Think of your favorite commercial. Have you got it? Play it through in your head... Why does it appeal to you? What is it about the commercial that makes you smile/laugh/cry? Now ask yourself, does it make you think about the product? Can you even remember what product they were selling?
Now think about some of the worst product commercials you have seen. I mean a real dud. One that made no sense what-so-ever... I remember watching something on a kids channel with my son one day and a commercial came on showing a boy chewing a long string of gum where the other end of the gum was out of the frame. As the camera cut to a wide shot, we saw that a green alien, dressed as a grandmother, was chewing the other end of the gum. I don't recall the tag line, nor the music, nor anything the announcer said. What I do recall is turning to my son and saying, "That doesn't make any sense. That commercial does *not* make me want to go out and buy that gum!" Now, I admit that I'm no longer a 13 year old boy, (i.e. I'm not the target audience for that commercial) but I can't imagine a 13 year old thinking that he wants buy that gum to share it with a alien dressed as his Granny. And yet, that commercial passed through a committee, got approved by a client, was scripted, story boarded, recorded, edited, delivered to the station, broadcast for our consumption and, likely made quite a few people some money.
The art of story telling is the "Art of the Appeals" or how to reach the Pathos, Ethos and Logos of your audience. While it is an art, there is still much science to it (though in the case of the gum commercial I think it was faulty science at work). When you think of your own story telling do you think about the art behind it or the science of it? When you craft your message, when you are advertising your brand, what guides your thought process, your delivery? Think back to your favorite commercial and how it appealed to you and dissect the story telling. Can you craft your own message in the same way?
When I first started to work on interviewing people for production I didn't really think about the Art of the Story Telling process. I almost thought it was magical; ask a series of questions and you'll get something that you can edit into an effective story. Sometimes we got lucky and got great results without much planning but it was the bad interviews that helped me understand the importance of working on the story telling art as well as on the technical science behind a good interview.
SpaceAge Consulting is now partnering with Wirthware Business Consulting to provide the crafting of the narrative (Wirthware) along with the production and delivery of said story (SpaceAge). This will provide our clients with the perfect opportunity to hone their message and develop their storytelling ability. Then they will work with our team to film an on-camera interview, after which they will receive an edited version for broadcast or the web.
Instead of ending up next to your alien grandmother chewing gum let us help you craft a better story for your business. Become memorable for the right reasons.