What's Your Story? » Story http://www.greggmorris.com Reinventing Yourself and Your Business... Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:29:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Curated Stories Weekend Mar. 13 & 14, 2010 http://www.greggmorris.com/curated-stories-weekend-mar-13-14-2010 http://www.greggmorris.com/curated-stories-weekend-mar-13-14-2010#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:46:31 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=4908



]]> http://www.greggmorris.com/curated-stories-weekend-mar-13-14-2010/feed 0 Story Resources http://www.greggmorris.com/story-resources http://www.greggmorris.com/story-resources#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:26:10 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=3853



Image credit: MediaBistro

Image credit: MediaBistro


I have added a “Story Resources” tab to the site. I was planning on linking to them in the sidebar but the list has gotten so long that putting it on it’s own page seems the sensible thing to do. The resources start out with a link to a work that references Stephen Crites’s “The Narrative Quality of Experience“. (The link to the work itself is via subscription only I’m sorry to say.) This is the work that introduced me to the concept of story through narrative theology. It was the late 60s, in a religion class taught by Dr. Ed St. Clair where we discussed, in many a session that semester, the concept of how our lives all told a story and how they gained meaning through the telling of them. I was hooked, so much so, that I tracked Dr. St. Clair down in his retirement early this summer to talk with him again about all of this. He led me to the work of Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, a professor at Duke, who is one of the leading thinkers and writers on narrative.

Some years ago, in my “corporate career”, I came across a book called “The Story Factor” by Annette Simmons. She, along with another storyteller, Doug Lipman, author of “Improving Your Storytelling“, have proven to be invaluable resources over the years. The links to their sites follow those first ones. You can literally spend hours on each one reading their content and their ideas on story and storytelling.

I have recently come across Cynthia Kurtz, a rather remarkable story telling resource. The way that she looks at story and storytelling is challenging in many ways. I hope that you enjoy her work as well. Links to her sites and work follow the two above.

The rest of the links on the Resource page, except for the Jackson Fish Market one, should all give you some valuable ideas about using stories and storytelling in your businesses. The Jackson Fish Market one, well, I’ll let you discover that one for yourselves.

It has been my belief that as we move further and further along the path to de-institutionalization, story will play an increasing role in our business lives and our personal lives. Story was ever present at the forefront of our existence until the rise of industrial institutions. In that rise, they became the keepers, tellers and publishers of stories. Now that the Internet has enabled and connected us all, we are once again able to be storytellers and to use them to inform and give meaning to our businesses and our personal lives.

I hope these resources help you on your road to telling your stories. If there’s anything that you feel I left out, please let me know, and if I can help you in any way with your efforts I would be delighted to.

]]> http://www.greggmorris.com/story-resources/feed 0 Andre Agassi’s Story http://www.greggmorris.com/andre-agassis-story http://www.greggmorris.com/andre-agassis-story#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:25:32 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=3801



agassiopen
Andre Agassi is creating quite the stir on the media tour to promote his new book, Open. Actually, it’s the admissions and the reactions to them, the stone throwing, that are creating the stir. Nothing better than a little dirt is there?

Lost in all of that though is his story, his narrative. It would be nice if, once the hoopla over his hair weave and his use of crystal meth died down, that his narrative and story would generate as much interest. He was on NBC’s Today Show this morning talking with Meredith Viera. (I still think she looks like Lindsay Wagoner.) You might also have seen him on 60 Minutes Sunday night with Katie Couric. That was a terrific interview and during that he touched a little bit on the concept of story. I don’t recall his saying anything about narrative though. Something changed between then and this morning’s interview. I don’t know if the publisher’s PR folks coached him or if he worked this out for himself. I’m not sure that it matters.

He said Sunday night that he hoped his story might inspire some others but he really never got into that. I wonder if the way Couric presented the Navratilova attack didn’t take him aback for the rest of the interview. I got the feeling that he was very uncomfortable. He sort of had that deer in headlights look about him. Which seems strange when you consider that this is a guy who is used to performing on one of the biggest of sporting stages, in front of millions of people, half naked to boot. That look hadn’t disappeared in this morning’s interview either. He looked sort of vulnerable and untrusting, as if he’s waiting for one more kick to the crotch. The media can do that to you I suppose, but I wonder if it’s not the petard he’s been hoisted on by some of those in the tennis world that makes him appear so gun shy.

And that is such a shame because his is a great story. He has discovered the narrative that gives meaning to and informs his life and he has decided to share it in the hopes of inspiring others who might be dealing with things similar to what he was. One of my favorite college professors, Dr. Edward St. Clair, introduced me to story and narrative, through the work of Stephen Crites, in the late 60s. Crites’s “The Narrative Quality of Experience” explained that we should think of experience as patterned in and through time. What that means is that “experience itself is an incipient story”. Agassi has clearly come to understand how his experiences, expressed through narrative and story, can be used to influence people. Here’s what he said this morning.

“I wouldn’t do a book halfway, it would be something that I feel somebody can learn from or get inspired by as it relates to my story I found myself at a time in my life where I wanted to take my story, find the story, the narrative in my life and offer that to people to help them. I think there’s millions of people out there that wake up in a life that they didn’t choose for themselves and that’s what I found in my life…I think this can have some real power.”


I’ll say. Before we heard about this, how many of us would have loved to be living his life? Gazillionaire, studly tennis pro, married to drop dead gorgeous Brooke Shields, living the good life, right? Whoops. Not so fast there. He hated tennis, hated his life. Got forced into it by a domineering father. Hear that, all you dads looking to live your life, tell your stories, through your kids’ athletic endeavors? The amazing thing to me about that part of his narrative? He doesn’t hate his father for pushing him down that path. He’s come to an understanding and acceptance. Likely as a result of telling his story and finding those narrative threads, weaving those now instead of his hair, an act that cost him a grand slam title at the French Open.

I was never one of his biggest fans. After watching those two interviews, and hearing him relate parts of his story, I am rapidly becoming one. I’m looking forward to reading the book so that I can enjoy the full story. I hope that he can put the distractions his narrative has caused aside and continue to tell that story and inspire those people who might see some of their story in his.

]]> http://www.greggmorris.com/andre-agassis-story/feed 0 Social Media: Policy or Story? http://www.greggmorris.com/social-media-policy-or-story http://www.greggmorris.com/social-media-policy-or-story#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:23:38 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=3787



Image credit: gigathoughts.com

Image credit: gigathoughts.com


There has been a lot of Twitter activity, and a lot of blog activity, these last two months or so, revolving around Social Media Policies. Most of the agencies, and the indie consultants, be they social media, marketing and/or pr, seem to think that having a policy in place is a good thing. After all, if you’re trying to encourage participation in Social Media, and what agency or indie isn’t doing that these days, it’s likely a good thing to convince your client of the need for a well crafted policy. In what seems like the true spirit of Social Media, companies have been posting and sharing those policies outside of their corporate walls. Undeniably, this has to help the overall effort as all businesses struggle with this newfangled Social Media.

Here are links to just a few of the posts that have dealt with this should you care to read through them.
10 things you should cover in your social networking policy
3 Great Social Media Policies to Steal From
Deloitte Study Suggests Social Media Policy a Must Have
Do you have a social-media policy? Do you need one?
Social Media Usage Policies: Less Lawyering, More Encouraging

Yesterday, David Armano wrote a piece for Conversation Starter, one of the Harvard Business Blogs, entitled Six Social Media Trends for 2010. Conversation Starter is one of the more thought provoking blogs and David is one of the more thought provoking practitioners of digital marketing and the social web. Both are well worth your time, following and reading, if you don’t already do so.

The fourth of the six trends that David suggests is this:

“4. Your company will have a social media policy (and it might actually be enforced)

If the company you work for doesn’t already have a social media policy in place with specific rules of engagement across multiple networks, it just might in the next year. From how to conduct yourself as an employee to what’s considered competition, it’s likely that you’ll see something formalized about how the company views social media and your participation in it.”

For some reason this post got me thinking about Social Media policy in a way I hadn’t previously considered. Let me start by saying that in the past year, over coffees, cocktails, socials, and meals, I have suggested to many friends who own or run businesses, as we have discussed Social Media and how it might fit within their business models and plans, that they start thinking about implementing social media policies. It seemed, at the time, like a no brainer to me. And to them as well after we started talking about it. Stories were starting to appear that documented some poor Tweeter or blogger losing their job over a not so well thought out tweet or blog post. Having a policy in place seemed like something that would protect both the employees and the employers as we moved forward in the wild, wild social web.

But after reading David’s post yesterday, I found myself asking if this was really such a good thing after all. I suspect it was the fact that a “trend” pointed to likely wide scale adoption and that’s what triggered this line of thinking. Now, obviously, we still need to be mindful of somehow protecting both employees and employers. But, is “policy” the right way to go about that? Will it bring the desired results and benefits that can be gained from social web participation?

Here’s the rub. Policy statements, by and large, are designed to take thinking out of the equation for the people they effect. They are “rules” if you will. Given this, you will do that. Or, given that, you will do this. No need to think. No need to reason. Just do it. No participation necessary. Which, of course, leads to thoughtless obedience or cheerful mischief depending on your personally type. Once policies are drafted and rules declared, there’s no room for participation. For creativity. For imagination.

Aren’t those some of the very crucial skills that we’ll need going forward in the social web, in dealing with social media? Would we perhaps be better off if we framed those policies with stories instead? Stories, after all, encourage and invite people to participate, to use their imaginations. Wouldn’t our businesses be better served by employees who were actively participating with our customers, solving their problems creatively? Stories allow employees to participate and come up with their own alternatives to the paradoxes that exist between business goals and customer expectations. Rules and policies do not.

What do you think? Are social media policies better framed as clear rules and guidelines, or, are they better expressed by stories that encourage creative thinking?

]]> http://www.greggmorris.com/social-media-policy-or-story/feed 2 A few questions for the suicide bomber set http://www.greggmorris.com/a-few-questions-for-the-suicide-bomber-set http://www.greggmorris.com/a-few-questions-for-the-suicide-bomber-set#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:09:08 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=3742



Suicide Bomber
I have a few questions for you if I might. Well, maybe not for you exactly, since you’re, you know, dead and all, and not likely to answer. Maybe some of those who long to follow in your footsteps can help me out here. You see, ever since you folks started to make a name for yourselves, I’ve wondered about some of these questions, but after the double suicide the other day that succeeded in killing 155 innocent people or so, I thought maybe it would be best if I got some of these out in the open for us to discuss.

First off, what motivates you to do something like that? I mean, I understand the suicide urge and all of that. We have some of that over here in the West. All over the globe I suppose. We even have a few fools who go in to schools and businesses and shoot the places up and wind up pretty much as dead as you do. We don’t think of them as suicide shooters though. And we have that phenomenon known as death by cop. But, we don’t have anybody doing exactly what you do. Thank goodness.

So, back to my question. Why?

I read some about how your particular religious beliefs might come into play as a motivational factor here. I don’t know whether to believe that or not, so I thought it best to ask you directly. Is it the chance to meet Allah that causes you to act as you do? I’ve spent a fair amount of time studying the world’s religions, yours among them, so I can understand why that meeting might have some appeal. But why the rush? And what gives you the right to drag others along with you? Why not give your personal story a chance to play out a little longer? Do you have some sort of inside information on Allah’s liking short stories over longer works? And what if, perish the thought I know, Allah isn’t there? Do you even factor that into the equation? When those who are recruiting you for such gruesomeness promise you all that they do, have you ever stopped to consider the possibility that Allah might be a figment of Mohammed’s imagination? Or asked yourself why, if it’s such a treat and an honor to meet him, those who have recruited you aren’t doing it themselves?

Perhaps it’s the 40 virgins or however many you’re supposed to encounter. What exactly is the fascination with that anyway? Why not just get that one out of the way in whatever your equivalent is to junior high or high school? And, no offense to the ladies who practice your trade, but that promise of the virgins seems a decidedly male sort of thing. Do the ladies get the same 40 virgins? And are the virgins male? Or female? (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Please forgive me for saying so, but judging by the way your society and religion treats women to begin with, I’m a little doubtful about this one.

What I really don’t get though is why in the world you blow up your own people, your own countrymen and women. Using your particular skill set as a weapon in war I can sort of understand. Using it to blow up people who are just going about their daily routines is beyond me. What can you possibly hope to accomplish? Given the mayhem you have wrecked, who would ever sympathize with whatever cause it is you’re supposed to be blowing yourself up for? There is some sort of cause right? It’s not just that regular old “selfish” kind of thing that’s a part of most suicides is it? Yours is for the greater good, right?

I wonder too if suicide bomber is some sort of career path. Do you grow up thinking “I’m going to be a suicide bomber, just like Uncle Barney”? Or is it something you decide later in life? Do you do it to save your family some money? Admittedly, your method certainly saves on embalming or cremation charges. How about whether you drive a vehicle loaded with explosives or you don a suicide vest? Are there guidelines for that? And how is it decided whether you pull the string, so to speak, or someone does it remotely, via radio signal? Do you get extra points for one way over the other?

]]> http://www.greggmorris.com/a-few-questions-for-the-suicide-bomber-set/feed 0 Bob Griese tackled by a taco http://www.greggmorris.com/bob-griese-tackled-by-a-taco http://www.greggmorris.com/bob-griese-tackled-by-a-taco#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:28:29 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=3732



Image credit: dixiedining.wordpress.com

Image credit: dixiedining.wordpress.com


There’s nothing better than a little righteous indignation is there? Unless of course you count self-righteous indignation. By now you’ve most likely read about the Bob Griese “taco comment”. Honest, it’s actually taken on a name of it’s own. Why, there’s even a “taco comment video”! An instant replay of sorts for the politically correct crowd. They can watch it again and again as they thump their chests in self righteous (or is that just righteous?) indignation.

The gist of the matter is this. The “taco comment” was made during ESPN’s broadcast of the Minnesota-Ohio State football game on Saturday, when a graphic appeared on screen showing the the top five drivers in NASCAR’s points race. Chris Spielman, Griese’s broadcast partner, asked where Juan Pablo Montoya was. Bob Griese then responded that “he was out having a taco.” Uh oh…

The politically correct crowd suggested immediately that Griese had thrown a 90 yard slur in the direction of Montoya. I’m guessing Montoya’s of Mexican descent. And if so, clearly to the PC crowd anyway, it must be a slur to suggest that he might be off someplace enjoying a taco. I have read accounts that likened Griese’s comment to the now infamous Fuzzy Zoeller “fried chicken and watermelon comment” after Tiger Woods’ first Masters win. Some have gone so far as to suggest that had it been Woods who had been insulted by Griese he would have been fired on the spot.

Griese of course apologized for his comment before the end of the game. All accounts of the matter have said that by then it was too late. The damage had been done. The PC (politically correct) crowd would come to the rescue of Montoya and all Mexicans who were offended by Griese’s insensitive remark.

Now, I don’t know Mr. Montoya. I don’t even know a whole lot about NASCAR’s current state of affairs. I may very well be the only North Carolinian who doesn’t. Wait a minute. Did I just offend all North Carolinians by suggesting that anyone in this fine state liked NASCAR? If so, I apologize. My point is that thus far, I haven’t heard a peep out of Mr. Montoya. Was he offended? Shouldn’t we at least wait to hear what he has to say? Or is he perhaps taking a page from the Tiger Woods book and not saying anything? Letting this whole issue take on a life of it’s own?

Let me ask you folks who are so up in arms about this a couple of quick questions if I might. If Spielman had asked about a driver who hailed from the good old USofA, and had Griese said “He’s out getting a hamburger”, should all of us who are native good old USofA’ers have taken offense? After all, we would have just been portrayed as a nation of hamburger eaters. I don’t know about you, but I take issue with that. Same thing for hot dogs. And what about those Chick Fil A cows? Pretty damned insensitive toward the plight of chickens, don’t you think?

If this getting all bent out of shape at the mention of a nationality, and the food stuffs that have come to be associated with it over the years, is truly such a big deal, shouldn’t we stop saying things like “We’re going out for Chinese” or “Italian” or “Thai” or “Vietnamese” or yes, even “Mexican”? I mean, tell me please, what’s the difference between any of that and what Griese said? Are there any of you politically correct types, who are now calling for his scalp, (likely an affront to the Native Americans I might remind you), who have not uttered one of those statements when going out to eat?

Are you happy now that he’s been suspended for a game? Clearly his apology wasn’t enough for you. What does that game suspension accomplish anyway? I guess ESPN felt compelled to do it. Maybe it saves some face. Does it remind you of anything? Grade school, junior high, high school perhaps? That’s mostly what everyone’s behavior over this is reminiscent of. Nothing like a dose of good old righteous indignation.

Come on people. We’ve got bigger things to worry about. There’s a lot of bad things going on in this world of ours. Why are you worrying about an off the cuff comment? Tell me that you haven’t said or heard something similar, at the office water cooler or wherever, and that you didn’t say anything about it then. How about worrying about the idiots (I hope I’m not offending the suicide bombers among you) who strap explosive vests on and go about blowing up innocent bystanders? Why aren’t you up in arms about that? Or about the millions who are without jobs and losing homes and belongings? Can’t bring your political correctness to bear on those issues? And what about all of the comedians in the world who poke a little fun at very similar things? Where is our sense of humor when we need it? Maybe more importantly, where’s our sense of perspective?

]]> http://www.greggmorris.com/bob-griese-tackled-by-a-taco/feed 0 One of the Good Guys http://www.greggmorris.com/one-of-the-good-guys http://www.greggmorris.com/one-of-the-good-guys#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:28:07 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=3721



IMG_0057a
I don’t think I’ve ever done this before. Come right out and asked people to contribute to a cause. Oh sure, I’ve helped to raise a fair amount of money for various causes over the years. Circumstances being what they are, I could sure get behind a number of causes these days too. The cancer I fight. A different one that my brother fights. Arthritis. Alzheimer’s. Diabetes. And so many more that have impacted family and friends.

But none of them are quite like this one. This one really hits home for some reason. And please, don’t tell anyone, since no one knows this, but I say a little prayer about this every morning. A prayer for him. His family. His fellow Marines that served with him in his platoon.

The him is Cpl. Joshua Watkins. The cause I’d ask you to consider supporting, if you have any extra in your piggy bank, is the Watkins Memorial Scholarship. If I was a celebrity of some sort, and I was playing on Jeopardy or Family Feud, or one of those shows where the celebs play for a charity, this is the one I’d be playing for.

I first met Josh in the Spring of 2005. He, a Lance Cpl. at the time, Lance Cpl. Mitchell and Lance Cpl. Morris were roommates in one of the barracks at Camp LeJeune, NC. They were getting ready to deploy on their first combat tour of Iraq. The Lance Cpl. Morris, who went on to be Sgt. Morris before leaving the Corps for college, is my oldest son.

We had gone down to LeJeune to help move him out of his barracks and to wish him well and God speed on that first deployment. That particular barracks was a mad house. Relatives and friends of a lot of the Marines who were going to deploy were there to help pack up their belongings and to wish them well. It was mostly a controlled chaos bordering on bedlam. We walked into the middle of that, found our son’s room, shook our heads as we saw things strewn everywhere inside the room, and got to meet Josh.

He was quiet. Soft spoken. A little reserved. A nice guy. One of the good guys. He didn’t have any family or friends present to help him. They had come up from Florida earlier to say their goodbyes. We got to be his family that day. As you might imagine, there is a bonding that takes place between all of the families and Marines during a time like that. Not only did we pack boxes and bags for our son, but we helped to pack Josh’s as well. He tried to make do on his own but that didn’t work. Here these guys are about to go off and put their lives in harms way, it seems that the least we could do was help to get things packed up. The urge to do something, anything, for them, is almost overwhelming. And on top of all of that, there were a number of Marine Moms in action who just weren’t going to be denied.

We got everyone all packed up. We got belongings loaded into cars and wagons and vans. We had a box from Josh, addressed to Donna Watkins in Florida, that he didn’t have time to get shipped. We told him we’d take care of it. Everyone hugged and kissed and back slapped. Tears flowed. Unless you’ve sent one off into combat, you just can’t begin to imagine the emotion.

The guys all made it through that first tour. They came home a little over 7 months later. They’d been shot at. Some had been blown up or nearly so. They went out on 3 to 10 day missions around Fallujah. Tough, grueling work with little or no sleep. To defend a country that they had seen ravaged by 9/11. They all made it back in one piece. No casualties.

They got to rest up a bit and recover for 4 months and then they headed back for another combat tour. We headed down to LeJeune and helped to pack and box up. We were old pros now. There were hugs and kisses and back slaps again. And tears too. It wasn’t any easier sending them off this time. But we knew what to expect. Knew about the sleepless nights that would follow until they were safely home again.

They were back in Fallujah again. Less than 3 days into this tour, one of the platoons that had deployed with them, lost 4 Marines to a pressure plated IED. Not a good way to start the tour. Instead of missions that took them away for days at a time, this tour saw them doing daily highway missions supporting SeaBees moving back and forth. Much more dangerous than that first tour as it turned out. They got very little sleep and had few days off. The number of IEDs and ambushes they encountered was off the charts.

But they all made it through. Until the very last mission. Mitchell and Watkins were out for a final time when they were ambushed. Mitchell escaped harm. Josh wasn’t so lucky. He died in Mitchell’s arms. Gave his life. For his country. His family. His friends. For me. For you. No matter your politics, he sacrificed himself for a freedom he believed we should all be entitled to.

They had a videographer and reporter embedded with them during that first tour. Here’s what he wrote about Josh after his death. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.

Here’s the link to the scholarship fund again. Watkins Memorial Scholarship. Here’s the link to the Donation Page. I hope you can find it in your heart to help. And if you have a Twitter account and don’t mind passing on the link, I know there are some deserving students who would thank you kindly.

Semper Fi Cpl. Joshua Watkins. God speed.

]]> http://www.greggmorris.com/one-of-the-good-guys/feed 1 The Narrative Hook http://www.greggmorris.com/the-narrative-hook http://www.greggmorris.com/the-narrative-hook#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:33:25 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=3714



roy_williams
It’s funny. Not ha ha, guffaw kind of funny. But funny in a strange how these things come about kind of way. My wife mentioned to me, towards the end of last week, that Roy Williams has a book coming out. Roy, in case you don’t follow college basketball (What the hell’s wrong with you?!!), is the coach at the University of North Carolina. He of the two National Championships in the last few years. Can you tell this post is coming from “If God is not a Tar Heel why is the sky Carolina blue?” Chapel Hill? :-)

Anyway, she suggested that we might want to think about getting our youngest son an autographed copy for Christmas. He is a huge UNC basketball fan. Hard not to be when you grow up in Chapel Hill I suppose. As it turns out, Roy will be signing books at the Barnes and Noble she works at part time. (Buddy, if you’re reading this, act surprised on Christmas morning, okay?) I told her that I thought that was a great idea. Once they get through high school, good Christmas present ideas are hard to come by and this sure seemed like a good one.

Here comes the “funny” part. Saturday morning the News and Observer ran a story about the forthcoming book. Add ‘author’ to Roy Williams’ titles.
Good enough, I thought, as my wife read the headline to me. Then she continued on.

“When UNC-Chapel Hill basketball coach Roy Williams was 14, he pulled his drunk and angry father off his mother, shoved a bottle under his chin, and threatened to kill him if he didn’t leave.”

“My dad never, ever came back to our house again,” Williams says in his autobiography “Hard Work: A Life on and Off the Court,” which will be on sale Nov. 3. His sister Frances, he wrote, “was more forgiving. I was not. I was mad that he’d torn our family apart.”

Well now, that’s just one helluva’ lead isn’t it? Gets your attention sort of right away quick. All of a sudden, this usually smiling, joking, basketball coach, has shown us a dimension we never knew existed. And that’s the point I’d like for you to think about. Not the “threaten to kill if they don’t leave” part. The “helluva’ lead” part.

The better the start of your story the more likely people are to read it or watch it or listen to it. I was browsing through Les Edgerton’s Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go when I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and the advice his title gives and that he has for fiction writers, holds just as true for non fiction stories as well. Once you’ve got your story strategy sorted out and you begin to start telling them, think about your headlines or titles, and, think about those opening sentences, whether they’re written or spoken. The more effort you and/or your writers put into making them as compelling as they can be, the better your chance that people will want to read them.

You might also want to think about those in terms of Google love. Not just keywords and SEO, but in terms of the little blurb Google sometimes picks up and shows with your search listing. A well crafted opening can often times make the difference between someone clicking through to your story or moving on to another one.

The Roy Williams story opening is sure an attention grabber. Have you seen any others recently? Have you written or told any recently that you’d share with us?

]]> http://www.greggmorris.com/the-narrative-hook/feed 3 Feel Good Stories http://www.greggmorris.com/feel-good-stories http://www.greggmorris.com/feel-good-stories#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:45:20 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=3708



kayleigh
I came across this story Young girl sells her toys to buy police dog’s bulletproof vests at the end of last week. If ABC Nightly News had a Story of the Week instead of a Person of the Week, this one would have won. Hands down. As it is, she probably should have been person of the week.

I bring it to your attention for a couple of reasons. If you haven’t seen it yet, it should help get your week off to a good start. And, it’s just a great “feel good” story. The very best ones revolve around people. Dogs, or animals, probably come in a close second. How does this relate to your business and the stories you are trying to formulate and tell? It points to a place you might not be thinking about looking as you formulate that strategy. Kids. Maybe your own. Maybe your employee’s. Maybe your customer’s. Maybe some you haven’t even met yet.

We all have a natural soft spot for children. Stories about them speak to us in a way other stories don’t. If you can’t immediately think about any stories that you would tell that involve children maybe you might want to think about how you can go about changing that. Can your business become involved in supporting a school? An after school activity or organization? How about one of the scout organizations? Do you see how your involvement in any of these can do wonderful things for the children involved and in turn give you untold story resources?

Feel good stories. They’re some of the best kind. Don’t you think? Do you have any that you can share with us?

]]> http://www.greggmorris.com/feel-good-stories/feed 0 Let me tell you about that! http://www.greggmorris.com/let-me-tell-you-about-that http://www.greggmorris.com/let-me-tell-you-about-that#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:41:25 +0000 Gregg http://www.greggmorris.com/?p=3701



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I picked up a copy of Gary Vee’s CrushIt! on Monday night and have been reading it during my workouts on the aerobic deck at the gym this week. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, maybe another me too social media book, but I have to tell you that the book has been a real surprise. It’s a quick read, weighing in at only 130+ pages. But he packs a lot of wallop into those pages. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have a feeling that you might too. If you get a chance to, pick up a copy. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. I’ve heard he needs the money. Those Jets won’t come cheap you know?

He talks a bit about story and stories and there are two passages I’m going to quote here. The first one comes when he’s talking about starting a business in good times or bad. Here’s the relevant part: “Yes, we’ve seen a lot of people close up shop in the past years, but if they had offered a relevant and differentiated product or service, had been adaptable, and most of all had known how to tell their story, they wouldn’t have had to close.”

Notice that he feels it’s not the fact that the product or service is not “relevant or differentiated” that is the most damaging to the business. It’s the fact that they didn’t know how to tell their story.

Here’s the second passage. It takes place while he is talking about learning the family business when he started to work the retail floor. He noticed that the Johnnie Walker and Absolut fans knew what they wanted when they came to shop at the store and couldn’t be swayed come hell or high water, but that the wine buyers would sometimes come into the store looking a little lost, and hope that a bottle would just jump off the shelf and sell itself. “…people want to be told what’s good and valuable and they enjoy feeling like they’ve been turned on to something not everyone can appreciate.”

“Storytelling is by far the most underrated skill in business.”

Business requires a lot of skills. This one is, he feels, the most underrated. Think about that a bit.

Can you picture Gary Vee in that retail scenario? If you’ve seen him do WineLibraryTV I’m almost certain that you can. Imagine being that somewhat lost wine seeking customer. You’re busy looking through the selection, hoping to find a bottle that you know, an old friend you can bring home to dinner. But in front of you are all of these potential new friends you know nothing about. You pick a bottle up and examine it. Should you or shouldn’t you? Your hairdresser’s not going to help you here. And then suddenly, out of the blue, bounds this guy who says “Hey, let me tell you about that.” And what follows is a story about the wine that you’re holding. A humdinger of a story I’ll bet. This is a guy who likes to talk about wine. Hell, this is a guy who just likes to talk!

I know a little bit about that. I used to do the same thing in tennis stores and software stores when I was working retail. A customer picks up one of the items in the store and begins to look it over. You can see the questions that he’s asking reflected in his facial expression. And if you’re a story teller, the magic begins and it all just all starts to flow. “Hi there. How are you today? Hey, let me tell you about that.”

If you’re thinking about stories and wondering how you’ll work them into your corporate culture, “Let me tell you about that” is a great place to start. What is about one of your products or services that lights a fire under you, gets the magic going and makes you want to blurt out “Hey, let me tell you about that”? Or, what about one of your employees or customers? What event or happening in their life, that might be connected to your business, makes you want to say the same thing?

If you can start to think about the things that trigger the “Oh, let me tell you about that” response, you’ll be well on your way to developing the mind set that will help you to establish an effective storytelling culture within your business. Can you think of any right off the top of your head? Would you like to tell us about them?

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