Want to know what’s next from a technology perspective? All you have to do is look to the past where Gene Rodenberry designed the future. Take a look at the “tablets” Captain Picard and his crew were using twenty years ago. And how about the “glasses” used by Captain Sisqo? Think Google Glasses.
Want to know what is next from a communications perspective? According to Cameron Uganec in the article “Social Media and Storytelling Part 2: Back to the Future” social media will take us back to storytelling. Think about how we originally communicated. The table below outlines the concept taken from Jonah Sachs’ Winning the Story Wars.
If this premise is true then what that means for businesses is:
Engage – Only the most interesting, the most compelling, the funniest, the most touching will catch the attention of your mass audience.
Personalize – The story must impact the recipient on a personal level. The simple principle of WIIFM is even more critical now. What’s in it for me should be answered clearly and quickly. What is benefit of the story.
Inspire – Ultimately you want the audience to share the story with their network or act on the story in some way that they have a relationship with. This is how the story was passed on in the past and how it is starting to be passed on in social media.
Engage, Personalize and Inspire because it isn’t about who is the biggest anymore, but about who’s story is passed on to how many people.
Submitted By: Sangeeta Zilka, SMBP Student, University of Waterloo
To contact the author of this entry please email at: sanzilka@hotmail.com
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