All posts by punchline

Rope someone else in to help with your story

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It is extremely useful to have help in telling, finding and writing your story
Having someone else help with your story, particularly your first story is invaluable. Look for assistance to enable you to see to wood for the trees.
Photo by Tim Huyghe on Unsplash

A problem shared is a problem halved as they say; even more so for our story telling.

This can be the situation if you’re trying to name something – a report, a caption, a value proposition.

But the trouble with attempting to uncover such names by yourself is…yourself.

It is near impossible to be dispassionate about you own idea, your own story.

“Of course it’s good,” you tell yourself, deciding far too early, without critically evaluating whether it is crap, or not.

Having somebody else to bounce an idea around with helps remove the “I thought of it” bias we’re all prone to.

It helps if the somebody is a bit removed from your business; even better if they’re also a different character to you. Someone else helps apply the Occam’s Razor principle.

At the same time another person, or persons, will have different angles and insights that may be a gem.

So, get someone else on your naming team, and ask them to be kindly critical of your shared ideas.

(And if you don’t have someone to help you see the wood for the trees and provide you with storytelling simplicity – give Punchline a call. Story clarity is what we bring to the table).

It’s unearthing your one story, of many, that’s important

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Businesses only have the chance to tell one story. Make sure yours is a Million Dollar Message
By concentrating on one story, your first most important story, a business provides clarity for itself and its customers.
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

A business is, inevitably, many stories.

But we can tell only one story…at least initially.

Your first most important message therefore has to shoulder an awfully large amount of heavy lifting.

Because, this first story is essentially the promise we make to our customers.

It is a headline that invites a website visitor to explore, more.

It is a statement which provides both an understanding for a listener, and an allurement for them to ask for further information.

This first most important expression also needs to be able to stand alone alongside a brand or company name and provide clear understanding of what they’re about.

Now, later on a business can tell more of its stories – examples which reinforce and reflect its Million Dollar Message.

Unearthing this first story, this one story, is a challenge however, along with faceting and polishing it.

But as long as you’re only telling a single story, any business can and should tell theirs; beautifully, poetically.

How to get a message out of a mess

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You have to look for your key message by first unearthing the one central truth about what you're selling
You have to first unearth the one central truth about your product or service before you craft its core message.
Photo by The Roaming Platypus on Unsplash

Whether it is a value proposition, report heading, speech or heading for a web page, saying one thing well is always a challenge. Often those involved are too close to the ‘action’ as well.

Refining your message to a single point is difficult.

There’s always new angles you think of, other tacks you could take. Some people try brainstorming.

But brainstorming has the problem of being additive. There’s always a wee bit more to consider.

However questioning does the opposite.

Questioning, carried out skillfully, narrows down your thinking.

Questioning is the refining tool that enables you to unearth the one central truth of what your message needs to be.

Of course, there may be some word-play magic applied to your story’s one central truth.

But playing with words, once you know what you’re trying to express, is infinitely easier than playing with words in order to find your underlying primary message.

So, first discover the essence of what you want to say…then find the words that poetically reflect that essence.

Measure twice, cut once

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Measure twice cut once allows carpenters to save themselves a lot of grief
Just as carpenters save themselves much grief by measuring twice and cutting once, businesses can do the same by reviewing, and again reviewing the words which make up their Million Dollar Message .
Photo by cetteup on Unsplash

The carpenter’s dictum of “measure twice, cut once” is both a time and resource saver.

It’s very difficult to add to a length of cut-too-short timber.

The same ‘consideration’ aspect applies to nailing your first most important story.

It’s all too easy to rush, and accept the first (what initially may seem like good) words that come into being.

Run your mental tape measure over the statement again though.

And again – preferably with some time between appraisals.

Have you described your what and your why?

Have you articulated your value proposition in 2-10 words?

Do those words have a degree of poetry about them; have you been able to include a metaphor?

Measure twice (or indeed 10 times), cut once – at least for the version the public sees.

Pepsi’s new generic ‘for the love of it’ slogan underwhelms

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Pepsi's slogan is unlikely to be picked up and used by its users
Pepsi’s about to be globally launched new slogan ‘for the love of it’, is too generic

It’s a daunting challenge for anyone to invent a new value proposition, or change a slogan.

Whether big or small, capturing the essence of who you are and what you represent in as few words as possible is mightily difficult.

This is particularly the case when your flagship product is a bad boy in the (un)nutrition stakes.

Perhaps then Pepsi is front-footing and acknowledging this, perhaps giving a small two-fingered gesture, with its new slogan. It is giving itself a new marketing platform as the cola drink launches in over 100 countries over the next year with ‘for the love of it’.

And undoubtedly its agency creatives have laboured hard…but ‘for the love of it’ does feel, excuse the pun, flat. It is generic. A bit like using the word ‘solution’.

But being big and with the ability to throw money at the slogan, Pepsi might be able to induce some stickiness for these five words.

Or perhaps I’m being harsh. What do others think?

P.S. It slightly makes you long for the days when John Walker could hold a can of apple juice in his hand and say “Its got to be good for you.” Not sure that such a claim could hold up now!

Businesses change, and so why shouldn’t your first most important story?

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Your first story needs to change if what you sell has changed
You may not need a fountain pen to change your business’s first story, but if your product or service is now different, you should modify it

If the world stayed the same, and what you sold in your particular niche didn’t vary, you’d keep hold of a good value proposition.

But the world, customers, expectations change; and so inevitably must the products and services a business sells.

What was the right story for yesterday’s environment no longer dovetails with today’s requirements.

It means the what and the why of your offer has to be refreshed, remoulded, or even scrapped completely.

But, just as re-examining the products and services which will provide value for today’s customers is an essential business component, so it is essential to critically question the story around them.

For, it is our story which is front-of-house when someone visits our website.

It is story which intrigues and invites “tell me more”, to the BBQ question, “what do you do?”

It is story, and more importantly our first story, which provides the framework for the the messaging, including video, we use to sell.

Keeping this story fresh for today, rather than stale for yesterday, means fishing with the right lure, confident your potential customer knows exactly why they should be talking to you and not a competitor.

Only questions reveal your One Central Truth

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Questions are the essential thing to reveal what you're about
Only questions can reveal the single most important thing about your business for another person.
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash

Getting to the nub of what problem your business solves can be a challenge.

While we do many things, sooner rather than later, we have to highlight one thing to sit at the top of our story pyramid.

Brainstorming your way to One Central Truth of what your story should be is essentially impossible.

Brainstorming takes you down wrong paths, ends up in cul-de-sacs as explained here.

Questions, and more questions, act as the filter to reveal the ‘innerness’ of a business though.

Repeatedly being asked (by an intelligently naive colleague not directly connected to the business) unearths a what and why. Brainstorming doesn’t work, as this Harvard Business Review article explains.

The words to describe what is your One Central Truth may need massaging – metaphors are wonderful in this regard – and ‘playing’ with.

It may also require two or three goes to get there…both to unearth your One Central Truth, and your Million Dollar Message.

But persevere.

We crave story and simplicity – getting them right is hitting the bullseye with a single dart.

Why ‘you’ and ‘your’ are bloody useful in your Million Dollar Message

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‘You’ and ‘your’ are among our favourite words.

We are all self-interested at heart.

Our own fulfillment, in a myriad of ways, is what we seek. From chocolates to tyres, consultants to travel, we desire the best we can get at a price we can afford.

‘You’ and its travelling companion, ‘your’ are among our favourite words. We can’t help it.

You and your’s presence immediately makes us look to see what’s in it for us.

So, if apt, use either you, or your (and sometimes both) as part of your most important first story.

GreenHAUS Architects (a Punchline client), are a eco practice which take their inspiration from nature. Their value proposition is “what we shape, shapes you”. It directly appeals to an emotion.

So, the take home.

Talk directly to us, we who are looking to obtain value for our money, by talking straight to our self-interest.

A good story is obvious…once you see or hear it

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A good story is effortless for the listener or reader. Getting there is difficult. Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

A good story is obvious…once you see it

The best stories appear effortless.

Whether it is someone spinning a yarn, telling you in less than 10 seconds why you should be interested in what they’re selling, or the first thing read on a website, a good story captivates us.

As Lisa Cron outlines in her book ‘Wired for Story’, our brains crave a narrative from every story we encounter.

We are curious creatures, and a good story ignites our brain’s hardwired desire to learn what happens next.

What seems obvious when someone tells a good business story – is evidence after the fact.

Getting to a clear, desirable and distinctive story about yourself however, is a real challenge.

You have to know, really know, what problem it is you’re solving, and how your product or service is the answer.

To find that story you have to question yourself, and question again. This deep questioning unearths one central truth about what you offer.

Constructing a what and why statement about yourself is then immensely easier – you understand what it is you’re trying to reflect through story, about your business.

And then, the story seems obvious – which in itself is a measure of success.

Applying Occam’s Razor to your writing

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Occam's Razor means being very efficient with words
Occam’s Razor is sometimes called the ‘law of briefness’. Go for the explanation with the fewest words

Occam’s Razor is a principle from philosophy which can be applied to writing – all writing, including your first most important story.

In Latin Occam’s Razor is sometimes called lex parsimoniae, or “the law of briefness”.

This Latin roughly translates as “more things should not be use than are necessary.”

For example, if there’s two explanations for an occurrence, the one that requires the least speculation is usually better.

His eponymously named law wasn’t directly referring to your own Million Dollar Message…but.

If you can explain something just as easily with fewer words – go for that explanation.

More words confuse the point being made, distract from the take home message.

It’s often amazing how much a good trim makes the finished haircut look so much neater.

So it is with any story.

So remember William of Ockham, the 14th century Franciscan friar who coined the phrase.

Less is more, and more is less