What comes to mind when you hear of Aesop, Mother Goose, Walt Disney and our own Lola Basyang? You guessed it right: storytelling!
According to Wikipedia, “storytelling” refers to oral storytelling and to techniques used in other media to unfold or disclose the narrative of a story. The power of storytelling is now being successfully applied in business organizations. When done well, business storytelling provides a compelling reason for your consumers to buy from you. A good brand can inspire trust and loyalty from customers, employees and suppliers.
Storytelling can benefit associations, too. Emily Bratcher, a contributing editor for the Associations Now magazine of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), cited the case of the International Sign Association (ISA), which incorporated a storytelling strategy in its marketing effort. “Associations are successful when they are working on behalf of their members,” wrote Alicia Auerswald, ISA vice president of marketing, membership and communication, “but it isn’t nearly as powerful as a member standing up and saying, ‘ISA worked on my behalf and here’s how.’”
How does an association go about finding stories to tell? ISA reached out to Seth Kahan at Visionary Leadership for guidance in creating its master story, and the first step was answering the following questions that would provide the framework for the overarching stories that ISA would tell:
What is the one thing you do better than anybody else?
What are audience’s wants, needs, and pain points that you can help solve?
Why should your audience care?
Why would your audience need you and your solution?
Why should they pick you over the competition?
Next, ISA gathered its executive leadership team and then its full staff at a daylong retreat to craft its master story. After this, the ISA brought it to its board and key steering committees. “This was important for a few reasons: one, it brought additional buy-in to the project,” Auerswald said. “But, more important, it added another 30 people who worked in the industry day to day to help find these stories.”
The ISA now uses its stories in blog posts, videos, testimonials and article placement in key industry trade publications. The ISA also markets its annual conference with stories. “The event draws about 10 times our membership so we have to extend our reach quite a bit,” Auerswald said. “But getting a business owner to justify time away from the office and the expense of taking staff is a hurdle. Having other attendees tell how they used something they learned or a product they saw to grow their business is a strong selling point.”
Storytelling is a powerful form of communication, and “good storytelling has drama and character, obstacles to overcome, and challenges to meet,” Auerswald said. Most associations are out there, day in and day out, working on behalf of members, solving issues that matter to them but are not always so great at telling stories. Are you ready to tell your stories?
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The column contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) and CEO and founder of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE).
PCAAE is holding its Sixth Associations Summit on November 23 and 24 at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC). The event is hosted by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and supported by the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB). PCAAE enjoys the support of ADFIAP, TPB and the Philippine International Convention Center.
E-mail: obp@adfiap.org