How to captivate, connect and convert your audience to move them to the desired behaviour.
Over the years we have learnt that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools in marketing. However, it's one of the more complex strategies to master.
You see, storytelling is both an art and a science. To get the science right, it needs structure and formulas (that's the easy bit), but the art of storytelling simply requires practice.
It can be utilised in many forms - written, video, presentations and spoken. Each requires it's own formula or skillset to deliver and execute the message. But the versatility of storytelling to achieve an outcome is vast. It can be communicating in a persuasive way to inspire action, pitching to an investor, sharing your journey, uniting people around a vision, connecting with your audience, on-boarding your team around a strategy or supporting a change management process.
It can be communicating in a persuasive way to inspire action, pitching to an investor, sharing your journey, uniting people around a vision, connecting with your audience, on-boarding your team around a strategy or supporting a change management process.
Without thinking about it, you'll be using some of these techniques and certainly desiring the behavioural outcomes of your call-to-action when you write an email, prepare copy for a website, create a presentation, so it's something you are needing to use every day.
The benefits of good storytelling stack up. These include:
Meaningful connection with your target audience;
Motivate desired behaviours without selling ;
Captivate your audience through powerful stories;
Communicate with clarity and confidence;
Achieve emotional resonance with your audience;
Attract the right people with shared values;
Move others to action;
Ability to influence and persuade;
Establish credibility, authority and leadership;
Maximise buying psychology and mental triggers; and
Create memorable compelling messages.
It is for these powerful outcomes of influence and persuasion, that we look at storytelling as an invaluable and essential business skill. But it's interesting, I don't recall a subject on storytelling, a course on storytelling, a qualification on storytelling throughout my schooling or university days.
Over 20 years I have picked up skills on influence and persuasion, negotiation and communication in the workplace, countless experience presenting, pitching and report writing and ultimately developed my fruitful formulas for storytelling off the back of understanding what captivates, connects and converts.
A lot of the recent work we've been doing for our clients includes preparing sponsorship sales decks, investor pitching portfolios and strategy presentations to onboard teams with the new vision.
“We recently engaged Shelley to help bring together the story of our strategy development process and vision for our organisation. We were very happy with the end product. Shelley has a unique ability for storytelling. Her design skills are exceptional as is her ability to capture and convey key messages in a way that connect and resonate with the audience. Beyond her work output she has a highly collaborative and professional approach. If you need someone to share a vision, convey a message, market a concept, refine your strategy or elevate your presentation, I would recommend Shelley.”
— Anna Fitzgerald, Executive General Manager, Strategy & Risk, Athletics Australia
If you need assistance with an investor pitch, strategy presentation or sponsorship proposal, check out our services on storytelling here.
The 'Pitch Perfect Program' is launching soon at the Fruitful Faculty.
Stay tuned for more details on the 6-week online course teaching the fruitful fundamental formulas to the perfect pitch or join the waitlist here.
So if you want to sharpen your pitch, develop a new skill, gain confidence is presenting and learn how the audience responds to your message, send us a note and we'll advise you when applications open.
