchange information to educate or entertain in story form because it literally makes sense.

Tell a child not to play with matches, the chances are they’ll do the opposite. Ask them to recall a tale of danger, say, when grandad accidentally set his beard on fire when lighting his pipe – they’ll get the message in a heartbeat: don’t play with matches.

Storytelling has featured in every Business Media Club annual programme since we began ten years ago. It’s a communication, no brainer. The better you get at telling stories the easier you’ll find your message can hit home.

That’s why we’re starting June’s meeting with a specific, imaginative but wholly pragmatic challenge – to cast your sights forward to the legacy you want to leave behind.

Deep, meaningful stuff. Working from back to front – because the basis of every story is always ‘what happens next?’ It is why we continue to read, watch and listen to stories.

Shaping your own narrative – the chapters you want to write in the rest of your life – will determine how you go about it, not just the quality of the content but the journey you aspire to cover.

It may even fundamentally change your perceptions too. You will almost certainly focus on the things that matter most rather than those that count the least.

The Business Media Club story itself began a decade ago with the aim to create something more meaningful than a mere networking get together. Meeting and greeting is nice enough but we wanted to foster an inclusive, sharing and learning experience all in one.

We wanted it to have purpose so we trained the focus on media, comms and marketing, not to preach from our own pulpit but to offer a smidgeon of inspiration and facilitate discussions around specific themes and topics of interest.

We ditched the daft idea of meeting at silly o’clock in the morning too. Who wants to chomp food while trying to digest what people are saying, so we placed our meetings in work hours to reinforce its relevance. ‘My business me time’ as one company owner neatly put it.

Rather than instruct people to bring referrals or sit on some sort of naughty step for their apparent failure to do so, we knew people would more readily share business if they knew each other better. This comes from the essential interaction we actively encourage rather than being told to sit down and only speak when spoken to – a dreadful, disciplinary feature of most networking groups.

Our ‘all egos left at the door’ ethos has put honesty ahead of any seeming need to brag, boast or attempt mock bravado. Quiet contemplative voices get heard more readily than anyone seeking to deliver a shrill sales pitch.

We urge people to share ‘light bulb moments’ – eureka flashes of inspiration we all experience occasionally. We’ve had dozens down the years which, when implemented, have led to real positive and beneficial change for the people concerned.

David Emery, for example, a freelance architect, explained how he aimed to win one major client to build his business around and the opportunity to put some of his experience back via training – so specifically sought those opportunities which lo and behold emerged within months, setting his career on a fresh course.

“I should have done this years ago,” said a vastly experienced photographer during a discussion about the benefits blogging might bring for his art. Indeed, they have.

Since moving online in 2020 – which has enabled us to stretch further afield and reach out to people from all over the UK and even overseas – the way we communicate has become an even more relevant topic.

One story has remained the same. Our club is nothing without the effort, enthusiasm and knowledge of those who attend – and we’re all the wiser for listening to other people’s testimony. Listening is the most important communications skill of all.

So just as a story doesn’t need to begin with Once Upon a Time – neither does it need to end with And They All Lived Happily Ever After.

The Business Media Club has been its own success story – so far consisting of 135 meetings that have attracted more than 1,850 attendees, 290 different visitors and some 100 club regulars who have attended five meetings or more – with a chapter or two still to write.

Once Upon A Time – How storytelling can help weave a narrative thread through your communications is the theme of our online CGM Business Media Club meeting on Friday, June 30 (10am-midday).

For further information and to book your seat visit our Business Media Club webpage.