tell success stories that captivate and ......“25k people drank rusty water. now they don’t.”...

TELL SUCCESS STORIES THAT

CAPTIVATE AND COMPEL.

WRITE CASE HISTORIES THAT MAKE

CLIENTS WANT TO WORK WITH YOU.

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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WHY Success Stories?

• Establish Credibility

• Motivate Desire to work with you

• Prospects see themselves, their situation

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1. S.A.R. or S.O.A.R. Aw, come on

2. “Play the Movie:” Borrow Hollywood’s ABCD Formula

3. Find the Hero with the “Frodo Factor”

4. Dump Dry as Toast Titles/Headlines

5. Steal 3 Powerful Story Platforms from Memoir

6. Make 2 Points Absolutely Clear: The “Thing” and the “Other Thing”

7. It’s NOT About You But About Client Outcomes—Okay, Sometimes It Is About You

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1. S.A.R. or S.O.A.R.

Don’t tell a tale from objectives to results.

(Or, from results to reasons why.)

That’s biz talk.

And it gives away the ending!

Create SUSPENSE!

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CLIENT: BLUE WATER

PROJECT: PUMP STATION & PIPING PROJECT

LOCATION: OMAHA

Blue Water, a regulated utility, needed to

enhance its public water system in the Omaha

metro area.

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Try fresh language

Challenge: Client obstacle/opportunity

Idea/Insight: What did you uncover?

Execution: How you brought about change.

Outcomes: Tangible & intangible.

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Nail it with validation

Proof: Testimonial quotation.

+

Tell it like a story …

in normal human language

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2. “Play the Movie”: ABCD

Action

Backstory

Conflict/Climax

Destination

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ABCD—Hollywood’s Formula

Bang!

Drop us into the ACTION

“The Inciting Incident radically

upsets the balance of forces in the

protagonist’s life.”

Robert McKee, Story

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BACKSTORY: think flashback

Establish situation, characters

Catch us up to present moment

But, not so much background

that it becomes the story.

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NO CONFLICT. NO STORY.

What’s at stake?

What’s in it for your client?

What’s in it for you?

If they/you win or lose?

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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Create scenes with …

struggle,

fears,

setbacks,

mistakes

Tell it as it was lived.

Build intrigue.

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CLIMAX

The final turning point—

the end of the quest.

What does SUCCESS

look like?

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Destination

Lessons learned

Future direction

Call to action

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Write & tell your story

with the end in mind.

Don’t meander.

Build to it.

Patricia Fripp: “Last words linger.”

Doug Stevenson: “The phrase that

pays.”

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© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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3. Exploit the “Frodo Factor”

People like stories about people—

(not processes) who . . .

Struggle against the odds.

Achieve exceptional results.

Character: “a telling detail”

Dialogue: “the ring of truth”

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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3. Dump Dry as Toast Titles

Write ads.

Direct

marketing ads!

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Telegraphic Titles That Tease

Explain

Use numbers

Use an “ing” verb

Create a need

How to Brand Your Digital Content

(Where, Why, When, What)

“77 Instant-Action Ideas to Boost Sales,

Maximize Profits, and Crush Your

Competition” (D. Newman CSP)

Telling the Brand’s Story at Every Touchpoint

Why Brands Fail Without These

Fundamentals

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Use a whole sentence

Declarative

Savvy Promotions Create Loyalty

Imperative

Embrace Social Media or Die

Interrogative

Can You Broaden Your Target and Not Lose Your Niche?

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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Headlines: The Four “U’s”

USEFUL

URGENT

UNIQUE

ULTRA-SPECIFIC

American Writers & Artists

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Headlines: Get ‘em in the door

• 5-8 words

• Concrete nouns = images

• Action words = verbs (but don’t start with it)

• Tone must match story

• Write a lot of them

• Simple & clear. Forget “creative” or “clever”.

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• Creates

• Exceeds

• Builds

• Achieves

• Brightens

• Invigorates

• Learns

• Grows

• Expands

• Fulfills

• Sustains

• Surpasses

• Conducts

• Changes

• Succeeds

• Starts

• Seizes

• Nurtures

• Leads

• Directs

Action/Power Words

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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“25K people drank rusty water.

Now they don’t.”

CLIENT: BLUE WATER

PROJECT: PUMP STATION & PIPING PROJECT

LOCATION: OMAHA

Blue Water, a regulated utility, needed to

enhance its public water system in the Omaha

metro area.

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

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Sub-heads: Pull them along

• Don’t drop their hand

• Make ‘em want to know

what happens next?

• How will it end?

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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5. Steal 3 Story Platforms from Memoir

1. Obstacles overcome.

E.g., faced a challenge and succeeded. What happened? • When we/they . . . • We/ they achieved

… • so we/they learned . .

. A classic story of a

hero’s journey

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5. Steal 3 Story Platforms from Memoir

2. Had it, lost it, and got it back. E.g., client or you had been successful,

but then fell down hard. What did you do? A classic story of …

invention re-invention redemption

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5. Steal 3 Story Platforms from Memoir

3. Fish out of water (Stranger in a strange land)

E.g., completely unfamiliar

territory or a challenge never faced before

A survival story: more than

endure & but perform beyond expectation

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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6. Make 2 Things Clear:

The “Thing” and the “Other Thing”

The thing . . . the core story

We had a choice to make. Keep working like we were shooting down rapids in a kayak with no paddle. We were bound to drown or fix our logistics problem.

We applied systems thinking and identified every constraint in the supply chain right to customer’s door.

& the other thing . . . meaning

We draw order out of chaos.

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2 Things: Emotional

The thing . . .

The Ecuadorean mother was poor; she had to

choose between medicine for her sick infant

and food for her other children.

And the other thing . . .

No mother should have to make this choice.

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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7. It’s NOT About You

But About Client OUTCOMES

Make your clients the HERO.

They had the courage to bring

you in.

Supported your ideas and

services.

It’s their SUCCESS.

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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Be Authentic

• Speak from the head and the heart.

– Clients buy YOU before they buy what you are

selling.

• Use “kitchen table” English

• Fresh language (Banish jargon)

Show. Don’t tell!

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YOUR CHOICE

“dry, yeastless factuality”

or

“a better story”

? © 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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Stories That Work

Energizing Brands and Business

Gerry Lantz

610 459 3239

gerry@storiesthatwork.com

© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.

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TELL SUCCESS STORIES THAT CAPTIVATE AND COMPEL

WITH GERRY LANTZ