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Asking for and listening to story

Ask for, and listen to story. It’s a skill

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Asking for and listening to story

Very often I’m fortunate to be in a position to ask for, and listen to story.

Recently, I met a man dedicated to ridding the world of polystyrene packaging for perishable goods.

After seven years in the game, he’s invented an organic, temperature-stable, recyclable, packaging product, which has trialed effectively to transport fresh fish and temperature-sensitive cancer drugs.  Now, he’s just short of a million dollars toward eliminating one of the most toxic waste products on our planet.

Then there’s the organization that’s developed a bulk process to manufacture a critical component of a substance one atom thick. It’s been shown to create a membrane so fine it can filter seawater directly into potable water.  The road to a global market is full of jaw-dropping opportunity, but which way ensures nine billion people will always have drinking water?

These are the stories that fill you with awe at the brilliance and tenacity of people to fulfill a powerful purpose.

Why you should ask for, and listen to story

Asking for and listening to a story is a skill.  But if by doing so, you can make the right connections, provide the right service, plug the hole, or stop the pain, then you too have played a part in changing our world for the better.

PowerPitch & Presentation communication training helps academics, professionals and entrepreneurs to present the impact of their work based on purpose-driven contextualized storytelling.  It is also about why and how to ask for, and listen to story. 

The training starts with understanding the context for telling your stories, why, to whom, your intention and your value.

The same goes for when you ask and listen to stories.  You have to have a context for doing so, and be in a genuine position to assist, for it to work to engage others, to build trust and recall of your key messages in return.

If you would like to know more about how the training can work for you, please contact me at Sandy@SandyMcdonald.com

We’re all waiting to be told a story

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‘As a business or an organisation, if you take a hard look at your online presence you might note that you’re neither found by those you want to find you, or particularly interesting to those that do.’

Extracted from a blog I wrote in 2010, this was when my business was called Why You Must Blog, which taught people how to blog effectively to find and engage their best clients.

Much since then has changed about how we deliver content, not so much has changed about how well we do it.

It seems to me that folk either shout louder, longer and more often than others (like the Internet Marketers of last decade) or they’re scrabbling about trying to find a way to stand out, which is likely to be transient.

Is there another way to be online, delivering quality content, being read, heard and engaged with?

I believe our content can be more like a warm breeze on a balmy evening, then a torrent, or parade.

It can be persuasive while being gentle, courteous and mindful. It can still be power-packed without being abrasive, divisive or grandstanding.

And it should include story.   Why?  Because story works and always has.  It’s why reading to a child is such a time-honored delight.  At heart, we’re all waiting to be told a story.  That much has not changed.

Don’t wait to be told a story any longer.  Learn to tell them yourself as one of the most powerful components of your communication toolkit.  Join me in a Why Your Stories Matter Workshop.  To find out more details email me at sandy@sandymcdonald.com