Using A Story To Engage Your Audience

by Glenn Fisher

You’ve probably heard about this, if not seen it yourself already...

But last night I went to see this new fancy-pants film - Avatar.

Chances are you’ve heard about it because it’s supposedly one of the most expensive and technically advanced films ever made.

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It’s in 3D...

The cameras used to film it were specifically designed for the film...

And as you’d expect, it’s already made a ton of money - after three weeks it’s apparently the second highest grossing film ever.

Is it any good?

Well, it’s not bad.

It’s certainly not the best film in the world and frankly I can take or leave the fancy effects.

In fact, that’s just the point...

This whole debate - whether James Cameron (the film’s director) is changing modern cinema with this film - is a load of rubbish.

I’ll tell you why and I’ll tell you why the reason the debate is rubbish is a very useful tool to have at your disposal when it comes to writing e-letters, guides, reports, sales promotions, adverts, PPC campaigns, the lot.

The one thing you must do to your customers

You see, the whole special effects issue is absolutely irrelevant.

Huh?

Look, the reason you go to the cinema, or watch a film at all, is to be told a story.

Fact. Stop arguing.

Without a story, it’s just not happening.

Would you pay £8 or £9 to sit in a large room and watch a load of lava lamps and a few fireworks?

No.

As people, we want stories. We thrive on them.

Whether it’s a bunch of blue aliens whose planet is under threat or Hugh Grant having relationship trouble with Sarah Jessica Parker...

Whether it’s a gripping John Grisham thriller or a steamy Jackie Collins romance...

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Whether it’s that couple across the road who just moved in or her next door who’s having an affair with the milkman...

We love stories.

To be fair to James Cameron, he put a story in his film too and that’s what made it half decent.

But you can pour as many special effects into something as you like: without a story it’s pointless. It won’t engage the audience.

And bang: we’ve hit something fundamental there.

Engaging the audience.

Using a story to engage your audience

Being able to engage with your audience is one of the most important skills you can learn in business.

In any business, your audience are your potential customers. And to effectively communicate with them, to encourage them to do business with you, you have to be able to engage them.

Stories are one way of doing exactly that. But for some strange reason, a lot of people seem to think the world of work, the ‘business’ world should be a grey, lifeless place that exists between 8.30am and 5pm.

People assume that you’re not allowed to be interesting, that you have to talk in fact and figures and graphs - you know: all the boring stuff.

I see so many e-letters, sales promotions and reports that are so dry, so void of life that I wonder if robots wrote them.

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But the most successful e-letters and sales promotions so often have a story element to them, some form of narrative that is engaging and entertaining - that makes you want to read more.

You can use flashy logos, you can try and associate your business with inspirational images, put pictures of wide open doors, rich looking business men and women, but it’s all pretty much guff...

Your message will be communicated so much more effectively if you stop concentrating on the special effects and focus your attention on working an engaging story into your message.

So, in tomorrow’s issue, I’ll show you some of the best examples of a story being used to effectively communicate with potential customers...

In fact, one of these stories essentially launched an entire business.

So, make sure you look out for tomorrow’s issue.