This is an episode from Storyteller Tactics' launch campaign on Kickstarter in 2021. I wrote it using Rolls Royce Moment and That's Funny
He’s checking his phone. He’s actually checking his phone!
While I’m presenting.
Shit, shit, shit.
I’m going to have to bail out, Charles thinks to himself. I’m only on “Refusal of the Call”, I’ve got eight more stages of “Service Design as Hero’s Journey” to go. I thought epic stories were supposed to be engaging.
The client looks up. “Yeah, not being rude, but could you get to the point,” he says. “Show me the money.”
A week later, Charles gets an email invitation. “Free lunchtime masterclass, Business Storytelling.”
First thought: hah, Business Storytelling! That’s a bloody contradiction in terms, isn’t it?
Second thought: it’s weird timing though, is this a coincidence?
Charles realised he was an innovator pretending to be a storyteller.
Maybe it’s time to change.
This week’s Storyteller Tactics
Rolls Royce Moment
Great stories give you an exceptional moment of clarity, where everything you need to know is summed up in one visual moment. Client checking his phone while you present? Yep, we can all see that moment, and it tells us “you screwed up”.
That's Funny
Your gut instincts are priceless. If something strikes you as a contradiction - or a weird coincidence - it’s an instinctive warning that something’s amiss. Your information or your assumptions are wrong. It’s time to abandon the mental “story” you’ve been telling yourself and find a better one.
One of the few newsletters I look forward to.
— Dave Cunningham, Head of DesignOps @ NHS
