{"id":11321,"date":"2013-03-25T15:08:27","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T14:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rudebaguette.com\/?p=11321"},"modified":"2013-03-25T15:08:27","modified_gmt":"2013-03-25T14:08:27","slug":"17-storytelling-tips-for-startups-from-founder-institute-mentor-tyler-crowley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rudebaguette.com\/en\/2013\/03\/17-storytelling-tips-for-startups-from-founder-institute-mentor-tyler-crowley\/","title":{"rendered":"17 Storytelling Tips for Startups from Founder Institute Mentor Tyler Crowley"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following post is a guest post by\u00a0Alexis Niki<\/a>, a Paris-based founder & CEO of\u00a0StoryNova<\/a>, which\u00a0provides concept and story strategy and development support. You can follow her at\u00a0@AlexisNiki<\/a>.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Tyler-Crowley\"<\/p>\n

Last week, Tyler Crowley gave a workshop on improving your pitch with storytelling at Microsoft\u2019s new Spark center<\/a>. Tyler is a regular Founder Institute mentor and an executive producer of The Launch Festival created by Jason Calacanis.<\/p>\n

Tyler began the event with volunteer pitches. Five brave entrepreneurs took the plunge, allowing themselves to serve as examples of what not to do when pitching. Tyler spent the bulk of the evening teaching us storytelling tools. Then he worked privately with two of the founders, who pitched again after applying Taylor\u2019s techniques. The improvement was immediate and dramatic. Not only were the pitches clearer, they made us laugh, kept us engaged, and were easier to remember. Tyler covered a lot of ground during the workshop, and many of his tips could make stand-alone posts. Nevertheless, I did my best to capture the essence of what he shared with us in the 17 tips presented here:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0The audience doesn\u2019t remember data.<\/h4>\n

Tyler asked us to raise our hands if we remembered the names of the founders who had just pitched. Only a smattering of hands went up. Similarly, people discussing pitches at an event will say, \u201cI liked the wine app,\u201d or, \u201cI liked the one about the guitars.\u201d They hardly ever say, \u201cI liked John Doe\u2019s app, Guitareo.\u201d People simply don\u2019t remember names and data very easily, especially not when they\u2019ve just been presented with a lot of it. Either don\u2019t worry about introducing yourself, or do it quickly and then get to the meat of your pitch.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0The audience does remember story.<\/h4>\n

Tyler asked how many people in the room remembered how Tom Cruise got around town in the 1986 movie Top Gun. About the same number of hands went up as before. Twenty-seven years later, there were people who still remembered that Tom Cruise rode a motorcycle. In twenty-seven years, how many of us will remember we even took this workshop, let alone who pitched? Information and data speak to the analytical part of our brain\u2014the part that zones out. Story, on the other hand, makes us feel something. It speaks to the visual and emotional part of our brain, and it stays with us differently.<\/p>\n

3) Make your audience feel the WOW moment.<\/h4>\n

Tyler calls the moment when your audience gets your product, when they feel the same thing you feel about it, \u201cthe WOW moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say that your father was a pediatric dentist, and when you were a kid he lost his practice to competition. As a result, you had to quit school to help support your family and that\u2019s what motivated you to create BabyTeethPics, an income-generating tool for pediatric dentists.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0Help your audience experience this WOW moment through two key\u00a0characters, the hero and the antagonist.<\/h4>\n

A successful story allows the audience to project themselves onto a character and vicariously experience what he experiences. It\u2019s hard to project onto a real, live person at the podium. A fictional character is abstract and leaves room for imagination. Start with your main character, the hero of your story who also happens to be the ideal customer for your product. Let\u2019s call him Brian. Brian has a problem, and that problem has something to do with character number two. Let\u2019s call her Sarah. She plays the role of the antagonist, spurring Brian to overcome his problem. Sarah might be the girl he wants to impress, or the teacher, boss, or client who he can\u2019t seem to please. Make sure one character is male and the other is female so you can refer to them using \u201che\u201d and \u201cshe\u201d without confusing your listeners.<\/p>\n

5) Introduce your hero in a dramatic fashion.<\/h4>\n

This is your moment to grab your audience\u2019s attention and prevent them from checking their emails. Find a dramatic hook by asking yourself what your character stands to lose:<\/p>\n

This is Dr. Brian. Dentists R Us is drilling a hole in his pediatric business. (If he doesn\u2019t find a solution, he\u2019ll go out of business!) <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

6)\u00a0Build the drama by showing us your character\u2019s problem.<\/h4>\n

What is your character up against? What\u2019s the worst thing that can happen?<\/p>\n

Dentists R Us has installed an indoor playground and all the kids want to go there now\u2014even his most loyal patient, little six-year-old Sarah.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

7)\u00a0Cast your product in the role of the vehicle that helps your hero.<\/h4>\n

What The Force is to Luke Skywalker, your product should be to your hero. How does Brian use your product to impress Sarah and restore order to the galaxy, er, I mean his life?<\/p>\n

Dr. Brian doesn\u2019t have the space to install an indoor playground. But now, thanks to BabyTeethPics, he has something even better! <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

8)\u00a0Start and close with your elevator pitch.<\/h4>\n

By book-ending your pitch with your elevator pitch, you set the stage for the audience\u2019s expectations, and you finish on point. State the name of your product and give us a hint of its WOW factor in one sentence:<\/p>\n

BabyTeethPics makes being a dentist a snap!<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

9)\u00a0Avoid using \u201cI,\u201d \u201cyou,\u201d or \u201cwe\u201d in your pitches.<\/h4>\n

When telling your story, don\u2019t say, \u201cThen you click here to scan the child\u2019s mouth.\u201d Anyone who\u2019s not a dentist will think, \u201cNo, I will never do that!\u201d If you talk about Dr. Brian scanning Sarah\u2019s mouth, however, people will be in the story and will believe it without a problem.<\/p>\n

10)\u00a0Avoid hypotheticals such as \u201ccan\u201d and \u201ccould.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Similarly, if you say, \u201cYou can also use the tool to check for cavities,\u201d you\u2019re opening up possibilities. You can\u2014but you also can NOT. Close down all options except the ones you want to emphasize by staying with the action. Tell your stories in present or simple past tense.<\/p>\n

11)\u00a0Story can communicate important information in an elegant way.<\/h4>\n

Like taking medicine with a spoonful of sugar, data is easier to swallow with story. Look for opportunities to slip in any important information your audience needs to know. Want to tell them how to use your tool or how you\u2019ll make money? Let Brian\u2019s actions show them:<\/p>\n

Dr. Brian scans Sarah\u2019s teeth and with a click of the big green button, he takes a picture of her molars. Sarah is so excited to see her teeth looking like moon craters that her mom decides to purchase the picture. With a second push of the button, Dr. Brian adds the price of the scan plus the 6% commission charged by the app to her bill.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

12)\u00a0If you must give figures, avoid big numbers. <\/b><\/h4>\n

Instead, transform them into smaller fractions: \u201c300,000 parents think taking their child to the dentist is like pulling teeth\u201d might become \u201cTwo out of five moms say taking their kids to the dentist is like pulling teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n

13)\u00a0Your story needs to have a happy ending.<\/h4>\n

We want the emotional satisfaction of seeing Brian triumph over his problem:<\/p>\n

When Sarah sees her toothy souvenir, she breaks into a wide grin. \u201cWow, this is much better than a silly old playground!\u201d she says. \u201cThank you, Dr. Brian, you\u2019re the best!\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

14)\u00a0Don\u2019t try to memorize your story.<\/h4>\n

Instead, remember the key story moments: <\/i><\/p>\n