A little while back, I took my daughter Salem to the local library, where we played games, made little toys, and read books together.
My wife was at an event all weekend with her publisher company, and my son was playing at the weekly sports curriculum at our local community centre.
Given my daughter loves her books at home, the library was an obvious choice for us to hang out while Ewan did his sports thing (the fact it’s in the same community centre didn’t hurt).
As we were browsing through the books in the children’s section, we came across a shelf marked “Wordless books”. On it were several books where, as the shelf sign suggests, pictures replace words to tell the story.
Salem chose The Boy and the Airplane, by Mark Pett, and we sat down on one of the little sofas and began to read. Or view. I’m not sure what the right term for the activity of going through a wordlesss book would be.
And it was magical.
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words, And More
Before picking up the book, I’d heard of Mark and his reputation as a writer and illustrator. As an introduction to him and his work, The Boy and the Airplane had me wanting more.
As Salem and I turned each page, the story of a young boy’s attempts to retrieve his stranded toy airplane from the roof of a house held the two of us enthralled.
Even though Salem was only three at the time, and wasn’t quite at the stage where she can read for herself, the book’s beautiful illustrations made sure she understood what was happening.
When she saw the images above, she looked to me and said, “He’s happy.”
When the boy’s plane landed on the roof in the image below, her demeanour changed and she said, “Oh no, boy sad.”
As we made our way through the book, and the various things the boy tries to get his airplane back, we shared little looks and words with each other, and what the boy was going to do next.
When the boy finally resolved his problem (and I won’t spoil it for you – seriously, get out and buy the book, even if you don’t have young kids!), Salem looked at me and said, “Aww, that was a good story, daddy.”
And it was. And it showed how a simple book, with hand-drawn pictures, could tell a story many other books would need several thousand words to do.
How Does Your Story Get Told?
One of the things we’re constantly being told online is that we need to “tell our story” to connect with those we want to connect with – blog readers, business customers, potential employees, etc.
And it’s true – after all, if we don’t connect with the person or business that’s looking to attract and retain our attention over the countless other options?out there, why should we bother?
As a tool to help foster these connections, storytelling is a great tactic to have in our arsenal. Of course, it can be easier said than done.
My friend Mark Evans, one of Canada’s leading tech and startup advisers, has a new book out, Storytelling for Startups, that looks at this in more depth. In it he shares examples of how storytelling can work for pretty much any brand.
Gini Dietrich believes this too, and often shares examples of how storytelling has helped shape a brand’s voice and direction.
So, it’s clear – storytelling can play an important role in any goal we may have when it comes to growth.
The question is, of course, how does your story get told? Is it through words? Pictures? Videos? Testimonials? Employee advocacy?
There are many ways for a story to be told, but only one way for a story to be heard – and that’s through the eyes and ears of your audience as the path to capturing their hearts.
Much like Mark Pett’s wordless book, get that part right and you’ve almost won the battle before it’s even begun.
