03 Oct Story 2018 Recap
How does someone from the market research industry engage a group of creatives, communicators, and storytellers? By making them go, “hmm?” That’s exactly the approach I took when I was offered the opportunity to talk with the 1200 amazing people attending the Story 2018 conference put on by Story Gathering.
The Story audience is an eclectic bunch and I knew that in order to earn my time on that stage I’d have to deliver a lot of value and a few surprises. With that in mind I got to work crafting a talk and a fun, interactive experiment.
The talk was based on how principles from the field of behavioral science can be used to craft more effective and persuasive stories. I told two versions of a compelling story, the second of which was deliberately written to capitalize on known cognitive biases to elicit a certain reaction. I then pulled back the curtain to show the audience how it was done and gave them some tools to use for themselves. The experiment looked at how powerful “framing” is when communicating a message. Participants listened to two versions of a story, then answered questions about it. Again, one version was deliberately written to elicit a specific reaction and it most certainly did.
Feedback from the audience was quite positive, with many telling me that they appreciated the tangible and practical takeaways they could deploy in their work. My biggest takeaway from this experience is to know your audience. There are many directions I could have taken and many were more self-serving. But when on that stage, I was in service to the audience, not myself. Through that lens I was able to craft a great experience for them and for me.
By the way, if you want to hear more about the talk or the outcome of the experiment, please let me know. I’d love to discuss it or share it with your audience.
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