Katie Flamman 00:00:00:

Hello, and welcome to season two of storytelling for business, the podcast that helps you build brilliant relationships with your customers by telling stories they want to hear. It's wonderful to be back, to dig deeper into this fascinating type of marketing. I'm Katie Flamman. I'm a voiceover artist specialising in corporate storytelling. That means I record explainer videos about products and services, company brand films about their values and pledges, as well as adverts for the Internet, radio, and tv, and loads of other things, too. I'm an expert at connecting with an audience, but of course, the stories I tell belong to my clients. They write the words. My job is to bring those words to life.

But some scripts are easier than others, and I wanted to investigate why. Why do some stories make you laugh or cry or send a prickle up the back of your neck and others just don't? How do you craft an effective story? And can storytelling really create leads for businesses? This podcast is investigating. My season two guests are a mixed bunch, but as you'll hear, they each have valuable things to say on the topic of storytelling for business, there's Roxy - photographer and filmmaker, Jenny the vet, Melanie - videographer and creative networker Neil the custodian of Winnie the Pooh's Pooh Corner, Lea - LinkedIn guru and community founder, James - classical scholar and story doctor, Michael the digital marketer and Stacia - the speaking and presentation coach. They're all passionate experts in their different fields. And just like we did for season one, each guest gets their own episode for an in depth chat. And of course, I've released all the episodes at once Netflix styley. So when you've finished here, you can binge listen to the whole of the new batch to your ears content. You're welcome.

As I said, each guest shares brilliant insights into different aspects of storytelling for business. But here's the fascinating bit. What they say is intertwined. As I spoke to them, I picked up on common themes which kept appearing or which were linked somehow. So I'm pulling all that together in this bumper episode today. This is a sort of introduction to the series where you'll hear clips from all my guests, and I hope it'll get you excited to hear more from them in their full length interviews. But this isn't just a trailer. Oh, no, spoiler alert.

You're about to find out the key takeaways from the whole season put together. So buckle up and let's go. If you're a regular listener, you'll know I'm fond of an acronym, so for season two, I give you H-O-V-E-R-M- M-I-C-E. Hover mice. So let's start with the h. H stands for hero. You are the hero of your own story. You might not feel particularly heroic, but trust me, you're special.

You're unique, one of a kind. No one else has your perspective on the world, so your marketing should feel like you. And it's your job to own it like the hero you are and to convey yourself in your storytelling. Okay, why is this so important? Melanie Perry from Poppy Perry Media explains in episode 14.

Melanie Perry 00:03:52:

What's the best way to resonate with your audience? And in marketing Yes, the best way to do that is to know your audience, but to also know yourself really, really well and speak in your voice and attract the people that you want to do business with. Small business owners, I find a lot. We're so desperate for the business that you attract in anyone and everyone. You don't want to do business with anyone and everyone, not really. We've all had those energy vampires that just suck the soul out of us and just think, oh, why did I even get involved in this? You don't want that. Being true to yourself helps cut the wheat from the chaff.

Katie Flamman 00:04:29:

There you go. Know yourself really, really well, you hero you! Present an authentic version of yourself to the world, and you'll attract the right customers for you. Of course, the tricky bit is having the confidence that you are the hero your dog thinks you are and believing that your story is worth sharing. In episode twelve, filmmaker Roxy van der Post talks about exactly this when she documented the story of someone who was definitely a hero but had no idea how awesome they were.

Roxy van der Post 00:05:02:

There was one girl who was a carer at home for one of her parents, and she had a lot of siblings, and so she was also working a job to help and contribute towards paying rent or mortgage and to help feed her family. And besides all of that and going to college, she was also playing cricket and really, really good at it. And she actually got selected for the national team in her age range and travelled all around the world. And I had no idea how on earth she managed to do all of that. And when you spoke to her, she was just talking about that as if it was so normal, because for her, it was normal. It was her every day. And I think that's when I realised that because we live our lives every single day, we don't actually see the things that make us remarkable. It's your perspective on the world, because nobody has lived exactly the same life that you have.

Katie Flamman 00:06:02:

So your normal is probably someone else's amazing. You almost need to detach yourself from your own story so you can look at it objectively. And I think that word perspective that Roxy used is crucial. In episode 19 speaking coach Stacia Keough also talks about being aware of your own perspective when you tell your story. you don't

Stacia Keogh 00:06:24:

You don't leave yourself out of the picture. You are telling the story from your experience and what you know widely. And this goes to being an embodied storyteller as well.

Katie Flamman 00:06:34:

What Stacia means by being an embodied storyteller is feeling your story in your bones, your muscles. It's part of you. My guest for episode 16, LinkedIn expert Lea Turner, is very much a physical presence on the platform. She's got tattoos from head to toe, and she talks about how that makes her stand out, as well as the fact that she's a talented writer. When she posts on social media, Lea is always unapologetically herself.

Lea Turner 00:07:02:

I'm not embarrassed to be me, and that's something that I've never, I don't feel the need to pretend to be somebody else so that other people like me. I'm very comfortable with not being liked. It doesn't bother me because I stopped trying to be liked by everyone when I was about 14 and realised that actually half of the people that I want to like me, I don't even like. So why do I care?

Katie Flamman 00:07:27:

It seems to me that if you're comfortable with who you are and happy with your perspective on life, your beliefs, values and purpose are also going to flow freely in the business marketing stories you tell. Now this really shines out in episode 13 when I talk to the founder of Portland Vets, Jenny Christopherson.

Jenny Christopherson 00:07:45:

When I set out to be in practice, it's about the relationships and it's about people as much as it is about their pets. It's about being a very extended part of their family, but making sure that we're treating both the animals and the people with the respect that we would want in those happy times and those sad times.

Katie Flamman 00:08:05:

In our chat, Jenny is very clear on the values of her business. Everyone working at Portland vets understands the importance of building good relationships with their clients, the human ones and the animal ones. Every customer is treated with respect, and whatever you do for a living, surely that's a great way to operate. But here's what I think's extra impressive. Jenny's business has grown, but she's made sure that those core values have never faltered. It's quite easy to make sure everyone's on the same page when you have just three members of staff, but when there's more than 80 in multiple sites.

Jenny Christopherson 00:08:41:

We have just over 30 vets and around about another 40 or 50 nurses, receptionists, managers. So it's certainly changed a bit in 20 years. Although I'd like to hope that the core values that we set out to push and become are still what we do on a day to day basis. I think it's about the right people. It's about finding people that are, yes, very skilled at what they do, but they also have the same desires and the same focus that you do to make sure that care is the first thing that they want to do for the patients, for their owners, and for each other.

Katie Flamman 00:09:25:

Caring for your clients and your colleagues. Caring is the whole purpose of Jenny's vet's practice, and the clip we just heard is the perfect example of a purpose story. Purpose stories come up in episode 19 in my chat with speaking coach Stacia Keogh. In fact, Stacia says they're one of the three most important stories a business can tell. So what's your purpose? What do you believe in? What do you stand for? That brings us back to where we started, doesn't it? Being the hero that is you reflect your beliefs, values, personality and purpose in your business storytelling. Show everyone what this hero is made of and you'll attract clients who are the perfect fit. On to the next letter in our acronym, O. O is for origin story and out of your comfort zone. The concept of the origin story gets a shout out from two guests, Stacia Keogh in episode 19. She also calls it a founder story and filmmaker Roxy van der Post in episode twelve, here's Roxy.

Roxy van der Post 00:10:30:

So your origin story is like the all rounder, and you share where you come from and where you're going. And through that story, you convey snippets of your personality and your values and your mission.

Katie Flamman 00:10:43:

But sharing that stuff can feel awkward for a lot of people, especially solo business owners. Marketing is a bit scary because if you offer a service and there's just you doing it, then when you market that service, it can feel like you're selling yourself. And that's quite a vulnerable thing to do. Most people would admit to suffering from impostor syndrome from time to time. We worry about not being good enough, being found out, making a fool of ourselves, or putting out a post or a story that somehow gets it wrong and ends up with zero engagement, or worse, gets noticed. But people leave unkind comments. In this series, my guest's advice was be brave. Just do it.

Katie Flamman 00:11:30:

In episode 16, Lea Turner talks about her first ever LinkedIn Post and just how bad it was.

Lea Turner 00:11:36:

Because I was being stuffy and awkward and shy. And it says, with 13 years experience working in the construction industry and seven years experience in the medical sector, as well as a myriad of other areas of experience gained over my years as a transcriber, I am now seeking to diversify and expand my client base. It goes on like that and it has eight sympathy likes and two comments from old bosses.

Katie Flamman 00:11:58:

So not a great start for Lea. But if she hadn't been brave and hadn't written that first post, she wouldn't today be the queen of LinkedIn. And that fear of getting it wrong. Here's what Melanie Perry had to say about that in episode 14.

Melanie Perry 00:12:14:

When you're taught a certain way, there's something in you that doesn't want to break the rules, but learning in a certain way that, oh, I have to do it this way because that's the way people want it. And I think we miss out on quite a lot of stuff. If people could just let their imaginations rip a little bit, break a few of the rules, and come up with something that is genius.

Katie Flamman 00:12:34:

So be brave and break some rules. Ok, so now we're hopefully feeling brave enough to start telling stories. Onto the next letter of the acronym v. It's for visible. Here's Roxy van der Post.

Roxy van der Post 00:12:49:

We all want to stand out in a way, even though that sounds very scary. Some people really don't want to stand out. But if no one knows what you do, you're just the world's best kept secret. And then it's unlikely your business is going to be a success. People need to know that you are there. So I love working with people and kind of utilising the photography and the videos as a mirror almost, to hold up to them and to reflect back at them. Like, look at how amazing you are and look at all this beautiful, brilliant work that you're doing. That is you.

Katie Flamman 00:12:49:

Video content is so important for marketing your business, and videographers like Roxy or Melanie Perry can help you to make a film that tells your prospects about you, your story, and your business. In episode 16, I ask LinkedIn expert Lea Turner what's the biggest mistake people make on LinkedIn? She says it's not being visible.

Lea Turner 00:13:44:

Standing in the shadows and not getting involved. That's probably the worst. Like having their profile picture accidentally set to private and they never actually comment or post anything. They never use their profile. There's nothing on their profile or it was written ten years ago and they've never looked at it. Even having a great profile and never really posting anything, you can still get business just from commenting in the right places. So I think the biggest problem for people is having a profile and not making use of it and not actually getting involved in the conversations.

Katie Flamman 00:14:17:

Being visible also comes up in my chat with digital marketing expert Michael Humphrey in episode 18. I ask him, if every business needs online visibility, does everyone need a website?

Michael Humphrey 00:14:30:

The website is sort of a means to an end. It's a way of getting additional customers if you need it. But if you've got a good word of mouth or a good referral stream, then yeah, it doesn't need to take priority. I mean, have one. If people are doing their research and they're looking up, I want to get the number of this van that just drove past me that looks like could be good, then be available, be there. But how far down the rabbit hole, I think is a better way of looking at. You can just have a presence that gets you found and people know where you are and then make sure you've got a digital platform that allows you to evolve. So if your aspirations decide to pick it up a little bit in the future, then, yeah, be ready for it.

Katie Flamman 00:15:10:

Have a presence that gets you found. But which social media platform is best for your business's visibility? Melanie Perry has some great advice about this in episode 14.

Melanie Perry 00:15:22:

You cannot build meaningful relationships if you are tearing yourself into 100 different pieces, trying to connect on TikTok, trying to do this, trying to be on YouTube, trying to be on everything, you don't have time for the meaningful conversations that are going to come from doing the one thing well. Pick a platform. Know where your audience is most likely to hang out. Are they on Facebook? Are they on LinkedIn? Are they on Instagram? Instagram is great for business. People convert tons from Instagram. So if you're a visually based business, that's kind of the place to be. But pick a platform, do your research, pick a platform and stick to that one thing. When you've got that working really well and you're getting the leads and you've got a bit more money to spend, and you've got maybe a little bit more time, because you've employed someone now to handle the day to day in your business, leaving you free to do the other things that you want, then maybe you can start focusing on building up a presence on another platform.

But when you're starting out, the worst thing I would say you can do is try to be everywhere all at once, because you're not going to get the leads, because you're not focusing your attention in the right place, which is building up a story to a set of people that you can communicate and have conversations with. And it's those conversations that will turn into customers.

Katie Flamman 00:16:37:

So you need to focus your marketing efforts and tell the story of you and your business where your potential customers are hanging out. Pretty obvious, really. And did you hear that word conversations again? Storytelling for business isn't just talking at your prospects, it's a two way thing. So our next letter is e for exchange of views. I'm going to repeat myself. Storytelling for business is a two way thing. Stacia Keogh puts it beautifully in episode 19.

Stacia Keogh 00:17:11:

So the other half of storytelling is story listening. So ask yourself, what's the story your clients are telling?

Katie Flamman 00:17:16:

Story listening is a massive part of what Neil Reed does. He and his wife Sam own and manage Pooh Corner. It's a tea room and museum dedicated to Winnie the Pooh. Based in the British village where A.A. Milne lived and wrote the stories. Winnie the Pooh has been around for a hundred years and is probably the most famous bear on the planet. So it's not surprising that everyone who walks through the door of Pooh Corner has their own connection to the brand and their own story about why they've come. Here's Neil in episode 15.

Neil Reed 00:17:50:

Part of the role of being responsible here, or responsible for the survival and the life and the education of A.A. Milne and Winnie the Pooh, is that we have to gauge that person that walks through the door as soon as they walk through the door. And you can have a 60 year old adult who's still got the copy that their mother bought them. You can have a 90 year old person who remembers when it was still very current and very new and fresh and around. You've got people that remember when the first film came out. So you've got generation after generation after generation of people who have used Milne's words and Shepherd's drawings as part of their life. So you have to learn very quickly about who they are and why they're associated with it. And some of the tales are so sad.

Every year we have a family who turn up because they had a young child pass away. The child's room was Winnie the Pooh and this is a pilgrimage on the anniversary of when they lost their child. You've got many people that get engaged down at Pooh Bridge, so it becomes a pilgrimage for them every year. When you have somebody walk through the door and realise that this is something that for them, they may have saved up for two or three years, they may have started the journey as a plan with somebody else, but arrived alone. They may have had major, major healthcare issues or are going through major healthcare issues. Winnie the Pooh is something that binds these people and it holds them in a way that very few books would. I'm not going to say no other book would, but very few books would. And it's fascinating to then learn about these people because for us it's a life journey in learning about their stories.

And that's the beauty of the cyclical thing of actually having something that is forward facing and dealing direct with the public.

Katie Flamman 00:19:43:

I love that Neil describes it as a journey of learning about his customers' stories. Many people return to Pooh Corner again and again because Winnie the Pooh holds an intensely personal meaning for them. And from the interview I got the sense that Neil really cherishes those stories and very quickly builds relationships with the people who visit. He really cares. It reminds me of the clip from Jenny Christopherson earlier about caring for her clients and their animals and nurturing those relationships over a long period of time. Both Neil and Jenny have businesses that mean they interact with their customers in person. People walk through the door. Business owners who offer remote services and don't often come face to face with their clients could have a tougher job to create exchanges and forge meaningful relationships.

Katie Flamman 00:20:32:

No doubt it is harder over email. So what's the solution? Seems to me it's having proper conversations. Take episode 18 and Michael Humphrey, the co-owner of Digibubble, a digital marketing agency. But even Michael doesn't rely on digital methods to grow his business. Once again, it's all about relationships.

Michael Humphrey 00:20:54:

We do a bit of Google Ads and we're a digital business, but how we gain our business is through offline means. I do a lot of business networking. I do thought leadership talks. I'm part of BNI across the region. So these are referrals, these are relationships that I've built with people that they know. Actually, Mike's the go to guy. He's going to give me some good advice and I'll always put a number against the project.

I'll always quote if people are asking for quotes, but they'll always find that the advice they get is honest and decent. And I think we get most of our business from those referrals, from those relationships. And we spend a lot of time and money on our website and it generates maybe 20% 10 to 20% of our actual new business inquiries come from it.

Katie Flamman 00:21:39:

So Michael does a lot of in person networking and meeting people face to face, exchanging stories and building relationships in the real world. But let's shift slightly from storytelling through networking to storytelling through marketing. And let's look at how you can maximise the impact of a video or a radio ad or social media post to get your story out into the world. Ready for the last letter of hover? Give me an r. And let's razzle dazzle them. Oh, dear. Let's kick this off with a clip from episode 17 with Dr. James McCabe, the Story Doctor.

He says the key ingredient in successful storytelling for business is entertainment generally.

James McCabe 00:22:31:

In the world of free time and our private life, we just want to be entertained, and that's what we expect. And we suddenly switch off this button when we're in public life or in business, and we assume that it's everyone else's job to read our email or to remember what we said. And it's not everyone else's job to do that. It's our job to make sure that they want to read our email and want to remember what we say. I suppose the original meaning of the latin word entertainment is simply to hold between. And I think that that's a fascinating meaning because it's the idea of sustaining attention between two moments of time or between two people. And so entertainment is the business that we're all in, although some of us don't like the word because we regard it as being superficial.

Katie Flamman 00:23:27:

So your goal for any interaction with your potential customers is to hold their attention between one distraction and the next long enough to make a good impression. In other words, razzle dazzle 'em. But isn't corporate messaging the opposite of razzle dazzle? Well, it doesn't have to be. Remember Lea Turner's cringy business speak? In that first ever LinkedIn post? She realised pretty quick that just because you're marketing in a corporate space, if you're boring, no one will pay any attention. James McCabe says business owners can learn brilliant lessons in how to keep their audience's attention from the world of showbiz.

James McCabe 00:24:08:

What I do is always take the techniques and the skills and the insights and the lessons from the arts. Why? Because in the arts, when you don't sell a book and you don't sell a ticket to a play or a film, and there's no bums on seats, you starve to death. There's no other intellectual property. So all of the novelists, the playwrights, the screenwriters, the poets, are the professionals, and none of the management consultants and the strategists and the developers are the professionals when it comes to human attention, earning human attention, retaining human attention, and rewarding human attention. The professionals are the storytellers. And that's why I always and only go to them for my lessons and bring them back into the business world.

Katie Flamman 00:25:02:

And James isn't the only one of my guests who believes the arts, drama, literature are useful tools in storytelling for business. In episode 16, Lea Turner says being an avid reader taught her how to write well. Stacia Keogh is firmly rooted in the arts, being an actor and former drama teacher, as well as a speaking coach. In episode 19, Stacia talks about using literary techniques to help a client with a presentation. He was a computer guy, a firewall manager, and she helped him connect with his audience through metaphor.

Stacia Keogh 00:25:35:

So the magic of metaphor is finding the thing that builds that bridge to understanding the thing that we don't understand. We understand this, but we don't understand that. So a great example of that is somebody who does governance and, like a firewall manager, and they're all about that kind of safety and things like that. Well, we got to talking, and he used to swim, do open water swimming, and I'm a wild swimmer, and so we got to talking about, well, there's risks with that, but what we do is we manage those risks. And just any kind of danger you could kind of match it to, it's kind of like cold shock. Oh, it's kind of like knowing where the current is. And so he did his whole talk on governance of data protection, using the metaphors of open water swimming and of swimming, and of giving people swimming medals.

Katie Flamman 00:26:30:

So using metaphor and other techniques borrowed from the arts are a great way to make an impact. In episode twelve, filmmaker Roxy van der Post talks about structuring your story into three acts. Of course, that's the language of classical theatre and story coach Stacia Keough has advice on really performing your story.

Stacia Keogh 00:26:49:

When you are showing some emotion, they're feeling that emotion, but they can't feel it if it doesn't come from somewhere. So it has to start with you. And then that's the empathy that you build when you tell a story with your audience because you take them through it with you.

Katie Flamman 00:27:06:

Okay, we've seen lots of evidence now from my guests on how it's vital to entertain and razzle dazzle your audience. And here's Dr. James McCabe with his magic formula of how to do it.

James McCabe 00:27:19:

Drama or story thinking is empathy, suspense, surprise. And those three words in that sequence are the questions you must ask yourself. Okay, so what is my audience feeling? That's the big question. It's not, what do I want them to know? The question is, what is this audience feeling now? Okay, that's the empathy. What is curious or interesting about this subject? That is the suspense. And then the surprise is, how can I reveal something that's generally unknown or hidden? Okay, so how can I reward the attention of my audience? By revealing something that lingers in their memory. So we think that it's an attention economy, but actually it's not. Attention is just a necessary first step.

It's really a memory economy. So whoever gets remembered gets patronised and purchased and bought.

Okay? So we have to ensure that we win people's attention, sustain their attention, and reward their attention by lasting in their memory.

Katie Flamman 00:28:31:

And that, of course, is the goal of every piece of marketing, to be remembered. Hopefully you've remembered that my acronym for this season is H-O-V-E-R-M-M-I-C-E. Hover mice. Well, now we've covered hover tick, and it's now time to release the mice. M number one is for memorable. My guests had a few ideas on how you and your business can be memorable. One is to pop up wherever your customer is looking with repeat marketing via a digital advertising campaign. In episode 18, Michael Humphrey from Digibubble explains how to work out how much you can afford to spend in order to get a lead from a pay per click campaign.

Michael Humphrey 00:29:19:

We're big on ROI, and actually the first thing we like to do is sit down with a customer and work that out because that is eye opening when they see it. All right, okay, so what if I actually need to spend £2.50 a lead? Because a lot of people have the misconception, okay, I'm happy to spend £1000 on an inquiry. If that gets me £1000 worth of business. You say, well, you're paying for a flatline. You're playing effectively, failure, that's not scale, that's not growth. That's you wasting time, really, because you could have done nothing and you'll be in exactly the same place. And it's quite strange. Sometimes I sit in front of people and they're like, this is eye opening.

Why haven't we ever done this? I think, how have you not done this? And I don't know whether it's just a common sense vein or just people not being aware or anything. I think a lot of it is awareness that you think, right, you've got Google Analytics, you know that it's telling you what your ecommerce basket values are like. But what do I do with it? Once I've got it all? What happens? What now? To actually sitting with someone and just sort of levelling that out and having that conversation ends up being really key. So, yeah, we quite enjoy sitting with customers, having that initial conversation. It gives them a lot of confidence that we're heading in the right direction.

Katie Flamman 00:30:33:

Another way to be memorable is to tell your audience something new. At Pooh Corner, Neil Reed has spent thousands of pounds and probably as many hours developing the pooh-seum to educate visitors about the Winnie the Pooh story.

Neil Reed 00:30:48:

You know, I'm sitting here at the moment in our pooh-seum, and all the proceeds from the business that we have left over goes into acquiring things that allow us to continue to educate and tell the story. Because actually, the reason the business wasn't working historically is it never found a way of telling the story of Winnie the Pooh in the way that helped educate people as to why it's so important. You've got the A.A. Milne and you've got Disney, and they're just the icing on the cake. They're just the two bits that finish off the story. In between that, you've got a million other names and a million other people. You've got Harry Colburn, who is a man from Liverpool who basically went to Canada to train to be a vet. Whilst he was there, the first world war broke out and he brought a black bear cub for $20 at a train station in Canada, and he brought it to London Zoo because it wouldn't be safe on the front line. Had that black bear cub not gone to London Zoo, there wouldn't be a Winnie the Pooh.

There's a million other pieces that play a part in the Winnie the Pooh story that people don't know about. So when we have people that come in here and they want to understand what Winnie the Pooh is about, and our thing here is to ensure that we explain the stories behind the story.

Katie Flamman 00:31:58:

It's your job to tell the stories behind your story, educate your audience about what goes on behind the scenes at your business. What's your history, your backstory? How did you get where you are now? Education is a big part of your origin story. Lea Turner also believes in being memorable through education. Even if you're not in her paid membership community, Lea offers masses of free content to her audience, educating with tips, tricks and hacks to become more successful on LinkedIn and of course, we've already talked about not being boring. If you want to be remembered, tell stories that are so interesting, they're unforgettable. This season's prize for telling the least boring story ever goes to vet Jenny Christopherson. Here she is telling us how to do a caesarean on a tortoise.

Jenny Christopherson 00:32:48:

You would have to literally take a saw to the bottom of the tortoise, cut a flap or a sunroof, except it's on the bottom out. And then remove the eggs there and then. Yes, the only way to repair the shell and actually, quite a lot of shell repairs were done with what at the time was superglue. We probably now use surgical glue, but back in the day, yep, bit of araldite did the job quite nicely.

Katie Flamman 00:33:12:

Love it. Full marks to Jenny for being extra memorable. But our acronym mice has double m, and the second m stands for model. You see, one of my guests believes that your business stories should be modelled on a blueprint that's 3000 years old. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but hear us out. The storytelling for business model I'm talking about is the ancient Greek epic poem the Iliad, written by Homer. In episode 17, James McCabe says Homer knew precisely how to tell the best kind of story. And James talks us through four things Homer does that we can model.

James McCabe 00:33:55:

Number one is limitation. Don't tell everything. Omit and select. So the Trojan war lasts ten years, and Homer concentrates on 51 days within a ten year period. Step number two is timing the moment before change, before any significant change is the moment to focus on as a storyteller. Not the change, not the aftermath, not the preparation, but the exact moment or point of decision is where you should focus your dramatic attention. Okay, so the third point is individual emotions. Single people's feelings is where stories happen.

Okay. The fourth point is the one that made Homer timeless because all stories revolve around choice under pressure.

Katie Flamman 00:34:52:

Choice under pressure. What every action hero tackles again and again. And remember, you're a hero too. Stacia Keogh talks about a three part story model too. Character, event, transformation. Head over to episode 19 for more on that. Okay, on to the next letter. It's I for impact.

Katie Flamman 00:35:13:

In episode twelve, Roxy van der Post talks about impact stories. They're stories you share about the impact you had on your client. It's their journey, the problems they were having and the solutions you provided. This kind of story highlights the value of you. Stacia Keogh calls it a value story. Neil Reed from Pooh Corner believes every business owner should be striving to add value on a daily basis.

Neil Reed 00:35:42:

If you don't wake up in the morning and think, how can I make this better? I think you've got to have a day off. You have to be able to get up and go, what can I do today that will, even if it's something small, you always need to think about what you're doing to make your business better.

Katie Flamman 00:35:57:

In episode 13, vet Jenny Christopherson talks about the value that's created by sending some of her team to South Africa as volunteers. It's a great initiative with wide ranging benefits.

Jenny Christopherson 00:36:08:

We each year now are sending two of our employers, usually a vet and a nurse, to Africa to work with a game vet and expand their horizons. Working with rhinos, they did some helicopter darting and then sadly, they were actually doing things like removing rhino horns to stop poaching, but also working just with big cats. They get in scrapes and fights and get abscesses and things just like our domestic moggies do, just on a slightly different scale. And so they're getting the experience of going out there for a couple of weeks, volunteering, doing some good and coming back with some great stories and just generally expanding their horizons. So it's a nice thing to be doing for the big furry ones as well as the small furry ones, although I'm glad we don't see too many rhinos.

Katie Flamman 00:36:57:

Another side of I for impact is telling impactful stories. We've said don't be boring, but this series tells you how to avoid it. Which brings us to letter c, creative content. As Melanie Perry tells us in episode 14, there are so many resources out there to help you get creative with your content.

Melanie Perry 00:37:20:

There's lots and lots and lots that small businesses could do. There has never been a better time to be a small business owner. We have got tons of tools at our disposal that are free. You can market yourself for free on LinkedIn, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, on Pinterest, and a load of other social media platforms, it's all free. There are some times you can up the level and you can pay for certain things, but for the majority of us, you can do it for free. So you need to be doing that. People, when they talk to me about video, say, I can't do video. I don't like it, I can't talk on video.

I can't do that. There is more to getting your brand feeling out there than just you talking on video a number of ways, yes, give people a flavour of who you are by doing a talking head. But if you do too many, I'll be honest, people will be bored silly of you. People don't want to hear you whacking on all the time. Sorry, they don't. There are some great apps out there that you can create little cartoons that you can create, motion graphics, motion text, that can inject a little bit of fun into your posts that are video content that take you two minutes to create on an app or within canva. Canva is a great tool.

Canva is free, and even if you go for the paid version, it's only £100 for the entire year. It's a ridiculously low amount, and it gives you a raft of design tools. If you're not somebody who considers himself a designer or an artist, it's not a design tool. It's a format tool. Be honest. But sometimes that's all you need.

Katie Flamman 00:39:00:

And don't forget those analytics tools that Michael Humphrey talks about in episode 18. Remember, there are stories in your data, stories about who your customers are, how they behave, and what they like. Using tools like Google Analytics and AI can help you to find those stories. Then create content that reflects your customers' experiences and appeals to those customers so they come back for more. If you use that information in your business storytelling, you can share things about your business that you already know your audience is interested in. Genius. Well, I thought we'd never get here, but we are at the last letter of this giant acronym. E is for enjoy.

Katie Flamman 00:39:42:

If you enjoy what you do, and I hope you do, tell stories about it. Share your love of your business. All my guests were passionate about what they do for a living, but I'm going to give the last word to Neil Reed from episode 15.

Neil Reed 00:39:41:

I have no intention of giving up Pooh corner. Pooh Corner is the thing that is a holistic journey. It's the most beautiful thing that you could get to do in your life that doesn't require anything other than just putting out a lot of love to the world.

Katie Flamman 00:40:14:

Oh, isn't that lovely? Okay, ready for a recap of the season two storytelling takeaways. Hover mice. H for hero. Remember, you are one. O for origin story and getting out of your comfort zone. V be visible. E exchange stories. Storytelling goes two ways.

Katie Flamman 00:40:45:

R razzle dazzle them, baby. M be memorable. M again. Models like the iliad may not be as old fashioned as you think. I. What's your impact? C use creative content and e enjoy what you do and tell everyone about it. This series has been such a pleasure to put together. Please do drop me an email and let me know what you think.

Katie Flamman 00:41:20:

My contact details are in the show notes, along with those for all my guests. Oh, and if I can help you with any voiceovers, of course. Give me a shout one way or another. I hope to hear from you soon. I'm Katie Flamman, and this is storytelling for business season two. All the rest of the episodes are waiting for you. Till next time. Goodbye.