Last year I delivered the worst presentation of my career. I’ve tried to forget it. I have since made up for it with many successful, impactful presentations that have  engaged and added value to my audience. The difference between that one disaster and the many successful presentations before and after that episode over my career is in the story telling.

In the great ones, I was relaxed, knew my audience and built their respect quickly with the backstory and relevant tales. They left with a number of useful “takeaways” that they could use immediately after being inspired by these true stories. The worst one  quickly created a hostile audience that momentarily tripped me up and made me fall back on theory, product and widget. I temporarily forgot the art of story telling. It was hard for me to recover after that. Some things you just have to move on from. Onwards and upwards as they say.

I have enjoyed being involved with many successful Ceo’s over the years. Savvy chief executives I have known understand how to tell their (and their company’s)  story. Yes the numbers are important, but only when woven together by the magical (and sometimes terrifying) story that helps make sense of the numbers. We can relate to the story in some way.

The product, service and the experience are vital, but it’s the story that capivates and attracts early adopters and then the follower market. Refining, refreshing and adapting this story along the way in a relevant and impactful way to your target audiences including your own team, suppliers, partners, clients and the market is vital.

The art of story telling is learned really early on in life if you are lucky. If you can draw on this you will be ok. Have you ever told your children a story “out of your imagination” rather than reading out of a book? Have you ever told a story around a campfire? It’s about theatre of the mind, setting the scene, relating to your audience and having good timing. A beginning. A middle. An end. Many of us  tell stories each day around the water cooler, at the barbeque over the weekend and in our favourite coffee shop.

There is no doubt about it for me, the secret to successful business is in the story telling. We have had some success in this at Alexander Communications through both our keynote presentations and our case studies - effectively stories about what our clients are doing to communicate with their audiences. What has particularly interested me is observing some of the world renowned business leaders who have visited New Zealand. I have been been involved with a few international management consultants recently. I hold these experiences in a special place. I have helped to share their story with New Zealand business leaders. Meeting Tom Peters, Jack Daly, Li Cunxin, Michael E. Gerber and many other local thought leaders has inspired and taught me in so many ways. I have interviewed a number of these leaders at the New Zealand Herald, on Livemygoals.com and Unlimited.co.nz and there are many recurring themes in the tales of these leaders rise to the top of their professions.

One of the observations I have about these thought leaders is that they have honed and crafted their story over time and had success in their own backyards, often writing a book ( or many) about their thoughts and experiences and use this as a story telling medium. They then tell the same story all around the world, adapting as they go along, just like your average Rock and Roll, Hip Hop or Country Music star- they learn their lyrics and tell their story more and more effectively, with authenticity and keeping it fresh, engaging with their audiences and adapting all the time.

Successful Ceo’s and business leaders are in touch with good and accessible stories and share them regularly. The stories are then easy to repeat and share with others. Its not about the widget, but about capturing hearts and minds.

Some of the things I learned from Tom Peters, Jack Daly, Li Cuxin and Michael E. Gerber:

• Write a book (or a few)
• Stick at it – invest 10 000 hours or more at your craft
• Have good timing (in your delivery), know how to read your audience
• Understand that you will affend some in your audience, maybe even shock some , but you will do so in a way that is congruent with your brand. Keep the surprises relevant to your message.
• Apply your knowledge using international and local stories that your audience can relate to, but keep them out of their “comfort zone”
• Dress distinctively. Jack wears monogrammed shirts, Michael wears a panama hat and either full white of full black dress suit. Li Cuxin dresses simply but charms people with stories of his family
• Some of these people are naturally shy, but overcome this on the stage to tell their story
• Pick up local and relevant examples along the way- use this to create content for the future
• Use teleseminars and webinars to engage interested people ahead of your address. This enables you to pick up local questions ahead of your trip. This works equally well for Kiwi’s and Aussies branching out into other markets.

There are many other techniques that the best story tellers use. What are yours? What do you observe from the stories that business leaders around you tell? My own perspective is that the most engaging stories are the “warts and all” stories where we can all learn something from the story teller’s experience. No one likes, or even believes the perfect story… the one without pitfalls, trials and tribulations.

Stories can help you build your support, your team, your business.

How is your story unfolding?

I asked Rod Drury (Ceo of Xero Ltd) a question about Ceo bloggers this morning. He was speaking at the Lowndes Associates Business Intelligence Series breakfast session in association with the National Business Review and The Auckland Chamber of Commerce on the topic of  ”Emerging A Winner From The Recession.”

It’s a question that I have asked many executives and Ceo’s over the last 3 years and received varied responses - the usual good, bad and ugly rule applies.

I remarked that he has been a profilic blogger over many years and whether any of the current successes he and his company have had can be specifically ascribed to writing a regular blog about his thoughts about his industry , his company and his personal experiences? Rod was an extremely active blogger for over 5 years, 1626 posts, 3 companies, 3 children and 10 kilos (he says) and while he has moved now to an occassional post on Xero’s blog  and in some other mainstream media blogs, he absolutely believes that blogging has made a significant contribution to his personal and business succcess. He went further to say that he probably wouldn’t have been able to raise the capital he did unless he had that rich repository of his “back story” readily available for investors and interested parties to see his track record and credibility.

Another Ceo who blogs is Carey Smith , Ceo of Ray White who has a personal blog about leadership and all things related on his personal site (including promoting his book – Deliver -36 Life Stories on Leadership) , and has created a company blog to discuss meaningful events with loyal followers of Ray White, his staff, suppliers, media and the market in general. The blogging has created opportunities to share his story with all stakeholders in a personal, regular and meaningful way.

More and more Ceo’s, business owners and executives are now taking this out of the”too hard” box and beginning to think how they can use blogging to further their own personal and business goals. Many of our clients for example executives from Results.com , Switch Business and others have begun blogging in the last two years – with dramatic results.

What are the benefits of blogging for CEO’s?

• Blogging creates discipline for developing worthwhile ideas and content that will enrich your audience and add value to readers, who include staff, suppliers, clients, prospects, media and (yes) competitors.
• The idea written up in a post creates the perfect opportunity to have open dialogue about an idea and get  feedback – instantly.
• Especially if you are in the intellectual capital or service related business , it’s the perfect opportunity to merchandise your teams IP and case studies that create value and bring readers benefit. But don’t be fooled – even people who are product manaufacturers or distributors can be successful bloggers.
• Each post becomes a “syndication opportunity” for influential online news sites and blogs that can spread your ideas further afield and attact like minded people into the debate.
• The blog shows your personal and company milestones along the way and helps communicate your intent and “backstory” in a meaningful way.
• Blogging and your style and “voice” can be a source of differentiation from your competitors.
•  Your latest blog post can be shared by your “community” – at least the ones that find your latest idea interesting on Twitter, Linkedin.com and elsewhere on the bloggosphere.
• People who understand their business and industry in detail have a dramatic advantage when it comes to blogging- and when you can translate this into words in a blog- then its adds instant credibility if you have been at it for some time and have developed a following.
• The blog and its associated tags and posts are found easily on Google and all the other search engines – all working together to show your vision, intent and actions – all usefull when engaging with existing and potential clients.

So when executives tell me that they are too busy minding their business to do any of that nonsense, I usually tell them that blogging can be a very useful instrument for Ceo’s in business. The Ceo blogger can achieve more depth and engagement with all his or her stakeholders than someone who only practices management by walk-about (which is also a necessity !) Of course the Ceo who engages their team in the process and gets the team involved in posting has that one further advantage- multiplying the ideas and thoughts that attract other like minded people.

So I say to would be bloggers who are Ceo’s – carry on minding your business – and start a blog. Start small. Be authentic. be purposeful.

Yes, make a calendar entry for the first one, by the end of the quarter. (Lets be realistic now) Start a plan for what you would like to write about and give it a go.