Ask the Expert - Story Telling

Ted Miller, HMCC, CHME, CHSP, CGTP, CGMP

We recently concluded a very successful conference and we want to keep the momentum going. Too often in the past we did not use the success of our conferences to continue the learning and interaction of our associates. How would you suggest we keep the momentum going?
When you have great success from an event it comes from the pre-planning of the event and the dedication of the staff who assembled the agenda and the materials. Have the conference staff identify which items created the most enthusiasm and why your staff embraced what they heard. Choose perhaps six items you want to re-enforce and create an inter-organization communication that will go out twice a month. In each installment select two of those items and show how your colleagues are putting them to use and how they may have found ways to improve their business environment with measureable results they can share. If you keep this process going until the next conference you will create an environment that encourages learning but most importantly collaboration between staff and departments.

We do several internal communications during the year but we are not seeing the results we anticipated from them, such as people commenting about the information or submitting items to be published. How can we make our publication more vital to the organization and get people involved?
In my organization we have several communications that go out to different disciplines in the firm. Where we found success came in two ways. The first was having guest writers contribute relevant articles that specifically addressed issues we are currently facing. Those who write are considered the experts in the firm and are well respected. Those writers normally will receive questions about their article and the questions along with the answers are published in the next edition. The other way we found more engagement was to add an element of comedy and a personal touch based on the discipline that was receives the publication. We added photos of fun activities and also published information such as hobbies and personal interests that were fun reading. The key point is that you write to the reader and not from the view point of “Corporate” to make the publication something people looked forward to reading. Even a financial statement can be written so people will read the entire column.

I am trying to be better known in my industry and am struggling with how I can expand the number of people who know me. Other than trying to make every association meeting, is there any avenue you might suggest?
One of the best ways to be known is to teach those in the organization what you know and deliver it in a way people will readily be able to use the knowledge. Consider contributing to the organization’s newsletter and use storytelling to share your knowledge. The people who are the most known and respected use storytelling to share their knowledge and cover topics in a way people can readily use the knowledge and be able to pass it to their colleagues. Here is a key point: you cannot write once or twice and expect people to remember who you are and respect what you have written. If you are going to pursue this, it must be based on contributing in every edition so you can be a fixed part of their reading the newsletter. Only through consistency can you be considered an industry leader.