We are all storytellers, and we are all part of one grand story.<\/p>\n
Within this grand story are nearly infinite other stories we could tell at any time.<\/p>\n
Jesus was a master storyteller.<\/p>\n
My father is an expert storyteller.<\/p>\n
I tend to be a bit of a storyteller, myself, but I wouldn’t say I’m “expert” material yet. However, that’s pretty much what the existence of this blog is about. One long and wandering story. One I’m writing down as I go. One I’m hoping to gain clarity on as I write.<\/p>\n
Our communities we are a part of are a story. Hundreds of thousands of stories, making up one collective story – much like the gospel and the church.<\/p>\n
However, our communities depend on us. You and me.<\/p>\n
We have to help shape the story and make it meaningful.<\/p>\n
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We have to bring clarity to it by casting a vision for it – perhaps\u00a0multiple visions in different regards. We of course should have a grand vision that makes all other pale in comparison, but we also need smaller scale, appealing visions that affect the everyday lives of the people we’re trying to reach.<\/p>\n
These should appeal to them and their stories \u00a0– even to people apart from Christ and any connection to our spiritual beliefs on what matters and why we exist.<\/p>\n
I do believe this is possible.<\/p>\n
So I wonder often, “How do we do this!?”<\/p>\n
How do we cast such compelling visions for our communities that they see value in it so much so that they want to be a part of it – even if from a different worldview.<\/p>\n
Obviously, it has to connect to them where they are and in what they believe to be valuable already.<\/p>\n
You can’t begin to tell a story without understanding why that story should matter for the people you want to serve.
\n– Bernadette Jiwa<\/p><\/blockquote>\nBernadette Jiwa is an author, speaker and branding consultant from Australia. She wrote a few books on business and marketing, and this quote is one of several excellent\u00a0points from a podcast on Copyblogger.com<\/a> in which Demian Farnworth interviews her about, really, doing work that matters.<\/p>\n
It’s definitely worth a listen! However, I’m going to excerpt quite a few thoughts from it here (and hope they don’t get mad at me for it).<\/p>\n
To plagiarizingly\u00a0steal some words straight from their show notes:<\/p>\n
Bernadette:<\/strong> And that\u2019s what I think we\u2019ve started believing marketing is. This ‘Mad Men’ thing where we put some kind of shine on whatever it is we do, and my view is that we don\u2019t need better marketing, we need better products.<\/em><\/p>\n
We need more trustworthy leaders. We need people who want to make a difference to the people they serve.<\/span> And those businesses are the ones that are thriving now.<\/em><\/p>\n
Demian:<\/strong> So it\u2019s not a love story about marketing, or falling in love with marketing. It\u2019s a love story about falling in love with the customer?<\/em><\/p>\n
Bernadette:<\/strong> For sure. That\u2019s exactly it. You nailed it.<\/em><\/p>\n
I couldn’t have said it better. These are two business marketers and consultants, talking about how to connect the story of your organization to the story of your customer’s life. See some parallels, here?<\/p>\n
They continue:<\/p>\n
Bernadette:<\/strong> I think what makes a meaningful business story is understanding. Going back to understanding the customer. In my books I talk about the distinction between storytelling as a narrative, and storytelling being something also that we do every day, in everything we do.<\/em><\/p>\n
So our logo\u2019s part of the story. Our staff are part of the story. Our uniforms. It\u2019s all theater. So if you\u2019re going to Starbucks, it\u2019s not just the coffee that\u2019s the story. It\u2019s not just the music, or the seating, or the lighting. And their coffee, and their Instagram, and all of those great things.<\/em><\/p>\n
It\u2019s everything that goes together to make up that story and changes how the customer feels, creates meaning for the customer, and what they believe.<\/em><\/p>\n
So if you think of traditional storytelling, it was all about creating, passing valuable lessons on, but it was also about making meaning and helping us to belong in a culture. So that\u2019s the opportunity for brands in businesses: How do we make meaning for the people we want to serve for our tribe of people?<\/em><\/p>\n
Again the importance of understanding where our communities and our audience is coming from. In a very real sense, the church has customers. We have a person whom we’re trying to “sell” and persuade to buy into something.<\/p>\n
Everything we are, what we say, what we wear, what we do, the environment we create, it connects our story to their story… or doesn’t. It “creates meaning” for them and what they believe, or doesn’t.<\/p>\n
They continue:<\/p>\n