Clarify Your Message: Why Selling With Story Works
Janet Adams MA
Instructor: Center for Professional Development
Reading my morning email is easy. Glancing right to the Subject header I click delete, delete, and then..."wait that one sounds interesting". What about looking for a business on the web? My dog was looking pretty sad and changing her diet might do the trick. Each dog food site began with paragraph after paragraph of information. There was just too much reading and the message was confusing. I clicked out. What made me want to read more when I spied that interesting subject line in my email? Usually, I delete annoying emails and click out of confusing websites.
One of my all time favorite podcasts is Building a StoryBrand with Donald Miller. His weekly podcasts are full of easy to use information about clarifying a message on business websites and becoming a better marketer. The selected guests are amazing business leaders and authors that focus on what works and how a few simple changes will make browsers into buyers.
Why am I writing about marketing when you may be a teacher? "What does a marketing podcast have to do with my classroom," you may be thinking? Plenty! Do you have to send out parent letters, communications to colleagues, parent night invitations, or you may be maintaining your classroom web? What about writing instructions for homework so everyone who reads them will understand? Designing bulletin boards headers that create lasting comments may be daunting. What are you writing and sending out that creates your community to stay on, respond, and share?
Every day one or all of your students are reading a story. Did you know that story is the most powerful tool to compel their human brain? Donald Miller believes story comes from within. People self-identify as the hero in a story that’s trying to accomplish something and overcome challenges. To help you understand how your communication is tied to the elements of a story, I want to share a video I wrote and produced for the Office of Continuing Education.
Video: Selling With Story, Using the Elements of Story to Market Your Course will help you understand how your communications can be super easy by clarifying your message so that your students, their families, and even your colleagues will read.
Attached are two PDFs that you can download before you watch the video.
1. Template created by StoryBrand.com. One Page Brand Script
2. Download the super simple worksheet that can be used while watching the video.
3. VIdeo Selling With Story, Using the Elements of Story to Market Your Course
4. What are you communicating? Who is the hero in your communications? What about your school classroom website? Are you the guide with simple plans that your students understand?
5. If you are a small business owner as in Teachers Paying Teachers, watch with anticipation how simple edits in your marketing language will make all the difference for your browsers becoming buyers.
6. Share with your personal learning networks.
Janet Adams MA
Instructor with CPD, Fresno Pacific University
Course: Pinterest for Teachers
Instagram: adams_janet
Twitter: @sunbirds2
Pinterest: jadams1
