This week I will break up our typical Flipboard Friday format and discuss two anachronistic things - writing and street art in a war zone turned into stamps. Worrying about writing in a ChatGPT age may seem foolish, but learning to tell and share stories is crucial, even if you use it to write better chatbot prompts. I've failed to describe online storytelling, so I admire Smashing Magazine's ability to articulate something I couldn't.
Banksy is a favorite artist and an unknown iconoclast capable of setting the world on fire with spray paint and stencil. I'll write a Banksy's Marketing Tips post one day, but today I focus on his Ukrainian graffiti and new stamps. I ordered four sheets the other day on eBay and will share an "unboxing" picture when they arrive.
Chiara Aliotta's Five Steps To Design Your Product With Powerful Storytelling flipped into our Calls To Action (CTA) Flipboard magazine is a must-read because her practical tips articulate something I've been working on for years - how to craft online stories.
“Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.”
I've always loved that Indian proverb because it illustrates where stories hit your audience - right in the heart. We shared Simon Sinek's sage advice about why who you are is more likely to engage and connect than what or how you do whatever it is your company does in Start with Why. And Chiara's use of Aristotle's three-act format shows how to create an arc on our About Us page (for one example).
Chiara connects storytelling to UX and UI design, a brilliant connection I wish I had considered before reading her article.
Today, designers use the same structure to map user experiences and design user-centered products. A remarkable and memorable example of the power of storytelling is the change in Apple’s direction of communication on Steve Jobs’ return. He had spent some time running Pixar, and his experience with the company’s storytellers was essential to what happened next at Apple: the belief that by focusing on customers’ needs and tapping into their stories, they would sell more computers. (They did, of course!) However, designers cannot become good storytellers by using Aristotle’s three-act structure alone. We must also identify specific storytelling elements to help develop our narrative.
Today, designers use the same structure to map user experiences and design user-centered products. A remarkable and memorable example of the power of storytelling is the change in Apple’s direction of communication on Steve Jobs’ return. He had spent some time running Pixar, and his experience with the company’s storytellers was essential to what happened next at Apple: the belief that by focusing on customers’ needs and tapping into their stories, they would sell more computers. (They did, of course!)
However, designers cannot become good storytellers by using Aristotle’s three-act structure alone. We must also identify specific storytelling elements to help develop our narrative.
Chiara outlines five steps to use storytelling in product design, including:
Chiara shares her work using those five tips on a video course landing page. Storytelling is work; Chiara's post clocks in at just over 5,000 words, but the benefits of learning how to use Aristotle, Sinek, Miller, and Chiara's storytelling and content marketing tips and tricks will make your website, and brand thought leaders as you wins customer hearts, minds, and loyalty.
I'm a huge Banksy fan, so flipping the article about his new Ukraine stamps into our Pop Shop Flipboard magazine sent me to the "shopping" tab. I tried to email him once, but his famous secrecy made communicating with him impossible. Banksy's visit to Ukraine is heroic enough, but creating stamps anyone can afford to support the besieged country is super hero level art. I ordered four sheets from eBay and will share an unboxing video when they arrive. Unfortunately, my Banksy stamps will never go through the mail. I have other plans.
Image - I copied the three act structure from Reedsy.com.