How can I stand out? How can I show that I can indeed make a difference?

With organisations searching for the best among the best – resume writing and profile creation has gone to new heights. I have personally seen a whole lot of information dumped into pages and pages under broad industry headings. Having been in the staffing industry for some time, I have grown to loathe the ‘wordy’ resume that makes me groan day-in-and-out! I have helped many a individual – right from a fresh graduate to experienced professionals and managers re-create their resume.

The three guidelines I use are:

1. C,mon show me some meaning
2. Give me key messages
3. Help the reader (viewer), enjoy going through the resume

Now, having become a Visual Communicator by the grace of God, I wanted to create an identity, which will really satisfy the above three criteria.

So do find below my

“At-a-glance” Visual resume (document)

and My identity presentation (PowerPoint)

Now, we at StoryPreso can help you create such ‘identity‘ documents & presentations.

I had always believed that visual language began when God made us and that humans used visuals to communicate, before the birth of letters and numerals. The fact that these visual languages had transcended time, community and language is a real fact for us to consider. These drawings even today, communicate to us to a large extent!

So I began to check the many ways, our ancestors had tried to communicate – and my findings were astonishing.  (Though I openly disagree on the millions of years, because I believe we are in a young earth just a few thousands of years old – http://www.answersingenesis.org/  )

“In 1853 George Tate read a paper to the Berwick Naturalists’ Club at which a Mr John Collingwood Bruce agreed that the carvings had ‘.. a common origin, and indicate a symbolic meaning, representing some popular thought.”  http://www.crystalinks.com/petroglyphs.html

Just look at these symbols and drawings and check for yourself – the power in communicating visually!

http://donsmaps.com/cavepaintings.html

http://www.crystalinks.com/petroglyphs.html

With so many out there, and so many still coming (with some dead or dying), what is the best to choose?
With Google buzz, storming into the ‘conversation-place’, I did some looking-up.

the learning: Worry about the tools last, not first!

Can you share about your company in 140 words or less? About yourself, your big basket of achievements in 140 words or less? Sounds impossible – then make it possible! Your audience says, “I am a busy guy and I am only interested in how things benefit me” – so 140 words or less (maybe a AT-A-Glance visual)

For what reason are you using social media? Do you really have an objective? Or are you in it, because so many are out there? Sit down – put pen to paper and clarify your objective and then reshape your social media presence.

Are your audience (okay, you call them followers! – makes you happy, right?) – really interested in what you say? Are there benefits for them, from whatever you type? And oh! yes, whom do you want to target in the universe of people who look-u-up at your social media site?

What method of communication really makes a person happy and passionate enough to go through it? – not just look but see, not just hear but listen! Definitely not your bullet-filled presentations or a colorful brochure with graphics and fonts thrown together (screaming it’s all about me!) Can you share the one thing – that drives you, WHY you are doing what you do? Then build the whole social media, around that one passion. Simple. Clear. Passionate. Sticky. Value-add. And that’s where StoryPreso plays a role (Discover the core messages in your passion-filled work, Design around it, with stories dug-out from your experience and Equip you and your team to present it successfully)

Finally, what is it that you want? The goal! the SMART goal? C,mon you must be expecting a result! Is it Awareness, Sales or Loyalty or all of them together? Start with one, and then go for the rest – one goal at a time.

Now, it is time to look at the tools:

The Conversation Prism by Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas

Now are you ready? to rethink how you use your social media!

Skype: Ashley.Vinil
Twitter: StoryPreso

And if the same can be used to bless others, then more excitement!!!

Well, we bought a pack of Boost Refill the other day and as I was throwing it into the waste-bag, my son Kevin asked me, “What is it daddy?”. Well, I said, “It is an empty pack and I am throwing it away – it is waste!” He said, “Oh!” in his really understanding way and walked away. But I stood near the basket, wondering if I have taught him anything! (Oh! well, other than the fact that waste needs to be thrown into the waste-bin). That is when God gave me this idea – why not make a Puppet  theatre!

So began a journey!

I told Kevin about what we can do and involved him in stapling, gluing and coloring. (and I did the cutting ) Then after a ‘hard’ labor with lots of fun and ‘fatherly advices’ and ‘children’s never-ending questions’, we manged to put a Puppet theater together. We call it Kevin’s Puppet Theatre.

Then we began to create characters – Kevin named the ones he wanted and I did the sketching and cutting. The final touch was added by making it ready for play with straw stuck behind the characters. So we had this exclusive ‘Father-son’ time!

Audio-visual? Of course! This is using no-technology to tell stories.

Now you can do this with your children, at school , Sunday school and VBS. (Even with youth and adults – I tried something similar – Xmas Story card at our church KMC Home away from Home retreat and each one of the participants became one excited lot, unleashing their creativity and sharing talents and working together as teams to achieve)

Now this hard work – need not remain as a no-tech project. You can actually upgrade it to hi-tech using PowerPoint, Flash or Video. You also need to know photography basics. (Now, I let my son Kevin take these photos with some aid!). And for tips on how-to make the puppet theater and puppets & for conducting a puppet show – Do check the presentation below.

But the core message is this:

Can you share a story that will add value in the life of others?

No, not the fables and myths and grape-vine gossips, but true stories from organisations that is dug-out, polished, packaged and then told using different methods to a whole variety of audiences, right from the board-room down to the individual team player and extended across to the loyal customer and the prospects.

The power and effectiveness associated with storytelling in corporate communications is a treasure that organizations are slowly buying into. Now for me as a Visual Communicator, bridging the power of storytelling with Visual stories is a real effective way to connect, converse and ensure information with necessary emotions has been transferred.

Recently I got this opportunity to enter into discussions with a start-up, which produces Caricatures. (www.skechme.com). While I did admire the artistic nature of this start-up, what set me thinking was how this wonderful art can aid or add-on to visual storytelling. Well, the same thinking was going on almost simultaneously in the mind of Geeth, the founder of Skechme! So we did meet and have been spending solid time, brainstorming and ‘mindscaping’ about ways to use the very-personal touch of caricatures to create and share true stories.

Some of the services we may end-up offering together are:

Caricature-Preso: Presentations (Product launch, Company profile, Team-dynamics, Project-plans with goals etc) created with PowerPoint in a visual-story format with caricatures reflecting real characters from the organisation – giving tremendous authenticity and personal touch to the Presentations.

Story booklet: a booklet which has Caricatures and worded story about a certain achievement in an organisation or in a team, within that organisation

Caricature-VizX: A one page At-a-glance visual document which explains a whole process, with caricatures aiding the relationship between people and with the process – paving the way for a relational application of the process in the life of the audience (team member or customer)

So, here’s to: Storytelling with Caricatures.

By: Derry Koralek

The Storyteller’s Creed
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.
That myth is more potent than history.
That dreams are more powerful than facts.
That hope always triumphs over experience.
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.

- Robert Fulghum

What is storytelling?

The National Council of Teachers of English defines storytelling as “relating a tale to one or more listeners through voice and gestures.”

Most storytellers say it is an interactive process involving the teller, who shares the tale, and members of the audience who listen and let their imaginations take over.

“When I think of the definition of storytelling, I think of it as an event,” said author and educator Shirley Raines. “There’s the story, the listener, and the teller. And the teller is the person who makes it an event, but only if the listener is very engaged.”

Why did our ancestors tell stories?

Historians say there are several reasons why storytelling has been a part of so many cultures. They believe storytelling was used to: teach history; settle arguments; make sense of the world; satisfy a need for play and entertainment; honor supernatural forces; communicate experiences to other humans; and record the actions and characteristics of ancestors for future generations.

Are traditional stories still relevant today?

Many traditional stories are very relevant to our lives today. They remind of us our history and heritage and often carry universal life messages that have stood the test of time.

What are family stories and why are they important?

Family stories are tales about our immediate family members or ancestors that help us define ourselves as individuals and as members of a family. They are told informally, often around the dinner table and at family gatherings, holiday celebrations, reunions, and so on. As a result, they promote family communication.

Family stories teach children about their family, cultural, and religious heritage, which sets the stage for healthy development and learning. They are meaningful because they are true, and, like family heirlooms, are passed from one generation to the next.

How do stories help children understand themselves and relate to others?

When children listen to stories, they often identify with the characters’ experiences and feelings. This helps them understand their own fears, emotions, and feelings. Some stories introduce ethics and values and expand children’s understanding of the world. Many times, stories let children appreciate their own cultures and those of others.

What do children learn when they create their own stories?

When children become storytellers, they grow in many ways:

• They learn to put events in a sequence that makes sense.

• They build problem-solving skills by planning how to tell the story in an engaging way.

• Their self-confidence grows as they take an active role in creating a story.

• They build strong vocabularies, learn to express their ideas clearly, and develop public speaking skills.

• They feel important, because they have a story to tell.

  Courtesy: http://www.rif.org

• it takes you on a story
• stimulates your brain to find cliches
• it involves you and talks to you
• makes you think of incidents from your personal and work life
• and for me: challenges me to create something as unique and creative as this!

So, no more talk – here is the card below: (You can download it from the Xplane site: http://www.xplane.com/holidays/2009/)

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about:” is a very important statement. This verse bit comes from Mathew 1:18 in the Bible. This sets the stage for a powerful story that has moved nations and generations. The Bible as we all know is in a written format, passed down from parents to children, from priests to laypeople. Today the Bible is read, studied and analyzed. Key verses are even memorized! So the Bible is the book of both the novice and the intellect. Today we have 8 primary versions of the Bible, and each one of them was translated from the Aramaic, Hebrew or Greek. Now we need to travel into the past and arrive at the time, when manuscripts were created – manuscripts that have been combined to become the Bible of today.

So how was the word transferred before someone wrote it down? ‘Oral’.

People listened (not just heard) many times to someone telling the story and in-turn told the story to others. The big challenge was how accurate were the re-told versions. We usually conduct a game called Chinese whispers or Gossip in our Corporate Storytelling training, in which a message is passed on from one person to another in a line, until the last person shares what he has heard. It is fun, but the results are usually disastrous – with the original message getting twisted and even irrelevant.

Now, we have tried the same with small stories and found that while the original key message remains, participants have added or deleted some stuff to frame their own creative way of retelling the story. We then guide all the participants to use verbal and non-verbal ways to actually relive any story. Once they have come to a level of comfort, we conduct the same exercise – with one difference – the technique of storytelling is used and the results usually are phenomenal. Most of the time, the story comes clear with all the content. (with a few verbal changes!) This has proved again and again the power of Storytelling.

Getting back to the Bible, we now know that initially it was transferred by the art of storytelling from one to another. So the transfer of content is very much possible. It just needs time and practice in the art of “Story-listening” and “Story-telling”.

So the big question for today is this: Why are we not telling the stories of the Bible?

Why do we always have to open the Bible even to tell a story in all its originality? Can we also learn to be like the storytellers of old, who passed on the original Oral Biblical manuscripts?

It is yes, a challenge, but is very much possible.

The Network of Biblical Storytellers (http://nbsint.org) and Tom & Amelia Boomershine (http://gotell.org) along with many others are bringing back this important practice of retelling God’s Story, right out of the Bible. This amazing method is called ‘Biblical Storytelling’.

No, this is not memorizing the Bible, but reliving the Bible word for word. It is the art of visualizing oneself with the characters of the Bible and retelling the story with correct emotions, words and historical accuracy. It is not just storytelling, but storytelling with visual meaning!

Welcome to Biblical Storytelling.

Now, we plan to start a Story Guild, where members can learn to become visual storytellers of the Bible and also of their own lives.

Well, let’s pray that God will make this a reality in the New Year 2010.

Till the next blog: “a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”.

Blessings.

Great equalizer – it fades the hierarchical boundaries and accepts each and every idea or thought as an equal possibility

Creative-idea-generator – it helps open-up unseen dimensions and directions in each topic of discussion.

Big and small pictures – it helps one to see the big-picture and also go deeper into the many puzzles that make-up each idea

Brainstorming is an activity that we use in our Discover session before we start to design Visual Presentations. Recently, I met a client who had to create a presentation for a conference. Now she had made a lot of effort, to collect a whole lot of data and compile them into a cohesive one. The challenge we faced was to understand those huge chunks of data and give it visual meaning. After we managed to put-up a presentation, we had this wonderful opportunity to actually demonstrate the presentation to not just her, but to a small team of peers, seniors and even the head of the organization.

At this juncture I need to pause…because the aftermath of this demonstration was a great blessing – suddenly many minds began to open-up with ideas and perceptions and possibilities. Soon the conference room became a place where collective-brainstorming began to take place. And it was wonderful! I as an outsider could see the wealth of ideas that were pouring forth and in that short span of time – I understood more about the presentation than the 5hrs I spent creating it. That is the power of collective-brainstorming.

Why do I call it collective-brainstorming?

It is a term that I use to portray different groups of people, from various departments of an organization, who meet to discuss a certain topic. The key word is ‘different’. Normally brainstorming is done within departments and so ideas are limited to the combined understanding of that group. In contrast, here we see different perceptions, and ideas expressed from a collective gathering of individuals who represent the whole company. The result: A wealth of ideas and possibilities which can only come-out of such a collective brainstorming.

So what are you waiting for?

Find ways to have collective-brainstorming sessions in your organization when it comes to finding solutions for the consumer. You can even take it one step further – involve your partners and if possible some of the customers. You will be surprised by the wealth of ideas you will generate.

A manager of a multinational IT company hired two graduates from a top management institute. Let’s call them A and B. Now A was a person who had the airs of achievement about him and always looked as impeccable as ever. B on the other-hand was the casual, friendly type – who began to make friends, right from the office-boy to the top guns who shared the occasional elevator ride.

After a long, solid internship, the manager called A and asked him to go to a chicken farm, on the outskirts of the city, and find if any IT work was possible for them. A set out on this very prestigious journey, only to find that his Honda, had to be stopped at-least two kilometers before the venue.  Having finished his work, A returned. (Kind of smelly and with traces of feathers)

The next day, the same assignment was given to B.(only to another chicken farm) Now B went in a bus, to get a feel of the ride and returned back with a few chickens, grinning at the experience. (With many anecdotes to share)

Both submitted reports.

A’s report summary:

The chicken farm is chicken feed for an organization like ours. It’s a place where education is neither respected nor sought-after. IT will definitely not have a role to play there.

B’s report summary:

A different experience altogether! Enjoyed the ride, warmth of the people, and the fellowship! Learnt about the simplicity and passion in work! A little IT would definitely help them. And all these chicken farms are inter-related. (Business sense) If we make one project for them, then we can duplicate the same for a thousand others (with minimal customization). They would need a kiosk with a PC and the same can be used in the evening to teach the kids in that area. (Social investment) It will be a challenge to develop VERY user-friendly software, but then that is our challenge. (Creativity) By the way, they have the money (my free chickens go to only prove that). I am ready to do an intense project feasibility study on this wonderful opportunity.

Guess what happened next?

One of them stayed there, while the other left – can you identity who and why?