Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean
Transformative Storytelling
Lee-Sean Huang
@leesean FOOSSA
Everyone has a story.
Everyone is a storyteller.
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
@leesean FOOSSA
“Storytelling comes naturally
to humans, but since we live
in an unnatural world, we
sometimes need a little help
doing what we’d naturally do.”
- Dan Harmon, Writer
Who am I?
Who are you?
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
What’s the story behind
your name?
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
What’s the story behind
your company’s name?
User Experience
Strategic Storytelling
Community Management
Movement Building
Community Centered
Design
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
10
We research behavioral, cultural and technological insights to identify opportunities for innovation.
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
RESEARCH
11
We advise and train teams in community- centered design, storytelling, and social innovation.
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
STRATEGY
12
We craft brand experiences and build business models to grow communities, shape cultures and scale enterprises.
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
DESIGN
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Why are you here today?
Why are you here today?
Why are you here today?
Why are you here today?
Why are you here today?
Every THING has a story. Artifacts tell stories too.
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
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https://sugru.com/
The Blue Lace Project
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
19
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jakehimself/the-bluelace-project-a-revolution-built-one-foot-a
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/19/news/la-ar-blue-lace-project-20131119
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Ask your partner the story
behind an object/artifact
that they have.
Why Storytelling?
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
@leesean FOOSSA
“The #1 business skills for the next 5 years” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20130802112108-7374576-this-will-be-the-1-business-skill-of-the-next-5-years
“A strategic tool with ‘irresistible power’” https://hbr.org/2014/03/the-irresistible-power-of-storytelling-as-a-strategic-business-tool/
- Harvard Business Review
“The major business lesson of 2014” http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239142
- Entrepreneur Magazine
@leesean FOOSSA
“A company without a story is usually
a company without a strategy.”
- Ben Horowitz, Co-Founder, Andreesen Horowitz
24
Elements of (Narrative) Strategy
@leesean
* Purpose
* Plan
* Sequence of Actions
* Measurable Goal
@leesean FOOSSA
25
Elements of (Narrative) Strategy
@leesean
* Purpose
* Plan
* Sequence of Actions
* Measurable Goal
Narrative
/Story
@leesean FOOSSA
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
27
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
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@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
@leesean
* Purpose
* Plan
* Sequence of Actions
* Measurable Goal
* Narrative
@leesean FOOSSA
Developing a Narrative Strategy
@leesean
1. Current State: Where are you now?
2. Desired State: Where do you want to be?
3. Document and Share. Visualize.
4. Prioritize.
5. Simplify.
6. Test. Recalibrate. Repeat.
@leesean FOOSSA
Stories
help us make sense of the world
help us define our identity
help us connect with each other
are the building blocks of culture{http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201106/the-power-stories/direct-hit
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean
http://www.journeyofhearts.org/kirstimd/tellstory.htmLee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean
Clay Shirky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyeihMTB2mE"feature=share"t=19m35s
“Stories organize our sense of reality.
Stories are how we process facts.
Stories are like food we consume that helps us turn into who we are.”
@leesean FOOSSA
Dr. Kirsti A. Dyer
http://www.journeyofhearts.org/kirstimd/tellstory.htm
“Storytelling is a part of life, intrinsic to most cultures. They help people make sense of the world--life's experiences, dilemmas and hardships.
Stories can educate, inspire and build rapport. They are a means of communicating, recreating, and helping preserve cultures by translating memories into a more concrete manner that can be handed down verbally or in written form.
Telling the story can provide the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of one's experiences and oneself. “
http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201106/the-power-stories/direct-hit
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean
http://www.journeyofhearts.org/kirstimd/tellstory.htm
@leesean FOOSSA
What have I done with stories?
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
36
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
@leesean FOOSSA
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
@leesean FOOSSA
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Stories are personal.
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Marshal Ganz
Handout: Telling Your Public Story Worksheet
Telling Your Public Story
A good story public story is drawn from the series of choice points that have structured the “plot” of your life – the challenges you faced, choices you made, and outcomes you experienced.
Marshal Ganz
Elements of a Public Story
A story of self: why you were called to what you have been called to.
A story of us: what your constituency, community, organization has been called to its shared purposes, goals, vision.
A story of now: the challenge this community now faces, the choices it must make, and the hope to which “we” can aspire.
@leesean FOOSSA
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http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
We are the 99%
@leesean FOOSSA
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http://wearethe15percent.com/post/52232149870/in-may-cheerios-posted-this-new-commercial-on
We are the 15%
@leesean FOOSSA
Stories embody values.
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Lee-Sean Huang / [email protected] / @leesean
Our Values
We believe that increased participation by youth and members of the emerging middle class in the political process will help bring about greater accountability and transparency.
We are non-partisan and independent. We don’t accept money from government or political parties.
We believe that the internet can serve as a school for a more robust democracy.
We are committed to open source sharing. We value remix and reuse.
@leesean FOOSSA
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
What are your
brand’s values?
Stories have shapes. Stories have structures.
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
1
strong
start
2
emotional
climax3
desired
outcome
@leesean FOOSSA
Problem-Solution
Opportunity-Obstacle-Choice
@leesean FOOSSA
FOR____________
ONLY___________
BECAUSE________
http://www.markpollard.net/how-to-position-your-business-in-3-sentences/
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
What is the shape/
structure of your story?
Ira Glass
2 Basic Building Blocks of a Story
(1) The anecdote
(2) The moment of reflection
In a good story you need both -- you can flip back and forth between the two. The Anecdote and the Moment of Reflection are interwoven to make a story.
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/03/ira_glasstips_o.html
Ira Glass
(1) The anecdote, a sequence of actions, a story in its purest form, one thing following from another (rather than just disjointed "facts").
"The Power of the anecdote is so great...No matter how boring the material is, if it is in story form...there is suspense in it, it feels like something's going to happen. The reason why is because literally it's a sequence of events...you can feel through its form [that it's] inherently like being on a train that has a destination...and that you're going to find something..."
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/03/ira_glasstips_o.html
Ira Glass
(1a) Raise questions.
Provide the "bait" (the hook) The anecdote should raise a question right from the beginning. Implied in any question that you raise, however, is that you are going to answer it.
Constantly raise questions and answer them. The shape of the story is that you are throwing out questions and answering them along the way.
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/03/ira_glasstips_o.html
Ira Glass
(2) The moment of reflection.
What is the key point? What does this all mean? Why have I asked you to sit and listen for 30 min, etc. It is not just a series of facts/events.
Many people get the first part, they tell an interesting sequence of events, but in the end it fails because it doesn't say anything new, it did not have meaning. And sometimes people have the reflection part and the question is clear in their mind, but they fail to put it in a sequence that compels people to follow and engage.
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/03/ira_glasstips_o.html
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Share an anecdote.
Stories can be condensed.
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
Charlie Brown is finally invited to a Halloween party; Snoopy engages the Red Baron in a dogfight; and Linus waits patiently in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin.
@leesean FOOSSA
Charlie Brown is finally invited to a Halloween party; Snoopy engages the Red Baron in a dogfight; and Linus waits patiently in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin.
—Logline for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
A 17th Century tale of adventure on the high seas where a roguish yet charming captain joins forces with a young blacksmith in a gallant attempt to rescue the Governor of England's daughter and reclaim his ship.
@leesean FOOSSA
Pirates of the Caribbean
A young man and woman from different social classes fall in love, must outwit her abusive fiancé, and find a way to survive aboard an ill-fated voyage at sea.
@leesean FOOSSA
Titanc
Narrative: Movement Loglines
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Tea Party Freedom is under assault in our country. We will band together to restore freedom in America.
Slow Food Started as a protest against McDonald’s in Rome, we are now a worldwide movement advocating for good, clean, fair food.
Occupy From NYC and around the world, we are fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process.
@leesean FOOSSA
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
6 word stories. “For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”
https://twitter.com/sixwordstories
Same story. Different audiences.
@leesean @leesean FOOSSA
@leesean FOOSSA
How would you tell your story to:
your customer
your investor
your grandma
THANK YOU! [email protected]