Donna Griffit, Connecting at a Human Level Through Storytelling – InnovaBuzz 506

Donna Griffit, Corporate Storyteller

In this episode, I’m really excited to have as my guest, Donna Griffit, who is a Corporate Storyteller which basically means that she roams the globe helping people not be boring.

Donna has worked as a Corporate Storyteller globally for over 17 years with Fortune 500 companies, Start-Ups, and investors in a wide variety of industries. She has consulted and trained clients in over 30 countries, helping them create, edit and deliver verbal and written presentations, pitches and messages. Donna says that she has a “filter” in her brain that enables her to magically spin raw data into compelling stories that captivate audiences and drive results. Through her guidance, her clients have raised over a billion dollars.

In our conversation, Donna talked to me about:

• Storytelling as a science
• Bringing benefits to life through the story of a user journey
• Connecting at a human level with stories.

Listen to the podcast to find out more.

Listen to the Podcast

Show Notes from this episode with Donna Griffit, Corporate Storyteller

Key points and takeaways from this episode include:

• Storytelling is not just about telling nice stories. It has a real structure that has been around for thousands of years.
• Storytelling uses structures to create a baseline and framework for your message and then weaving in stories and metaphors that illustrate it to make it a more human experience.
• Stories make your product or service more tangible. They bring to life all that is good and interesting in your product or service, making them much easier for potential customers to understand.
• Storytelling is a science. It has a repeatable structure that works time and time again in many different fields and modalities.
• How to structure your story into a series of acts.
  1. The Problem or the Opportunity – getting to know the issue at hand and the need for a hero (your product)
  2. The Hero – your product or solution, what is it that you are going to do to solve that problem?
  3. The Hero’s Plan – your business plan, what is it that the hero is going to do?
  4. Aftermath – additional products or features, your vision for the future, the hero has solved the problem – now what?

• Storytelling can be defined as the act of answering questions in a very specific flow to make someone else want to listen.
• Storytelling builds trust because it allows you to cover all the bases before you even get started.
• Stories stick with people. They resonate. They are memorable and associative.
• Stories help us structure our message in the way that the human brain is wired to take in information.
• Storytelling is getting your message across according to someone’s thought patterns and what they need to hear that then builds trust.
• The key to being a successful storyteller is to write with your audience in mind. It’s not about you. It’s about them.
• The first step to storytelling is understanding your customer’s pain and then showing them how you can help them solve that problem. You want your customers to envision themselves solving that problem for good, using whatever product or service you’re offering.
• An investor’s language is money. They will want to know how much it costs for something, or where all the money goes. They want to know that you’re addressing a problem in your industry. You need numbers, figures & anecdotes which back up all of this information so they can see exactly how much value there really would be both now and in the future.
• If you don’t get a response from your customer, it’s likely that they were not able to connect. People don’t always want to say no. They might want to say not right now.
• Make sure that your story is selling you at your best and not doing a disservice to your product. The story is important, but it shouldn’t stand in front of getting your message and execution across correctly.
• Storytelling aligns our brains and connects us. It also gives us the power to influence.

The Buzz – Our Innovation Round 

Here are Donna’s answers to the questions of our innovation round. Listen to the conversation to get the full scoop.

1. #1 thing to be more innovative – Give yourself room for boredom and just let your thoughts flow.
2. Best thing for new ideas – My husband. We all need that person in our lives whether it’s a coach, mentor, or a friend, who’s willing to push us beyond the limit that we seek.
3. Favourite tool for innovation – Email, Keep, WhatsApp, Boomerang
4. Keep project/client on track –  Set specific guidelines for how to prepare for a session.
5. Differentiate – Look at the world differently. Think about what is urgent now in terms of what people need and how you can truly make an impact on them. Tell your story around that.

To Be a Leader

Storytelling enables us to connect. People have been telling stories since before we had language. If you want to be memorable and you want to connect with people, use the art and science of storytelling.

Reach Out

You can reach out and thank Donna through her website.

Suggested Guest

Donna suggested we have a conversation with Rashi (Rashelle) Elmaliah. So Rashi, keep an eye on your inbox for an invitation from us to the InnovaBuzz Podcast, courtesy of Donna Griffit.

Links

• Website – Donna Griffit
• Twitter – @Donna_Grif
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

Resources

• The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for a Winning Sales Deck
• The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for your Startup’s Investor Pitch Deck

Cool Things About Donna

• She’s the CEO and Founder of Invisu.me.
• She’s a Corporate Trainer (Communications Specialist) with Boyer Communications Group.
• She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Drama from New York University.

Listen to the Podcast