5 ways that you can improve your storytelling skills today
Today I am sharing some actionable insights to improve your storytelling with five quick tips.
The Ideas Machine chats a lot about how we can tell stories. Why storytelling is important and the community and closeness that it brings to each other. Creating relationships, not just sales. Today I wanted to share five things that you can do today to improve your storytelling in your marketing and branding.
Ideate
Before we get into the tips, why is this important?
In today's modern world, storytelling is what can set you apart from your competitors. It’s the difference between being sincere and “jumping on the bandwagon”. Does your company truly support the LGBTQ+ community? Or do you put a pride flag as your logo during pride month to join in? Sharing your story, and what you care about is what will differentiate you from the crowd.
Lastly, you may remember a bad story, but you usually only remember it because it was a bad story! You want to leave your clients or customers with positive thoughts about your brand, leaving them more likely to come to you and share your story with their friends and colleagues; also known as “brand awareness”.
Iterate
Show don’t tell! - Can you make your message visual? A poster with easy to read text (and not a lot of it!), or even better, through a video, illustration or animation? Engage your audience, use as many senses as possible, not just words. Interested in video storytelling specifically? My business nooh Studio recently did a blog on this, you can read about it here.
Keep it short - While many of us enjoy long chats and a series of short (or long!) stories with friends and family, keep it short when you’re speaking to your audience! This is especially true if you’re trying to attract Gen Z. According to the IAB UK’s research, Gen Z have an attention span of at least 4 seconds less than their Millenial elders. 8 seconds is all you have to gain and keep the attention of anyone who is a Gen Z-er.
Be linear - Traditional storytelling involves twists and turns in the plot to keep readers or listeners engaged. When we tell stories in branding, we want to share the main points with care and empathy. Keep to the main issues - Who are you? What do you do? Why is it important to the person viewing your content? How can you help?
Work on your branding - Branding can tell your story without saying a word! You can easily tell something aimed at young children over adults, or brands aimed at women over men; does your brand show clearly who you are trying to attract? Nailing your branding will also help you to visually tell you story and maintain your brand identity, and improve your brand awareness (it’s a win, win win!).
What problem are you solving? - We also call this your value proposition. If I were to sell you a new kettle, there are two main ways I could do this. Show you the coolest kettle on the market, how it looks better and it’s fancy because it changes colour! I could even get a celebrity to show it on their Instagram story for extra clout. Or, if you have arthritis in your wrists, I could show you how this kettle pours water without you needing to lift the kettle at all -solving the ever growing problem of pain in your wrists. While (statistically) teenagers may fall for option one over option two, adults like to have their lives made easier. When telling your story, share how you know their pain, and more importantly, how you can help it! Bonus tip? Share this visually, with as little big chunks of text to read as possible, keeping to the main points, with excellent branding and you have our tips all rolled into one marketing and communications plan!
Implement
🧠 What can I do today to change how I tell my brand's story for the better?