One of my jobs (besides building online modules and coaching clients) is to follow marketing and communication trends, read incessantly, devour new content, explore new ideas and attempt to churn it all out into usable tips for you.
Here are the top five story related trends which will move the needle for your projects in 2016.
1. The PODCAST
2. The Art of VULNERABILITY
3. SELLING from Inside Out
4. Go for AMAZEBALLZ!
5. The inherent value of the PERSONAL STORY
PODCASTING:
2015 was the year of the podcast. It was the year podcasting went uber mainstream with the top rated Serial podcast breaking records that surpassed top television shows and POTUS appearing on Marc Maron’s podcast. Podcasting was everywhere and more importantly, the influence of the podcaster was discovered.
How can you use this?
a) Use podcasts to supplement your constant evolution to become a better entrepreneur and a better person.
b) Use podcasts to learn great storytelling by hearing great storytelling (raise your internal bar).
c) Consider creating a podcast. You will learn, gain new potential customers, gain authority and practice story. Just sayin’.
VULNERABILITY:
Vulnerability is becoming a buzzword for a reason. Brene Brown is pretty much is the patron saint of vulnerability (and badassery as well) and you can learn all about the how and why from her in about 17 different free places on the internet.
All I can say is this:
Vulnerability is the beating heart of every story.
Without vulnerability, stories falter and collapse.
Applying vulnerability:
a) Listen to Brene explain the power of vulnerability. Or buy one of Brene’s outstanding books. Srsly. Do it.
b) Apply vulnerability to your own storytelling practice. Where is the vulnerable truth behind your story? Find it and connect 10X.
SELLING:
Selling is not good or bad. Yet many of us have a deeply held story that selling is bad and creepy and we avoid both being “sold” on anything and selling ourselves. It’s a crazy and misguided story. I wrote about it earlier this year in more detail.
a) Consider again something you have avoided buying in the past because of that old story and then decide if it really isn’t worth your purchase. (For example, I will pay for more personal coaching this year. Because my business and my development are worth the investment.)
b) Consider how you are selling or not selling your business and your services. What could you do to shift your thinking and then shift your ability to sell. Because no matter what you do, you ARE in the business of selling. So get real about it.
c) Read Daniel Pink’s book: To Sell is Human. So good.
AMAZEBALLZ:
What was YOUR story in 2015? Was it everything you wanted it to be? Or do you think the next chapter could be even better?
The Amazeballz Challenge is about rewriting your own story. Story is not just something we use “in” our businesses. Story is something we can use every day to rewire our brains to BE a version of ourselves that we know is possible. And we do it with daily practices of small acts of amazeballs.
a) Check out the Amazeballs Challenge here.
b) Share the amazeballs challenge with someone else.
c) It’s free.
d) Yes, this is a shameless plug.
PERSONAL STORIES:
The MOST POWERFUL story you can tell is a personal story. Yet, people are most afraid of telling a story about themselves because they fear they will come off as egotistical bores.
Personal stories work when they use all the rules of story. A relatable hero (vulnerable) who is in a situation with a messy middle (the place where all the good stuff happens) and working hard to find a path to help others.
I would be shocked if you were not all of those things.
Your own story is your best and most important story. Tell it. Don’t wait until you have the perfect ending. Tell your story as it happens. Write it. Podcast it. Film it. Speak it. Share it.
