Recently the meeting production proposals I have been doing really focusing in on the story of the meeting or stories throughout the sessions. I also have been working on a new logo with Christina Coster and Jessica Levin for Event Camp which got me returning to where meetings all started.
When we were still hunting and gathering for food our evenings were spent around the glow of a campfire. Stories were swapped and shared for generations. The same thing is basically happening today but instead of a gathering around a campfire we fly our tribe into a city and put them in a nice hotel. The leaders share their stories that hopefully will pass on history, paint the picture of the culture, values, enemies (competitors) and talk about the heroes. (awards evenings) So if we can weave the meeting production around the companies story we find that the audience becomes more engaged and the community aspect is deeper. Being a part of something. Move that audience to action.
We need stories to help us communicate and understand why we are here.
Here is a really helpful book to learn how to tell stories.
(affiliate link)
And listen to Ira Glass on “Story”
Emotions are also one of the keys to storytelling for meeting production. Think about the “American Dream” story which still drives the rest of the world to want to live in America to find success and happiness. When we sing the national anthem we sing about the ” the land of the free and home of the brave” we are singing a story which brings us together. A story about hope and and courage to fight what you believe in. We can find many examples of how storytelling can make a message resonate with your audience. Just make sure its a big part of your next meeting or event.
Have you recently used storytelling as part of your meetings production? If so, please share your story.
[...] with the DC Shoes team. (For more on how video can evoke emotion to engage an audience, see this post from Mike [...]