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Telling Stories

posted on February 7, 2011

I had one of those light bulb moments this weekend on the plane ride home from Washington, DC. I was put in a window seat (I prefer the aisle) and was watching the clouds when it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Months of contemplation, conversations and clients all rushed together into a mini eureka that I knew I couldn’t ignore. I finally figured out how to tell people what I am best at and how I can help them. I am going to help the world tell their stories.

One of the very first reviews of Content Rules said the following which has always stuck with me:

“Though they offer storytelling as the primary answer to the question of how to create compelling content, the authors are equally unable to impart enough wisdom to make great yarn-spinners of most people who study their discussion of the elements of a good story.”

I giggled a bit when I first read that because while I understand what they are saying, I think is next to impossible to teach someone how to be a natural storyteller. Yes, the skill can be refined and improved, but it is something that comes from inside of you and I firmly believe everyone can tell a story about anything they are passionate about.

As I looked back on my career, I realized that it didn’t matter if I was helping scare people into watching Shark Week, part of the team bringing The Coca-Cola Company into a virtual world or telling families about the fun at Atlantis, everything I’ve been doing is helping people tell their story.

It doesn’t matter if I’m working with an agency, consulting directly with an individual or working along side a non-profit, at the end of the day it all boils down to making sure that my client is comfortable with their story and that all of their marketing and communication helps tell it to the world.

I want to work with people and organizations to help find their story. I want to sit down with team members and executives to get at the heart of what makes them so special and then craft programs and initiatives that will share that with everyone. The best stories are ones that other people can be inspired by and then re-tell it in their own words. THAT is what I want to do.

Need help finding and telling your story? I’m only an e-mail away.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Lim

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Categories: Clients / Content Rules
  • Anonymous

    then I have some people you should meet.

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      I always love anyone you want to introduce me to.

  • http://andyellwood.com Andy Ellwood

    CC: the theme of “story” continues to bubble up to the top of a lot of conversations I’ve been having recently. We all have one, but most aren’t telling it well. Excited to see where you take this.

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      Exactly.

      It kept coming up in every conversation I have with people. Especially since I’m out on the book tour right now and talking a LOT about stories and showing examples of people doing it right.

      Everyone can do it and I want to help them do it.

      • http://andyellwood.com Andy Ellwood

        An awesome book about telling stories is “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” by Donald Miller (http://donmilleris.com/books/) My take away: we are the heros of our own epic tale, we should live our life with that in mind and tell a better story. Good stuff.

      • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

        I love that book. I posted a review of it at
        http://www.cc-chapman.com/2010/05/13/a-million-miles-of-linchpins/ right
        after I read it.

        Truly an inspiring book.

  • Anonymous

    You’re right, CC. It’s all about storytelling.

    Like Seth articulated in All Marketers Are Liars (which he wishes he would have named All Marketers Tell Stories and partially corrected in the new version), George Riedel has sold billions of dollars of wine glasses because he has told and lived the story that quality wine tastes better out of the right glass. It doesn’t matter that the story isn’t exactly scientifically true, people buy it and then buy his expensive wine glasses.

    Same with Dr. Dre headphones:
    http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/02/are-300-headphones-worth-it.html

    You are a great marketer and by definition, a great storyteller. I don’t think you can be the former without being the latter.

    Storytelling is your superpower.

    Great post.

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      Thank you for the overly kind words.

      I agree that the best marketing people are the ones who can tell compelling stories and yet after watching The Super Bowl last night I think many have forgotten that. They were looking for the quick joke or something else rather than telling a great story.

      Chrysler on the other hand did nothing BUT tell a great story and it got attention.

      Anytime you put Seth and me anywhere in the same page together it makes my day so thanks for the big smiles your comment generated.

      • Anonymous

        I thought the same during the Super Bowl. Telling authentic stories shouldn’t be so hard but how many agencies do it well? You’re right. Those $3M ads were mostly crap, going for the laugh by hitting someone in the head or crotch or pets serving beer. Lame. It baffles me that more companies & agencies simply don’t understand storytelling.

        I loved this Ford Explorer reveal on Facebook from a few months ago. Great example of storytelling.
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd5GM2Q_gY8

        So much better than dogs serving beer.

        My buddy Jon Thomas (@story_jon on twitter) does this full time for Story Worldwide, the agency he works for. I think you know each other on twitter but you’ll meet him in person in Nashville in March. We’re all speaking at Hook and Jon is speaking on storytelling.

      • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

        Can’t wait!!!

      • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

        Can’t wait!!!

      • http://www.postadvertising.com Jon Thomas

        Thanks for the mention Clay.
        Storytelling is truly at the heart of marketing. At a recent #140conf meetup in NYC, Michael Margolis (@getstoried) had a great quote – “When your audience can see themselves in your story, the need to sell or persuade goes away.” The storyteller and the audience connect as humans on an emotional level, and that resonates far better than any facts/features alone.

        Stories show passion, evoke emotion, create drama, and allow the storyteller to be transparent. As has been said, “Vulnerability is the new black.”

        That’s why our agency is called Story Worldwide – spreading brand stories all over the world. And that’s why I am so passionate about integrating storytelling into my endeavors as a presentation designer. When we have ideas we want to spread, there is no better catalyst than a great story that informs, entertains, and connects. It’s why a useful blog post or iPhone app can create better brand awareness/loyalty/evangelism than any $3 million Super Bowl spot ever will. It’s why the most passed-around TED presentations are those where the presenter is telling personal stories, filled with passion and emotion.

        It’s simple: Great stories spread, and those who tell the best stories win.

        Looking forward to sharing the stage (so to speak) with you in March.

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  • http://chelpixie.com/ Chel Wolverton

    It’s very you, very fitting and will lead you in the right direction.

    (I still remember your post about Keen’s every single time I think about the brand. Remarkable power.)

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      Keen is one of those brands that I love. People talk about things they love. Cool to hear that it comes to mind when you see the brand. THAT makes me smile.

      This is natural for me, but I realize it is not natural for everyone else. That was the moment that clicked for me.

  • http://www.sametz.com/roundthesquare/ Tamsen (@tamadear @Sametz)

    I love this summary of who you are and what you do, C.C.

    Immediately my brain goes to what you do in three parts: you help find the story, you help folks learn how to tell it, and finally you help them learn how to spread it.

    And that’s a killer triple threat.

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      EXACTLY what I want to do for people. After getting asked the same questions
      over and over, I realized that I can help a lot of people do this so why not
      focus more in this direction.

      Thank you for always been a great friend and inspiration for me Tamsen.

  • http://ronamok.com ronploof

    Stories are the vehicles by which humans convey meaning.

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      Well said. Yours or someone else’s?

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      Well said. Yours or someone else’s?

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Once upon a time, there lived an incredibly passionate story-teller named C.C. Chapman…

    I love where this story is headed!

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      Once upon a time…….

      Dude you make it sound like I am dead *grin*

  • Whitney Hoffman

    I love this, because I think folks have a hard time identifying their own stories and what matters most. Speaking to a group last week, one professor said “I can get anyone to work on horseshoe crabs, but not so much on the worms I work on.” While neither sounded particularly exciting to me, there has to be some reason he finds them compelling and important, and he’s got to be able to communicate that to others to do everything from finding funding, to even justifying why he’s doing the work in the first place.
    When I listen to people, I find that I tune into their stories- and that’s what people need to find- and what you’re so good at. :)

  • http://twitter.com/katgordon Katherine M. Gordon

    Right on, C.C.!

    As an advertising creative director, I always dig to find the great story at the heart of every brand I work on. I’ve yet to find a company that didn’t have a fabulous, authentic tale to share.

    One of my favorite quotes: “Stories are the coat pegs of the mind.” They hang around and get remembered long after marketing blather has dissolved into nothingness.

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      Exactly! The good creative directors of the world know this. When I was in that role it shocked me that some never got that.

  • Anonymous

    Perfect fit for you, my friend! Because organizations are so close to their own products and services and the stuff they sell, they do have a hard time identifying and then telling their stories in a human, tangible, real way that will resonate with those they want to attract. Anyway, everyone needs a little C.C. in their lives — like I always say! — and here’s a compelling business reason why you need a little C.C., too!

    (I almost signed this with an “XO,” because I’m that thrilled for you. But that seems a little over-the-top.)

    Wait — what the hell… XO!

    Ann

  • http://www.experiate.net Paul Flanigan

    When I worked at Best Buy, I had to convince my executive leaders to spend several million dollars on a new initiative. I did it by telling them a story. I was about a guy who wanted to watch his favorite soccer team, and how he could do it with technology.

    They liked the story. They spent the money.

    In several of my own posts, I relate my insights to real stories because real stories are better case studies than case studies.

    I’m reading, and listening, and following, C. C.

    (Oh, I’m reading Content Rules and hope to give a review soon. Guess what? It will be in the form of a story.)

    • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

      Can’t wait to read your review and hear your thoughts.

      And THANK YOU for sharing the story about Best Buy.

  • http://lamiki.com/ Laura Kimball

    “I think is next to impossible to teach someone how to be a natural storyteller. Yes, the skill can be refined and improved, but it is something that comes from inside of you and I firmly believe everyone can tell a story about anything they are passionate about.”

    I think storytelling is on the verge of becoming a buzz-word. Trendy and something everyone wants to do. But you hit it on the nail there and defined the difference between someone who tells stories and someone who ‘is’ a storyteller.

    Excellent post, C.C.

  • http://jasonkeath.com jakrose

    I say bring it. It is a refreshing take. And one at which I think you are well matched.

  • http://CreateYourOwnLegendNow.com CharlieSeymourJr

    It’s always amazing to me that so few people “get it” about telling stories.

    We were raised on stories at home (“Mommy… tell me a story, please), in our earliest songs (“Jack and Jill went up the hill…), and in our houses of worship (“and then the seas parted and Moses…). Yet when we go to work we somehow forget that inner, tightly-woven fabric of our souls.

    Even before we started writing what became our best-selling book, we knew that we wanted to “tell a story,” so we started with a medieval tale (with Maximillion and Katherine) and morphed instantly into the modern day with two entrepreneurial professionals as our focus (Max and Kate). The dragon-slaying lessons learned through ancient time were easier to accept in today’s world because of the stories.

    We, too, help people tell their stories, what we call their “Legends.” And through the use of video, audio, and print, people can grow closer connections with their clients, customers, and patients when they use stories.

    Thanks, CC, for making this so clear in your post.

    Charlie Seymour Jr
    http://CreateYourOwnLegendNow.com

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