Storytelling in the business world is a popular subject these days.  How do you do it the right way? That’s what I recently discussed with New York Times bestselling author Chris Brogan.

Distraction has become the norm, not the exception. People have countless media outlets vying for their attention. How can you grab their attention? You have to package your first message, or story, so small that people will opt to go to that second step and be interested in your longer story. Not everything can be sold in that small bite, but you must at least grab attention in that small window of time. Movie trailers are a great example of this. The short story (trailer) grabs your attention and gets you interested in watching the full movie.

The Three Types of Business Stories

Every story has an internal story to tell and an external story to tell. External is marketing and PR. Internal is the boss talking to the employees. There are three buckets in the business storytelling world:

Mission Stories: They tell you and reinforce what we’re all here for. It’s our mission to go out there and deliver this kind of experience, etc.
Belonging Stories: Advertising stories are belonging stories. The key word here is “deserves”, as in you are the type of person that deserves a Harley Davidson. These say, “You’re one of us, you belong here.”
Growth Stories: Motivational speakers are growth storytellers. These stories inspire people to do more than they’ve currently accomplished.

What NOT to Do When Telling a Business Story

Don’t try to tell a story that appeals to everyone. Pick a niche and share stories with them that appeal specifically to them. When you do this, you’re going to upset someone because you can never please everyone. And that’s okay.

It’s not necessarily excluding people as it is picking a niche and including people that fall into that niche.

Listen In!

Chris goes on to share…

The need for vulnerability in storytelling
More details about how to use the three components of business storytelling
The #1 most important component of business storytelling
How to tell better stories
…and more!

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ABOUT THE GUEST

Chris Brogan is president of Chris Brogan Media, offering business storytelling and marketing advisory help for mid to larger sized companies. Chris is a sought after keynote speaker and the New York Times bestselling author of nine books and counting. He’s working on his tenth.

Chris has spoken for or consulted with the biggest brands you know, including Disney, Coke, Google, GM, Microsoft, Coldwell Banker, Titleist, Scotts, Humana Health, Cisco, Sony USA, and many more. He’s appeared on the Dr. Phil Show, interviewed Richard Branson for a cover story for Success magazine, and once even presented to a Princess. People like Paulo Coelho, Harvey Mackay, and Steven Pressfield enjoy sharing their projects and best ideas with Chris, because they know he’ll share them with you. Tony Robbins had Chris on his Internet Money Masters series. Forbes listed Chris as one of the Must Follow Marketing Minds of 2014, plus listed his website as one of the 100 best websites for entrepreneurs. Statsocial rated Chris the #3 power influencer online.