Tag Archives: question

A very telling two word question

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A ad that is not telling us what to do, but questioning if we need help
This AA advertisement is not bashing us over the head telling us we should be doing something. It asks a double-meaning question

Two words, two meanings and a demonstration of the power of the right question to…stop…and…make…you…think.

You can’t help but flip between ‘over’s’ interpretation. It’s telling.

  • Am I drinking too much?
  • Am I sick of what drinking is doing to me?

There’s no judgment, no high moral ground, no finger-wagging.

There’s simply a little self-imposed jab at your conscious and subconscious.

If the answer to ‘Over drinking?’ is affirmative, here’s an answer, here’s one way to do something about it – Alcoholics Anonymous.

This recent billboard on Wellington’s Adelaide Road is understated cleverness; a telling subtle reminder that for some of us, drink is a demon but there are people who can help.

And of course, the ad’s timing following New Year (excess?) is pretty spot-on as well.

Why One Central Truth is vital for your key message

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One Central Truth is the crux of good storytelling
No matter what the medium, we can only tell a single story at a time. Find your One Central Truth of your message. Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

The goal of any story is to have a reader, view or listener get the point…quickly and easily.

It doesn’t matter whether the story is the reason why we’re late for a meeting or the moral behind an Aesop Fable. Someone is telling someone else what happened.

The core idea of your said or read words needs to be self-evident.

It is no different for our business story – the first item read on a website, the take home message from a speech.

But too often businesses try to cram in two, three, four or more points – to no avail. In these cases we struggle to remember one key idea, let alone many.

Telling one story, well, is the key to having customers remember enough to repeat it.

Unearthing the One Central Truth (OCT) of your business purpose is the secret to creating you first, most important story.

Trying to brainstorm your way to your company’s OCT is a false methodology. All brainstorming does is create a fictitious story.

Only questioning, deep questioning, can reveal the single key idea on which your story can hang.

Look, deeply, at and for your One Central Truth, and your business storytelling will in turn come quickly and easily.

Brainstorming is the wrong answer to the right question

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Brainstorming is a waste of time
Questions, and more questions are a much better way to an answer than brainstorming Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

So, if you’re looking to create your first, most important story, how do you go about it?

Or, you’re looking for the name of a project or report, what process should you use?

Alternatively, you’re wanting to give yourself a dynamic campaign title, and need a way to nail the caption.

Many people adopt a brainstorming process.

They come up with a multitude of ideas and options; and whittle away from there.

There’s two things wrong with this brainstorming approach, especially for unearthing your first story (or Million Dollar Message as I call it).
It won’t reveal the authentic you
It will lead to a fictionalised, idealised version of who you are

The other trouble with brainstorming is it takes you down pathways, wrong pathways. These tracks take you in the wrong direction, and because of the inherent process of brainstorming, make it difficult to do a U-turn.

You feel as if you’ve invested so much intellectual capital in the story idea you’re pursuing, that to turn back is to indulge in mental treason.

The right answers are questions – deeper explorations of what, why, who, when, where and how.

By digging, and digging further, you unearth the one central truth of the aspect which makes you special, and discover the clothesline on which your first message hangs and to which all your messaging will have a North Star reference point.

So, don’t brainstorm. Question storm (and if you’d like some higher education reason to adopt this philosophy, check out this Harvard Business Review article as well).