Hank 瀚克

The Art of Persuasive Storytelling 說故事的藝術

Speaker: Kelly Parker

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo2upU6ny-I

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Short Summary

英文：

Effective storytelling is crucial for marketing and leadership, as it connects, persuades, and influences people. Understanding the audience's problems and aspirations, crafting relatable characters and emotions, and incorporating personal stories can make proposals and offers successful by building connections and trust. 

Examples from Nike ads and real-life marriage proposals demonstrate the power of storytelling in engaging the audience and driving action. 

Ultimately, storytelling leaves a lasting impression, breaks through the noise, and drives engagement.

中文：

講故事真的超重要！不管是在行銷還是領導上都是如此，因為能拉近距離、說服人、影響他們。

了解觀眾的問題和渴望，打造出身處境界的角色和情感，再加入些個人故事，這樣一來，你的提議和產品就能更成功，因為你建立了連結和信任。

拿Nike廣告和現實中的求婚場景來說，都展示了故事的力量，它能吸引觀眾，推動行動。

總之，講故事能留下深刻印象，突破噪音，激發參與。

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Highlights

英文

✦The power of storytelling in marketing and leadership.

• Stories synchronize brainwaves and influence behavior, making them effective tools for connecting with people.
• Understanding the audience's problems and goals is crucial before crafting a story.
• Liz J. Simpson listens to clients and incorporates their feedback into her content for personalized messaging.
• Crafting stories that resonate with the audience can drive action and engagement.

✦Importance of Good Story Listening Before Storytelling 

• Understanding the audience's problems and aspirations is crucial. 
• Specificity in creating relatable characters, challenges, and emotions is key. 
• Examples from Nike's ads with LeBron James show the power of a compelling narrative. 
• Real-life marriage proposal scenarios highlight the significance of proposing effectively with vivid imagery and emotional connection.

✦The power of storytelling in making proposals appealing and building connections is discussed.

• Stories help in timing proposals right, building credibility, and trust.
• By giving before asking, stories position individuals as givers.
• Stories make proposals irresistible by infusing a human element, drawing people in, and making the ask feel like the next logical step.
• Sharing personal stories can help others find connection, community, and understanding.

中文：

✦在行銷和領導中的故事力量。

• 故事能同步腦波，影響行為，因此成為與人溝通的有效工具。

• 在打造故事之前，了解觀眾的問題和目標至關重要。

• Liz J. Simpson聽取客戶的意見，將它們融入她的內容中，打造個性化的訊息。

• 打造能 resonates （引起共鳴）的故事能推動行動和參與。

✦在講述故事之前，良好的故事聆聽的重要性。

• 了解觀眾的問題和渴望至關重要。

• 在塑造身處境界的角色、挑戰和情感時，具體描述至關重要。

• Nike廣告中與LeBron James合作的例子展示了引人入勝敘事的力量。

• 真實生活中的求婚場景突顯了用生動的形象和情感連結有效地提出求婚的重要性。

✦在提出建議吸引人並建立連結的故事力量被討論。

• 故事幫助在正確的時間提出建議，建立可信度和信任。

• 通過先給予再索取，故事將個人定位為給予者。

• 故事通過融入人性元素，吸引人們並使要求看起來像是下一個合理的步驟，使提議變得不可抗拒。

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Transcript

Do you remember the first time you heard a really good story? One of my first times was when I read "Ramona the Pest" by Beverly Cleary. As a kid, I loved to curl up in my favorite chair in our living room and transport myself into the misadventures of Ramona Quimby. Even now, I remember how my heart would race, reading about her getting into trouble over and over for misbehaving. At the same time, as a shy suburban kid who often took myself a little bit too seriously, I really admired her fun-loving attitude and her carefree spirit. I've always loved stories because they allow me to experience other worlds I didn't know anything about, yet helped me make sense of my own world at the same time.

But stories aren't just for books or movies or entertainment. They’re one of the most powerful forces on the planet to connect, persuade, and influence our mindset, beliefs, and behavior. And that's why storytelling is one of the most powerful marketing and leadership tools there is. In a world cluttered with forgettable, lackluster messages, stories make us memorable. Not only that, stories create powerful connections between the storyteller and the story listener. Eleanor Rankin writes, Uri Hasson, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University, discovered that as you hear a story unfold, your brainwaves actually start to synchronize with those of the storyteller. The greater the listener's comprehension, the more closely the brainwave patterns mirrored each other. Kind of brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "get on the same wavelength," right? But here's the best part of all: stories are proven to affect behavior.

Let's take the health care context, for example. Melanie Green, a communication professor at the University of Buffalo, says that people are more likely to make changes to their lifestyle and health habits if they see a character they relate to making the same change. And so if you've ever wanted to get anyone to do anything, you would do well to learn how to tell better stories. Yet too often we're telling the wrong stories or we're not telling them at all. And in effect, we're wasting our time and our precious dollars on programs, campaigns, and initiatives that sorely miss the mark.

Well, I've been studying stories since I was a kid, and I've been bringing them to life for more than a decade as a professional corporate marketer. And today, I want to show you the easy way to create your own stories that connect, persuade, influence, and break through all the clutter.

So let's start at the beginning. Number one, the problem and the pursuit. You know, I believe the worst story of all is the one that is told too soon. And truly, this is a very common mistake that aspiring storytellers make. We launch into a story and don't know the first thing about who we're talking to. Before you're qualified to tell anything, you must deeply understand your audience's problem and pursuit. Their problem is where they are right now. It's the issues that they're facing in their current state and how they feel about it. Their pursuit is where they want to be. It's who they want to be, and it's how they will feel in this future perfect world. Business development expert and LinkedIn top sales influencer, Liz J. Simpson, knows a little something about understanding her audience's problem and pursuit. To create messages for her email marketing, her website, and her social media content, she listens to her clients and then begins to extract specific elements from what they've said and infuses it into her language and her visuals. The effect is a resounding “Girl! How did you do that? Because every time I see something from you, it feels like you're talking directly to me." Now, how did she do it? Simply because she's taking time to understand her audience's problem and pursuit. Now how did she get that understanding? Well, it's because she's living out a very powerful storytelling principle, which is this: good story listening always comes before good storytelling.

And so, number one, if you want to tell a good story, you have to understand your audience's problem and pursuit. Number two, you have to be able to paint them a picture. You have to be able to co-create a reality that shows you understand the problem, yet hints at a better future. To do this, you'll need a specific person, a specific challenge, specific imagery, and specific feelings. Did I mention you should be specific? Now specific doesn’t mean long and drawn out, it just means you want to include some distinguishable characteristics that your audience can relate to. It's the reason why Nike's ads with LeBron James don't include a bunch of close-up shots of shoes they're selling. They don't need to. They found the perfect person in LeBron James to represent a specific, relatable challenge, namely overcoming obstacles to beat an opponent. Then they utilize specific imagery to represent a specific progression of feelings, like defeat and discouragement, to hope and victory and resilience. And once you've been gripped by a story like that, doesn't it almost go without saying that you want to wear the same sports gear LeBron James does? To inspire action and shift beliefs, paint a vivid picture for your audience through words and imagery that they can instantly recall when they think of you. And so if you're going to tell a good story, you have to, number one, know your audience's problem and pursuit. You must, number two, paint them a picture that they can remember and repeat. And finally, number three, you must propose.

You must propose. The year was 2004. I was a senior at Kent State University at the time, and my boyfriend was holding a get-together at his home, which I, of course, attended. And suddenly, when I least expected it, there were roses, there was music, and right there, in front of all my closest family and friends, he got down on one knee, he pulled out a ring, and in an instant all my little girl marriage proposal fantasies came true. On the other hand, we have Curtis. Curtis, a couple of years back, was at a local outdoor music event. And at the end of the event, he invited his girlfriend Jackie to come up on stage with him. And so Jackie begins to wade through the crowd and find her way to the stage, and she climbs the steps to the stage, and she gets up there and she's standing up there looking at Curtis. The only problem was, she's looking at him like this. (Laughter) Undaunted, Curtis begins to pour out his heart, and he says, "Jackie, baby, I love you, girl." (Laughter) He says, "Jackie, baby, You've been like an angel in my life." He said, "Jackie, baby, the writing is all over the wall. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." And he, too, gets down on one knee and he, too, pulls out a ring and he says, "Jackie, will you marry me?" And right there, in front of all those people, Jackie looked him dead in the eye, and she said, “I’m sorry, but no,” and walked off the stage. (Laughter) This is the tension we stand in as marketers and leaders. Because we're constantly making proposals. Buy my product, try my service, come to my event, join my cause. And as much as we want to hear that enthusiastic yes, we're also pretty afraid of the rejection of no. I mean, let's be real. Especially a public rejection like Curtis's, where, despite your best efforts, your preparation and your good intentions, it just fell flat. But this is the power of story. Because stories make proposals extremely appealing and stack the odds in your favor. First, stories help you get the timing right. How many of you know, nobody wants you to propose marriage on the first date? (Laughter) But too often, we expect our audiences to commit too soon. Well-placed stories slow down the process just enough for you to build credibility and trust. It’s the principle that New York Times best-selling author Gary Vaynerchuk talks about in his book "Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World." The idea is to give before you ask and to give much more than you ask. Good stories position us to be givers before we expect to receive. Not only that, stories make proposals irresistible because they allow us to build connection. Stories masterfully infuse a human element into our businesses, our brands, and our programs that draw people in. So much so that by the time you do go in for the ask, like any good proposal, it simply feels like the next logical step. You see, stories are more than stories. They are the connective tissue that links you to the solution in people's minds, so that by the time you do present your solution or propose your offer, they say, "It's about time. I've been waiting for this." And once you've told your story with all the confidence in the world, ask, invite, propose, shout it from the rooftops. Because by that time, if you found the right people, the next step you're suggesting is something they'll want just as much as you do. And so, tell more stories. In fact, tell your stories. It might be the details surrounding your greatest losses, your greatest wins, or the context in which you’ve learned your greatest life lessons that will paint the pictures, that will let people know, you understand my problem. And you understand my pursuit. Absolutely, I would love to accept your proposal. And who knows, maybe your stories will serve a bigger purpose. Maybe they'll help someone find connection, community, and a little bit of fun. Just like so many years ago, Beverly Cleary's stories did for me. Thank you. (Applause)

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