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!
© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.
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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?
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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
25
Sub-heads: Pull them along
• Don’t drop their hand
• Make ‘em want to know
what happens next?
• How will it end?
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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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34
Stories That Work
Energizing Brands and Business
Gerry Lantz
610 459 3239
© 2014 Stories That Work, Inc.
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