We are too often sleepwalking through our lives. Rushing from here to there, where people we come in close contact with become mere extras in the screenplay of our day. But what if you could take some time and find a way to connect with someone over a shared joy, or frustration, or cool coffee drink – or gaudy pink flamingo earrings? What if you could do this with the people you see and interact with every day – your co-workers?
To access this episode transcript, please scroll down below.
Key Takeaways:
- Story is up to 22x more memorable than just facts alone.The best approach for data retention is to incorporate it into a story.
- Story touches hearts and changes minds in a way that data, facts, and figures cannot do alone.
- Stories unite us and connect us, across any perceived barriers. They can touch, delight, provoke, anger, move, or propel us into action.
“If you want people to remember you – or your business, cause, or movement – and take action, the best way is to tell your story.” — Maria Ross
Episode References:
- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- John Millen blog, 4 Reasons Stories are So Memorable
MARIA’S COURSE
Learn more about Maria’s new Brand Story Breakthrough course, starting September 8. Spots are limited so grab yours before it’s gone to start attracting more of your ideal customers and boosting revenue and growth: https://bit.ly/BSBcourse
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FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
Welcome to the empathy edge podcast the show that proves why cashflow, creativity and compassion are not mutually exclusive. I’m your host Maria Ross. I’m a speaker, author, mom, facilitator and empathy advocate. And here you’ll meet trailblazing leaders and executives, authors and experts who embrace empathy to achieve radical success. We discuss all facets of empathy from trends and research to the future of work, to how to heal societal divisions and collaborate more effectively. Our goal is to redefine success and prove that empathy isn’t just good for society. It’s great for business. Hi, Maria here with a quick announcement for all you business owners, entrepreneurs and marketers out there. Does it feel like no one knows who you are or the value of what you do? Or worse, the wrong people are showing up at your door prospects who won’t pay you what you’re worth can’t make the most of your offerings or suck your energy dry. My problem you say is I know I could get the right customers if I could nail how to talk about this thing. You may know what you do well, but figuring out how to talk about it and market it can be overwhelming. If you’re here you know, empathy is the key to a thriving culture and perfect brand story that attracts all the right people. Join me to build the brand story that will attract more of your ideal clients and boost your business success. The authentic genuine story that is unique to you and your business. And that helps you stand out brand story breakthrough. Five weeks, playbooks videos, live weekly coaching, and even my eyes on your work. In the end, you’ll have your elevator pitch, brand story, website, copy, and everything you need to start moving your business forward and getting attention for your amazing work. Next cohort starts September 8. Get more details and sign up at Bitly slash BSB course that’s bi T dot L y slash BSB. course right now, before the spots are all gone. I hope to see you there. You’re in line at a coffee shop. You notice that the woman behind you is wearing a pair of giant pink flamingo earrings. We’re talking almost neon pink that hurts your eyes and hearing so large, they seem to graze her shoulders. You immediately catch yourself staring at the same moment she catches you staring now mind you if you choose to go in public with earrings like this. I’m sorry, you can’t be mad if people stare. You smile awkwardly and she grins. What can happen next? One path suggests you both politely smile at each other maybe even giggle and then go about your day. Another path suggests that you immediately laugh and say Wow, your earrings remind me of a trip I took with my family to Florida as a kid. When I got a stuffed pink flamingo as a souvenir. I slept with that thing every night for most of my childhood. And she may add actually, that’s where I got them. It was hilarious. My late husband and I went on this boat cruise and got stuck out at sea for a few unplanned extra hours. As soon as we got back to shore I found a souvenir shop and grab the most gaudy thing I could find so I could forever remember this crazy adventure. You both laugh, order your coffees and wave goodbye. Which interaction created more of a connection. Just think about everything you both learned about each other in that one to two minute exchange of stories. She was married once but lost her husband. She got stranded at sea on a boat cruise. And she has a sense of humor and that she wanted to remember what she termed a crazy adventure with something fun and audacious. She learned that you took family vacations, loved stuffed animals, and cherish this goofy souvenir as a bedtime comfort throughout your childhood. You both connected through the power of story. I sometimes intentionally spark or Kindle stories to make connections with strangers, complimenting someone on their shirt or bag commiserating over bad customer service or empathizing with a frantic young mom juggling three unruly kids. While those moments may only last seconds, you feel connected in this world, like you see people really see people and they see you. But why do we as humans love stories so much? According to a great blog posts written by storytelling expert John Millan, I’ll link to this in the show notes for you. We as humans are hardwired for storytelling. He writes about the work of Stanford graduate schools, Dr. Jennifer acre, who found that quote, a story is up to 22 times more memorable than facts alone. In her studies, acre had students give one minute pitches, nine of 10 presentations were heavily supported by facts and figures. The 10th presentation told a human story in support of the position. Her research found that only 5% of the audience could recall a statistic, but fully 63% remembered the stories. She concluded that the best approach for data retention is to integrate your data into a story and quote, Aker goes on to say that quote, Our brains are not hardwired to understand logic or retain facts for very long. Our brains are wired to understand and retain stories. A story is a journey that moves the listener. And when the listener goes on that journey, they feel different. And the result is persuasion, and sometimes action. And quote, We are too often sleepwalking through our lives rushing from here to there meeting to meeting, where people we come in close contact with become mere extras in the screenplay of our day. But what if you could take some time and find a way to connect with someone over a shared joy or frustration or cool coffee drink or gaudy pink flamingo earrings? What if you could do this with the people you see and interact with every day, like your coworkers. Storytelling is also a great way to connect your business work or nonprofit with desired clients, customers or donors. It’s a way to quickly communicate who you are, what you’re about and how you work in a short period of time, so other potential clients can see if they are a good fit for them. It’s why brand storytelling is so effective. And one of my favorite topics, something I’ve devoted a large part of my career to unpacking and applying to anyone who wants to engage and connect with people to achieve a desired outcome. One of my favorite books of all time, is made to stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. The subtitle is why some ideas survive and others die. The author’s talk about quote, why urban legends, conspiracy theories and bogus public health scares circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas, businessmen, educators, politicians, journalists, and others struggle to make their ideas stick and quote. If you want people to remember you or your business, cause or movement, and take action, the best way is to tell your story. Give us a hero to root for a conflict to overcome a way to save the day. With businesses you want to make the hero your customer. With nonprofits, you may want to make the hero your donor or your inspiring clients. As I have always said, stories unite us connect us. They can touch delight, provoke anger, move or propel us into action. We can open up our hearts and minds more with stories rather than cold facts. The best communication finds a way to weave facts and data into powerful relatable stories that get us to see something in a new way or compel us to act. Children learn through story and adults never stopped doing so as well. The next time you want to connect with someone be it pink flamingo lady in the coffee shop or your potential multimillion dollar customer. Find the story and share it and watch how engagement unfolds. Speaking of story, on September 8, I’ll kick off the next cohort of brand story breakthrough a virtual course sprint to help you craft the right brand story to attract more ideal customers, enhance lives and amplify your impact. Five weeks digestible videos and playbooks weekly live coaching with me for feedback and guidance. This is my way to help people at scale. Uncover the magic of their brand story and build all the tools for their messaging toolkit so they can attract their perfect customers stand out and most importantly grow their revenue and impact and the root of the entire course. You guessed it, empathy. If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, coach, consultant, freelancer, PR or marketing professional, please check out the details of my new course brandstory breakthrough@bit.li slash BSB course. That’s boy Sam boy course. It’s a Bitly URL, so it’s bi t.li/bsb course. There you’ll find a free 12 minute masterclass video to enjoy about how to craft effective sales and marketing that engages people. And we go deep on how to do this in the course together would love to work together to help your story, touch hearts and change minds. Until next time, remember, cashflow, creativity and compassion are not mutually exclusive. Thanks for listening. And if you loved what you heard you know what to do. Please rate and review the podcast and share it with a friend or colleague. Until next time, take care and be kind. For more on how to achieve radical success through empathy, visit the empathy edge.com. There you can listen to past episodes, access shownotes and free resources. Book me for a Keynote or workshop and sign up for our email list to get new episodes insights, news and events. Please follow me on Instagram at Red slice Maria. Never forget empathy is your superpower. Use it to make your work and the world a better place.
