Pam Hoelzle has developed what she calls a “visual and quick outline to aid in business and organizational storytelling.” Especially given the nifty graphic she’s developed to go along with the outline, I think we can safely call it a “model.”
I was naturally intrigued to apply this model to my favorite type of business
storytelling, storytelling in the job search. What follows is Hoelzle’s outline with my adjustments (in bold)
- What’s the BIG Idea that inspires you as an employee or prospective contributor to an employing organization?
- Who is the target employer or type of employer?
- Now, what is the problem/opportunity (stated in the employer’s words, such as in a job posting)?
- What is it that differentiates you from other candidates?
- What is YOUR PROMISE? What is the one sentence that clearly states what you have to offer prospective employers, particularly the targeted employer? (You can think of the response to this question as your personal branding statement.)
- Now, what are your high-value innovative solutions? How have you solved for past employers similar problems to those the prospective employer is faced with or addressed opportunities similar to those the prospective employer has?
- Values and Personality: What are your values, your preferred workplace culture, personality, tone of voice, likes, dislikes?
- Keywords. These are the keywords of your story. These are the words you want to engage in and around online and in real life. These are the words you will be found around, listen for, engage with. [I’m really glad Hoelzle includes keywords because they are extremely important in the job search and should appear on your resume.]
- Reviewal and Storytelling. All of your past employers’ testimonials, excerpts from performance reviews, and stories should be retold in written form, video, audio so that they are easily shareable across today’s media and networks. [All of this might be a bit much for the job search, but recommendations, testimonials, and success stories can certainly appear on your LinkedIn profile and other social media.
- Engaging. Engaging happens as we share, listen and relate, online and in real life.
In Hoelzle’s posting about her outline/model. she provides examples from her own business. If you’re more interested in using the model for its intended purpose — business storytelling — than for job search, you’ll want to check out “her posting.