A convergence of three recent articles tickles my fascination with differences in how we tell our stories in the virtual world vs. “in real life.”

In one of the posts (which is referenced in the second one), R.I.P. Personal Branding, Olivier Blanchard expresses a refreshing, iconoclastic view in a careers sector that has been dominated by the you-must-have-a-personal-brand edict for the past several years:

People are people. They aren’t brands. When people become “brands,” they stop being people and become one of three things: vessels for cultural archetypes, characters in a narrative, or products. … Can you realistically remain “authentic” and real once you have surrendered yourself to a process whose ultimate aim is to drive a business agenda?

I have long shared this cynicism about personal branding. “Is there really any value,” Blanchard continues, “to turning yourself into a character or a product instead of just being… well, who you are?” And finally, scathingly: “You know what we used to call people with ‘personal brands’ before the term was coined? Fakes.”

In Is Your Personal Brand Fake?, inspired in part by Blanchard’s post, my colleague Barbara Safani seems to take the view that personal branding is OK as long as it’s not fake. For example, the identity — or brand — she projects on Facebook, she contends, is authentically her:

People who friend me on Facebook see the gray. Sure, they get job search advice, links to great articles and resources, and motivating success stories about my clients and all of this helps build their confidence in me as a professional. But they also see what types of things I am interested in and they get a feel for who I am as a New Yorker, a mother, a daughter, a friend. And if they dig deeper they will figure out that I love dark chocolate, running in Central Park, and high-heeled shoes. They get the panoramic view of me rather than just the professional headline. People want to hire people that they relate to and connect with.

Barb contrasts the projection of one’s personal brand on Facebook with that on LinkedIn, which she implies may be “boring, one-dimensional and not believable … [j]ust like many of the LinkedIn profile headlines I read…Visionary CEO…Dynamic Marketing Executive, Results-Oriented Operations Manager…”

She’s saying, I believe, that it’s possible to express an authentic brand but easier (or perhaps, more expected) to do so in some online venues than in others.

According to the third post, we do authentically express our real selves in social media, especially on Facebook. In Study: Your Facebook Personality Is The Real You, Alicia Eler reports on an academic paper revealing results of two research studies that conclude “Facebook users are no different online than they are offline.”

It’s not hard to find flaws in the studies. One suggests that the number of one’s Facebook friends correlates with extroversion. I have a higher than average (130 friends, according to Facebook’s stats) number of friends, but I attribute that at least in part to the fact that I have been on Facebook longer than many people — since 2005, when only people with .edu email addresses could belong.

Still, I agree, like Barb Safani, that what you see of me on Facebook is pretty much authentically me. One exception is politics. I hold strong political feelings, “feelings” being the operative word. I expend a lot of time and energy trying to avoid political punditry because it makes my blood boil. Similarly, I avoid engaging politically in social media because I’m too emotional about it to make rational arguments. This avoidance is admittedly difficult in an election year. But I digress …

To avoid fakery in the way we project ourselves — whether online or in real life — we need to think in terms not of personal branding but of personal storytelling. We have amazing tools to do that these days. Blanchard writes, for example:

If I have learned anything from Facebook’s new Timeline feature, it’s this: It’s fun to be yourself. It’s easy to forget that, especially when the “personal branding” industry would have you shift your focus away from the little flaws that make you… well, you.

Ask yourself if you are authentically telling your story in all your interactions and look at the differences in how you tell it from venue to venue.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Yesterday on Facebook, the ever creative Park Howell shared a 30-second TV spot (embedded below) his company, Park & Co., had created about donating to Goodwill.

In the spot, a young boy packs his teddy bear into his backpack and pedals his bike to a Goodwill center to donate it.

It’s a sweet, heart-warming, storied video. BUT, something that happens between the teddy bear being bundled in the backpack and being dropped off at Goodwill distracts from the message, in my opinion.

The boy passes and glances at another teddy bear, this one sticking out of a garbage can. The message is intended to be that donating to Goodwill is a better alternative to tossing out your beloved stuffed-animal friends.

But that message was lost on me because all I could think about was “Why didn’t the boy rescue the bear from the garbage can and also take it to Goodwill?” Another commenter asked the same question. Park’s response: Because it would not have fit in the 30-second spot.

Maybe it’s because I always tended to over-sentimentalize and anthropomorphize stuffed animals. I have only one from my own childhood, but I still have all my grown kids’ stuffed animals. Maybe the spot reminds me of a childhood trauma in which I bathed a doll that should not have been bathed. Though she had rubber or plastic “skin,” she oddly had some sort of stuffing inside that was not meant to get wet. My mother made me throw her away. I was so devastated, not as much over the loss of the doll as over what she must be going through.

Another commenter would have liked to see another child adopting the donated bear from Goodwill. Again, no time to fit in that scene.

It’s an interesting discussion because it raises the question of what parts of the story are most important to include when time is highly constrained. Which parts of the story will best convey the message, and which will distract?

I would rather see Park risk not conveying the Goodwill-as-alternative-to-garbage message than risk traumatizing and distracting people like me and the other commenter who want to see that trashed bear rescued. Maybe if he took out that piece, he’d have time for a scene in which the bear gets adopted.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

When Raf Stevens first challenged me to present more examples of good storytelling two years ago this month, I scarcely imagined I would later get involved in his effort to produce an important new ebook in the applied-storytelling space.

I had criticized the lack of storytelling quality among the winners of a slideshow contest, and Raf wanted to know what elements would have contributed to better stories. Raf’s question sent me on a quest that resulted in at least seven blog posts in which I explored the question of what makes a good story — especially in presentations.

Now, in his just released ebook, No Story No Fans, Raf devotes a whole chapter to what makes a good story.

I’m honored to have played a small part in this book’s development; I wish I had done more. Raf asked me to do several things for the book that I ended up not doing, but I think other shining stars in the story world did those things better than I would have.

Raf has created a remarkable compendium on the value of storytelling as “the New Trade.” In an attractive, accessible, reader-friendly volume with many extras (such as QR codes!), he frames the book as “start of a conversation” rather than a how-to; yet he offers tons of how-to suggestions.

Raf also includes the thought leadership of the most brilliant luminaries in the storytelling world. The chapter on the ROI of storytelling is a treasure unto itself.

Here are 10 ways this book really stood out for me:

1. Its generosity of spirit. I have found that most story practitioners freely give away their work and ideas. Raf does so with No Story No Fans, as illustrated in the early oages of the book, where he writes, “You are given the unlimited right to spread this story. Feel free to copy parts from this book or to distribute it via email, your website, or any other means. You can print out or scan pages and put them in your favourite coffee shop’s windows or your doctor’s waiting room. You can transcribe my words onto the sidewalk, or you can hand out copies to everyone you meet.” He also gives away a preview of the book on its Web site.
2. Some of the best-known and highly touted books about using story in business are surprisingly light on … stories. The same cannot be said of Raf’s book, which offers a cornucopia of stories.
3. Bulleted lists of lessons in red type provide easily digestible how-to information.
4. Chapter 3 about what makes up a good story is must reading for anyone interested in applied storytelling. Raf uses excellent examples to vividly illustrate what makes a good story. He also quotes participants in my Q&A series on how they define story.
5. Raf nicely sums up each chapter with an “elevator pitch” at the end.
6. Case studies in Chapter 4 illustrate some of the many ways story can be used effectively in business.
7. Raf introduces his own model for storytelling, The Matryoshka Principle, based on nested Matryoshka dolls: “Like the nested dolls, re-storying your company, or even yourself, can only be successful if you take all layers of the power of storytelling into consideration.”
8. Raf teaches practitioners to get at those layers through exercises.
9. The book’s “checklist to help you design your (bigger) story” is a gem, though I wish it were longer.
10. The list of “7 bullet points on why storytelling is useful in a business context” in the penultimate chapter sums up why this book is so valuable; through the learning gained in No Story No Fans, practitioners can apply stories to each of these contexts.

The site for No Story No Fans is also a terrific new resource, with lots of ways to connect and learn, including extended book content.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

When I first saw the ad below in the New Yorker, I was blown away by its use of story elements. The headline, “I had a hunch there was more to it,” sets up the story and draws the reader in. The fact that the rest of the story appears to be handwritten on lined paper (or perhaps an index card) gives it an authentic feel.

The “handwritten” copy is a bit hard to read, but the premise is that “Steve,” a successful executive affirms his hunch that there’s more to life than all his successes when he enters Columbia’s General Studies program. You can get a feel for it in a shorter version.

As much as I was drawn to the ad, my developing appreciation for what makes a story tells me the ad isn’t really a story. Tests and definitions established by folks like Karen Dietz, Shawn Callahan, and Sean Buvala would affirm that the ad doesn’t quite measure up as a story. Still, it has storied elements, and it isn’t hard to imagine more of the story from these beginnings.

Some readers, however, may find the executive protagonist, Steve, loathsome. That’s the view of Auden Schendler, who last year wrote that Steve is a sociopath. “He’s completely self involved,” Schendler writes. “He’s solipsistic to the point of toxicity.” The ad, Auden says, “speaks, frankly, to the worst inclinations of idle elite Americans, the clueless folks who’ve suddenly decided to read the classics — that’s their great mission in the world.”

In any case, I find the ad’s tagline, “Continue your story,” apt for an academic program that welcomes older adults.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

It has been trendy for several years to incorporate story into marketing, branding and advertising, either by integrating brands into a story or celebrating the concept of story/storytelling itself in connection with the brand.

In the early days of this blog, I started tracking these kinds of campaigns in a long-neglected (long, long) inside page.

While I rarely disparage any positive nods to story and storytelling, I have to say that sometimes these story-themed campaigns are a bit of a stretch.

Such is the case with a campaign for the Swiffer 360 Duster. An ad in a recent magazine starts out: “Your stuff tells a story. The knicknacks and photos that fill your home say something about you.” The ad continues for several more paragraphs, but the basic thrust is that if you don’t dust your tchotchkes — especially with the Swiffer 360 — you are denigrating your story. You are tantamount to a hoarder who can’t throw anything out and fills your home with meaningless, dusty clutter.

I appreciate the effort to celebrate story. But I gotta say, this campaign really makes me chuckle. The tagline? “Swiffer. Keep the memories. Lose the dust.”

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

The other day, I saw that Park Howell had posted a new slideshow on SlideShare about how to craft a story. As he has in the past, he also posted excellent and comprehensive Speaker’s Notes so the slideshow makes sense without narration. I was excited because I was already including Park’s suggested story structure (see this post) in my upcoming workbook to accompany my book Tell Me About Yourself, and the presentation would provide an additional resource for readers. I especially liked the fact that he was talking about three-minute stories, which are only a bit longer than what I recommend in a job-interview situation.

But then yesterday — even better — he posted a 15-minute video of himself delivering the presentation. What a rich combo — slideshow, speaker’s notes, and the actual presentation. The presentation, embedded below, includes a hilarious storied commercial Park’s firm created. (The embedding isn’t working as I publish this post, but you can click on the link below where the embedded video should be.)

The presentation builds on what he’s been doing for a while now, inspired to some extent by the writing of Donald Miller. Some of his posts that show the background and evolution of these ideas include:

• Review of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

Park’s two posts based on attending one of Miller’s Storyline seminars

• My next chapter opens on Donald Miller’s “Storyline Conference”
• Write, create, produce, and 12 other ways to develop a better storyline for your life

In his blog post about the presentation (which took place at the annual International Super Rally of Forever Living Products, Park talks about the training he conducted:

Storytelling workbooks were handed out to what’s essentially the United Nations of network marketing. Forever Living is the world’s largest grower, manufacturer and distributor of aloe vera-based health and beauty products; a $2.5 billion operation with millions of Horatio Alger stories the world over. Our job was to help these distributors bring their unique experiences to life… in three minutes or LESS.

Using the workbooks, the audience outlined their stories as the training progressed. Some of the Forever faithful even found the gumption to come on stage and share their journeys to demonstrate the power of well-told tales.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

I hope you’ll check out a very engaging recorded conversation between my friend Trey Pennington and Tom Asacker (pictured) about story and storytelling and where Asacker sees it fitting into a comprehensive marketing plan.

Trey talks about his own evolution from simply a social-media expert to a social-media expert who realized that something more was needed — something to cut through the clutter and foster connection with human beings. That something, he realized, was story.

For his part, Asacker noticed that he connected more deeply with audiences when he told stories. That was significant information because he had also realized that the old methods of communicating weren’t working anymore. Just repeating a message doesn’t make people believe it. Storytelling is the next evolution of marketing communication, Asacker realized.

Still, many businesses don’t understand that consumers make their own meaning about those businesses.

They also don’t understand, Asacker noted, that it’s not enough to engage people. As an example, he told a story about world-reknowned violinist Joshua Bell playing in a Washington, DC, subway station. (This story is well-known enough for people to apparently question whether it’s an urban legend or not; it is detailed on Snopes.com and identified as a true story.) In 45 minutes of playing, only six people stopped to listed to Bell for any length of time, and the musician collected only $32 in tips, while a few days later selling out a Boston theater, where seat prices averaged $100. The point, Asacker said, is that even being the best won’t stimulate the desire to “buy.” The story (or experience) of the people walking by was not enhanced in any way beyond being able to hear an excellent violinist.

Asacker contrasted that scenario with a similar and also well-known story, which he attributed to seminal ad man David Olgilvy. I’ve seen the story in a couple of video renditions, one embedded below, though Asacker told it slightly differently from what you see here.

In the blind-man story, the story presented to passersby gets enhanced — to successful effect.

The best product or service, Asacker said, is the one that consumers have created the best story about. The challenge for marketers is to discover how to create vivid memories for their audiences. For the “how to” of telling stories well, Asacker recommends Robert McKee and Michael Margolis.

Trey and Asacker discussed other examples of entities that tell stories either successfully or unsuccessfully:

Steve Jobs is known for stories that embody a quick way of communicating with people and making meaning. Trey, a self-described follower of the “cult of Apple” since 1984 described how fellow “cultists” aren’t interested in any negative stories about Apple because they are convinced of the story of Apple’s perfection. Trey faced their wrath when he dared to suggest that ads for iPad veered off the traditional path of Apple advertising. He learned his lesson and now has no intention of talking about how his Verizon iPhone drops just as many calls as his AT&T one did. Potential customers create a story of Apple ownership in their heads, one of the gentlemen said. It’s one thing, for example, to say in iPod can hold 40,000 songs. It’s (literally) a different story to say you could drive 25 roundtrips from San Francisco to New York and never hear the same song twice.

On the flip side, President Obama, Asacker asserted, is creating a disconnect by telling a story in which the economy is getting better to an audience that doesn’t believe that improvement is real.

Storied cartoon characters, such as those depicting toenail fungus and mucous, and on a more pleasant note, Scrubbing Bubbles, can be effective in helping people construct stories in their minds.

Looking at these examples, story purists would probably say that not all of them really represent stories. Asacker agrees that sometimes when he talks about “storytelling” in marketing, he’s really talking about metaphors, analogies, and experiences. He uses the term “vividness” to characterize what he’s going for. Asked to give a definition of storytelling, though, Asacker said it consists of communicating an event with words, pictures, and sound. Storytelling is also creating meaning in people’s minds. Story is life, he says, and we create stories to make sense of our lives.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

I’ve been thinking a lot about personal narrative recently (see previous post), especially with regard to personal branding and career.

The story starting point I recommend in my book Tell Me About Yourself is almost more an assessment than a communication tool. I call it the Quintessential You story; it’s a narrative that truly reveals your character and what makes you unique. The story might disclose what makes you tick, what drives you, what you value, what your goals are, how behave in a crisis or a time of change.

You may not use this story in developing your personal brand or in your actual job search, but you’ll use it as a starting point to help you get to know yourself better and draw from it to develop additional stories that illustrate your brand, your skills, and your accomplishments.

My all-time favorite Quintessential You story came from one of my former students, Kellie, who told of working in a hospital and developing a relationship with an Alzheimer’s patient. You can read the story here. The traits we learn about Kellie from this story certainly are building blocks to her personal brand, her “about me” story.

In developing your foundational story, ask yourself, what story can I tell that best captures the quintessential me?

To read the chapter in my book that deals with the Quintessential You story and see examples and prompts, go here in my blog-within-a-blog that serializes the book, then scroll down to the post titled The Starting Point: A Story That Captures Your Essence, then start scrolling back up the page to read subsequent posts.

Robin Roffer shares some similar ideas in a post entitled How To Become The Superhero Of Your Own Story. Some nuggets:

• Building a captivating story about yourself involves sharing the epic moments in your life that reveal your true character.
• When you reveal yourself through story, you honor your accomplishments and set the stage for your next triumph.
• If your story inspires you, it is sure to inspire others.

Roffer also shares a nice list of possible personal story structures from Brendon Burchard (no link to his work provided).

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Two recent articles address the headlined question — in much the same way.

Essentially, organizational (and brand) stories must come from within — within the organization, and more specifically, within the people whose stories comprise the organization’s story.

In the newsletter of Australia’s Anecdote consultancy, an unnamed author writes about strategy stories as needing to come from the organization’s leaders:

In the early days we would take away all the raw material from this initial workshop and create a stategic story to play back to the leaders at a later date. This worked pretty well except for the times when our take on the story was not as nuanced as the leaders had in mind. We learned quickly that the story, not just the raw material for the story, had to be created by the leaders. … It’s vital the leaders create their own story rather than have a creative team craft one for them.

Meanwhile, on the blog of StrayDog, a brand strategy and communication-design firm, another unnamed author (what’s up with that?) takes a similar though broader view:

Find the people who have passion for the stories — that’s who should be in charge of storytelling. Everyone can tell stories, but when it comes to who’s in charge, look for the people who are most passionate. Ask them to participate in developing ways to protect, build and gather the story. There’s no other way to do it. You can’t assign it to someone who doesn’t believe in it.

Though the pieces are a bit different from each other, the bottom line in both is the same: Engagement and empowerment come from being in control of one’s own story within the larger organization.

Both pieces are excellent, and I recommended them

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Michael Margolis continues to evolve his concept and formula for the personal bio story, and he’s offering a free download, A 7 Step-Formula For Your New Bio Story, an upcoming (May 17) webinar (which I think is free), and a new Web site, The New About Me,” focusing on the personal bio story that has come to the forefront of Michael’s interests and offerings.

The new site’s tagline is “personal branding without the icky stuff.” Here’s why and how the process has been icky up to know, according to Michael:

Few of us have been taught how to authentically talk about ourselves in a hyped-up age of social media and personal branding. Thankfully, there’s a new way of distinctive storytelling — without the need for bragging, arrogance or self-importance. This handout will introduce you to this breakthrough process.

Michael’s process is somewhat targeted at what he calls “the Creative Class (e.g., entrepreneur, speaker, author, blogger, designer, consultant, or expert in some niche or topic),” and I would go even further than that to suggest the process works best for solopreneurs since it deals with personal stories.

I’m extremely interested in the process for several reasons — I went through (and struggled with) an earlier incarnation, when the formula had just five steps; I have long been a bit cynical about “personal branding,” in part because so many experts all talk about a different way to develop one’s personal brand; I believe one’s personal brand must link to one’s story, but I’m not sure I’ve yet seen the best way to do that; and I am interested in how personal-branding/personal story/Michael’s concepts can translate to individual job-seekers, going beyond solopreneurs.

I’m heartened to see that Michael’s process continues to grow and evolve, and I want to keep following it. How about you?

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.