Applying a story arc to the conference can activate participants’ brains. And you want stimulated, motivated engaged brains during your event for sure! A story arc is an extended, continuous storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television series, comic books, video games, films etc. Each episode follows a dramatic arc with the story unfolding over several episodes. You can use the story arc concept to carefully craft the messages and issues you want your conference participants … [Read more...]
Use A Conference Story Arc To Shift Your Participants’ Brain Architecture And Strengthen Their Neural Connections
We are helpless story junkies says author, journalist, and storyteller Michelle Weldon. We can’t help it. It’s part of our human nature to crave and connect with stories. Your brain on story acts very differently than when your brain is receiving data, facts and information. It changes its structure and releases cortisol and oxytocin--called the human bonding or empathy chemical. That’s why you sometimes say, “I felt as if I was really there,” or “I could feel their pain,” when you read or … [Read more...]
Using The Power Of Stories To Transform Conference General Sessions
We are a story driven world. We are each a story wrapped in a skin says Dr. Leonard Sweet. When we begin to share our journeys, our stories intersect. Our conferences need to create more story people. We need to transition from speakers talking at audiences and experts telling their stories. We need to move from storytelling to story sharing each passing our stories and narraphors to each other like we pass food around the table. Framing General Sessions With Important Stories Here is … [Read more...]
Morphing Attendees into Story People Through Narraphors and Frames
We are wired for stories. Every person you meet is a story wrapped in a skin says author, futurist and sociologist Dr. Leonard Sweet. As our lives intersect, so do our stories. We can encourage conference attendees to transition from story listeners to story sharers. Then our attendees become story people participating in a bigger story. The conference with the best narrative and story sharing experiences wins. Story Driven World Our brains are hard wired for stories. When we listen … [Read more...]
The Greatest Conference Story Never Told
It’s time to bring back the luncheon table at your next conference. When attendees break bread together at the table, community is born. It’s where the stories of our profession, our lives, our past and our future are shared, retold, relived and remembered. Too many conferences have made a catastrophic mistake. In the name of conference budget cuts, we have removed attendee gatherings around a meal. We have created sterile, exhausted attendee experiences. The result: the greatest … [Read more...]
Creating A Stronger Conference Story
What do vacations and colonoscopies have in common? More than you think! Emmy-winning former Wall Street Journal and NBC journalist, author, inventor and business consultant Kare Anderson shares her thoughts on creating a stronger conference story. She discusses the importance of creating conversation threads and a participatory purposeful narrative that invites others to join in discussions. Here’s a rundown of her video if you want to fast forward to a specific area. 00:30 – Creating A … [Read more...]
Storytelling Isn’t Just For Campfires Infographic
A brilliant campfire story inspires action in its listeners. Like whittling branches into swords to fight forest ghosts, brands can draw similar emotion from their audience. Every organization has stories to tell. In fact, information can be dramatized to turn boring data slogs into exciting journeys that yield personal connections and changes in behavior. Energy and clarity from the narrative can alter the way audiences feel, think and act about the organization. Here is an infographic … [Read more...]
Event Organizers: Chief Storytellers And Liars
You are a liar. At least Seth Godin thinks so. In Seth Godin's book, All Marketers Are Liars, Godin claims that marketers lie to consumers because consumers demand it. He says that customers don't really need an organization's products and services. They buy them because they want what the organization sells, because of the way it makes them feel. No, Godin doesn't really believe all marketers are liars. He used that word to get your attention. What he really means is storytelling. Event … [Read more...]
