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lisakagan

The best stories to rally your team (and one to avoid)

Posted on February 24, 2022

Leaders (maybe you’re one) try to inspire teams by telling them stories about other teams. Yet all team stories are not created equal. Here are some of the best stories to tell your team (and one to avoid). Let’s start with the least effective team story and move to the most effective. The least effective story is the one everyone thinks they’ve heard before. In my experience, the least effective business storytelling I’ve seen in the American workplace has the…

How to check your stories for bias

Posted on December 16, 2019

The shopping holidays are coming, so let me regale you with the greatest toy I ever had. And show you a video about a robot. And tell you about a cool scientist. Ok ok ok. And I promise to tell you how to check your stories for bias about your values. The greatest toy of all time When I was about six, I saw the most incredible I-have-to-have-this-I-will-do-all-my-chores-without-protest-please-please-please-I-will-die-without-it toy. This treasure was a portable, dual-sided Barbie studio and office. Plastic…

brand stories persuasion

Snickers, Samhain, and your holiday stories

Posted on October 30, 2019

Is free stuff ever free? Snickers announced it would give away one million fun-size bars in time for Halloween via OneMillionSnickers.com. Part of the stunt includes a Change.org petition from 2018 requesting that the government move the date of Halloween. It’s now about adding a second Halloween—a full trick-or-treat day for “self-expression.” All of this seemed weird to me because of Samhain (I’ll explain) but then again, companies often separate marketing narratives from the nuances of history. Story and history are not…

brand stories self-advocacy

How to tell diversity stories at work

Posted on September 29, 2019

Let’s think about how to tell diversity stories at work without creating tokens. Oooh, and then you’ll put headphones on and watch your new favorite talk show host brickity-break it down to a sick beat. But let’s be mullet about this and start with the business up front. Diversity is good for business and for stories Lots of future-facing companies talk about how a diverse workforce gives them an edge and there is proof that it does. And let’s be…

self-advocacy

Make your story bigger than your job title

Posted on July 2, 2019

Using inspiration from the Cristina Martinez story to tell better stories about ourselves as professionals beyond job titles.…

brand stories character selection

How to humanize your brand stories

Posted on April 23, 2019

Remember the old adage, “The fastest way to a man’s heart is through his ribcage,” or whatever? Well, the fastest way to your audience’s heart is to tell stories with emotion a.k.a., to humanize your brand stories. Humanize brand stories with humans, not entities What gives? Why do so many professionals avoid talking about humans in their brand stories? Here are the three most ineffective protagonists that professionals cast instead of humans in their stories. Introducinnnnnnng the usual suspects… The…

self-advocacy

Own the story of how you screwed up that one time and you’ll come out on top

Posted on October 16, 2018

Lately some clients have been talking to me about pressure to be perfect at work. They don’t want to show any flaws and maybe you don’t either. That’s too bad because a stellar, unsung story type you can use to advocate for yourself (beyond the origin story) is the lessons learned story. “Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.” – Bruce Lee Your lesson learned can be your gold star if you play it right. First,…

self-advocacy

Tell first person stories to advocate for yourself

Posted on October 3, 2018

“Tell your own story and you will be interesting.” -Louise Bourgeois

A big “Yes, Orlando!” to the wonderful people from the Diversity and Tech community at Microsoft Ignite. A big “Ugh, Orlandon’t” to the humidity. So let’s focus on the positive. During my session about how to tell persuasive stories to self-advocate, about a dozen attendees stood up and shared personal stories. While their content varied, many shared a behavior in their delivery; they told personal stories in the…

brand stories self-advocacy

Origin stories can be about regular people, too

Posted on September 16, 2018

Are you as devastated and confused as I am by the news that there might be no more Superman movies starring Henry Cavill? The world is cruel sometimes. As you curl up on the couch to console yourself (just me?) please find a moment to reflect on the larger topic: the power of an origin story. Origin stories are about point A rather than point B. When it comes to talking about our achievements, especially at work, we tend to…

best practices

The first draft of your story will be crap

Posted on July 24, 2018

The first draft of your story is probably crappy and that is a-ok. My best friend and college roommate, Ernest Hemingway, used to say, “The first draft of anything is shit.” Right on. Just put it on paper. You’ll feel better. The other thing Ernie used to say is, “Write drunk. Edit sober.” While you don’t need to drink and draft, there’s something to letting it all out. Maybe you can talk aloud and record yourself. Or type your thoughts in a…

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