How to tell your story
I've never thought of myself as a great salesman. But a few months ago, two friends asked me for help them with their sales and self-promotion.
That resulted to teaching a cohort of ten people about sales. And when the 10-week cohort wrapped recently – just two months out from Responsive Conference – I didn't have the time to run the cohort again.
Instead, I recruited some of my students and a handful of other volunteers to practice sales by selling tickets to Responsive.
I started the workshop by telling my own Responsive story, which goes something like this:
↓
The future of work
In 2015, I was introduced to Responsive.org, a movement started by 6 organizational design nerds to describe the tensions facing organizations in the twenty-first century. As someone who’s worked in dozens of different industries – and seen a lot of the same dysfunctions across silos – I related to the challenges described. Moreover, the manifesto isn’t prescriptive. It doesn’t propose to solve everyone’s challenges.
I asked the authors of Responsive.org what I could do to help, and someone suggested I run an un-conference. I expected 30 people to show up, and instead we had 300 travel from across California for our free 1-day event. Attendees ranged from global CHROs to baristas from an employee-owned, self-managed community kitchen.
I realized there was an appetite for these topics and – never having been to an HR or organizational design conference, but as a longtime circus performer – decided to try my hand at building an event of my own.
7 months later, the first Responsive Conference was a resounding success. Chris Fussell came and gave a talk about “team of teams.” Joel Gascoigne argued that teams should be either fully distributed or entirely in one location, but nothing in between. Tony Hsieh (RIP) sat in the back with his entourage and took copious notes. I got lucky and the ideas espoused in the Responsive.org manifesto had struck a chord.
And those arguments – including “the rate of change continues to accelerate” and “the future is increasingly hard to predict” – have borne out a decade later. Once fringe, those ideas are now commonly accepted. And Responsive Conference continues to serve as an intimate, immersive gathering for founders, executives, and people leaders from around the world to build more resilient work.
↓
What a story does
Having both lived that experience, and told that story a thousand times, I can reiterate with ease. But then comes the essential step of helping other people tell their own stories. Which means, first, we have to reverse engineer my story.
My story does several things:
- It’s entertaining – it shows how a circus performer can end up curating a business conference.
- It’s self-revealing – It helps people know a bit about me with some self-deprecating humor and humility.
- It’s intriguing – it invites the audience to consider learning more about the event or inspires someone to take a risk and start something of their own.
My story isn’t a hard sell. (I despise hard selling.) I don’t conclude with a “please buy a ticket to the conference!”
The goal is to connect, entertain, and leave the audience wanting more.
↓
After sharing my story, I asked the members of our newly christened Sales Squad to draft their own stories about Responsive Conference for review.
If they’ve attended Responsive Conference previously, what impact did it have? If they haven’t, what’s their connection with the future of work that inspires them to participate?
↓
Homework
Everyone has a story. Write a short version of your founding story – whether for a project, business, or personal mission – in less than 300 words.
What led you to start?
What problem were you trying to solve?
In a low-stakes conversation, tell this story to someone new. What questions do they ask? What do they laugh at? What lands?
↓
3 things I’ve loved this week
Video I'm watching
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
I used to, quite often, feel overwhelmed that my career narrative made no sense. Whenever someone comments that my history is quite a story, I respond with this video, in which Steve Jobs makes the point that you can only connect the dots in hindsight.
Book I'm listening to
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Somehow, I’d never read anything by Michael Crichton before. In the last two weeks, in short succession, I’ve listened to Pirate Latitudes, Jurassic Park, and The Lost World. Apparently, amidst a busy world of work, I’ve needed some escapism. No surprise that Jurassic Park, the book, is better than the movie.
Quote I’m considering
"Great communicators, like artists, have the ability to guide conversations in unexpected directions" –Michele Gelfand
↓
When you're ready, here's how I can help
I've begun teaching a cohort-driven course about sales. This is a new approach to selling for people who aren't quite comfortable - yet. If you're interested, join the waitlist here.
Everyone has a story. At Zander Media, we help startups and global brands clarify their message and make videos that change people.
Responsive: What It Takes to Create a Thriving Organization is a book for any startup founder or enterprise change lead who wants to improve their organization. And if you want to learn to do a handstand, check out How to Do a Handstand.
Responsive Conference is an annual summit that brings together 300 executives, founders, and entrepreneurs who want to make work better. Join us this September and equip your team to respond to change!
Until next week,
Robin
