You Have a Great Story to Tell

As I meet with corporate leaders and entrepreneurs, I ask all new acquaintances to tell me their stories. This is the best way to get people to open up, because most everyone loves to tell their story or the one behind their empire. I ask for their stories because as a member of the Tribe team, I like thinking in terms of a filmmaker telling a story. That is what we do.

These stories are always interesting, whether they’re about the individual or their organization. Unlike a resume, or a chronology of key events or milestones, a story has flavor and is seeded with anecdotes and unique personalization of human actions and feelings about successes and failures. Stories always have a human theme and are crafted to elicit an emotional response, not just tell the facts.

The creation of every notable corporation and the stories of the people responsible for them are always fascinating. At their inceptions, each company had a vision, a visionary, a humble beginning and later, a legacy of breakthrough moments. There will be additional stories about subsequent leaders, and people that added to the initial vision and set the ideal stage for the future.

Who needs fiction when some of the greatest stories ever told of human successes, revolutionary ideas and impacts on people and society come from businesses around us?

It is also fascinating that many entities create anniversary books – but not films – about their stories. I am a book lover, but they lack the dimensions of sound and movement. They always will struggle to create the emotional response equal to that of a well-produced film. If you had the choice of a book or a film about your life, which would you choose?

The audience for corporate stories is varied. Tribe has produced film for employees, future employees, shareholders, contributors, investors, analysts and customers. Wouldn’t every one of these constituencies want to know the story of the company and its people?

The distribution of these types of films was always a challenge. I spent an unreasonable percentage of time on client productions worrying about CD duplication, packaging and distribution.

But today, with YouTube as the second-largest search engine and nearly every website hosting video, getting all of your constituencies to view your story need not wait for a special meeting.

It is 24/7/365!

Is it time to tell YOUR story?

Let us tell it. Connect with us today.

Sign up for The Slate: A Twice-a-Month Tip for Using Video to Achieve Your Business Goals.

“It’s one thing to understand the role of video in business communication, it’s another to know how to use video to solve actual business problems. Vern Oakley gets that.”

LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT

When you work with Tribe, you’ll get…