GCN lunch – 8 February 2019 wrap up

Thank you to all the participants of our recent lunchtime seminar on “How to use storytelling to drive change” with Elissa Bertot of Elissa Bertot Communications, held on Friday 8 February 2019.

During the presentation, Elissa identified 6 components of storytelling: the title, the hero, the quest, the struggle, the secret weapon, and the happy ending. She expanded on the 3 most critical ones: the hero, the quest and the happy ending.  The Hero being your audience, not your organization so the focus should be on them. The Quest is your audience’s challenge/pain, something they want changed which you must identify in order to sell them a solution. And the happy ending is your audience’s desired outcome, the transformation they want to achieve (with the help of your solution). 

Those who missed it or want to share with colleagues can watch the recording of the live stream on Facebook.

Below, are some images from the event (thanks to Geraldo Pestalozzi www.gpestalozzi.com).

Look out for our next event in the Spring.

Glenn, Patricia and Ekaterina

  • GCN lunch seminar 8 Feb 2019 - How to use storytelling to drive change with Elissa Bertot
By | February 12th, 2019|GCN lunch events, Uncategorised|0 Comments

Lunchtime Seminar Friday 8 February 2019 – How to use storytelling to drive change

Dear Communicators,

The Geneva Communicators Network is pleased to announce our first lunchtime seminar for 2019:

How to use storytelling to drive change – Friday 8 February 2019
There’s never been so much competition for your audience’s attention- so how do you make sure your message makes an impact? It’s not enough to just get noticed, you have to make your audience care enough to take action. Whether you want them to make a purchase, support your cause, get involved or change their minds, creating a story they care about is the only way to inspire action and drive change.

In this lunchtime seminar, you will learn a step-by-step storytelling framework you can apply to any communication, regardless of your audience. By the end of the seminar, you will know how to craft a compelling story that reaches your audience and changes minds, attitudes and behaviors.

Date: Friday 8 February 2019
Time: 12h30 to 14h00
Location: The Swiss Press Club, Route de Ferney 106, La Pastorale, 1202 Geneva.

Fee: CHF 30.- per person includes drinks and snacks

Please register online >>

Elissa Bertot is a communications strategist, copywriter and trainer. Through her consulting company, Elissa Bertot Communications, she helps organizations create stories that inspire action. Since 2015, Elissa has consulted for international organizations, non-profits, NGOs and small/medium-sized companies, helping them develop brands and messages that drive change. She also leads tailored communications workshops, teaching storytelling and brand strategy to communications teams and business owners. With more than 12 years’ experience in branding, communications, PR and marketing in Fortune 50 corporations, agencies and now as a consultant, Elissa is on a mission to change the way organizations communicate from the inside out.

Elissa Bertot
By | January 21st, 2019|GCN lunch events|0 Comments

Are you leaving money on the table because you’re not using LinkedIn to get new clients?

Ten years ago I followed a LinkedIN Challenge to understand how to get more from the platform.

I loved the challenge and after the ten days my profile views went from around 2 a month, to more than 20 a day!

Better still, in the month after the challenge, I attracted three new clients who over the course of the next 12 months brought me more than chf 50,000 in income (and they stayed clients for a lot longer than that too!).

So I’m delighted to announce that my friend Sarah Santacroce, an independent LinkedIn Specialist, will be running her annual LinkedIn Challenge again on 10th November, which will be bigger and better than ever – and until the 7th you can get a special Early Bird price!

You can save your place at the 2017 LinkedIn Challenge here!

The 2017 Challenge will be Bigger and Better than ever!
Over the last decade Sarah has helped more than 1800 professionals (and me!) get more from LinkedIn and this year, her 11th edition, will be bigger than better than ever!

What I love about this particular challenge is that besides all the valuable LinkedIn & Online Presence strategies you get, is that it’s a team effort.

Every year, Sarah gathers a world-wide group of leading LinkedIn experts to participate and share their best LinkedIn strategy. And this year, she’s expanded the field and included a Personal Branding, a Storytelling, a Livestreaming and a Online Image Expert.

Click the link below for the registration details & to save your spot NOW! Sarah offers an Early Bird Price until November 7th

2017 LinkedIn Challenge – Save your place here!

Did you know this about LinkedIn users?

  • They are NOT all job seekers! Most are fellow businesses looking to grow their business
  • They have a HIGHER average income than Facebook users
  • They are in work mode when browsing LinkedIn

This is why you should be using LinkedIn to get clients. Because they’re on there already. If you’re not active on LinkedIn, you’re handing a percentage of them over to someone else who is!

During the 10-day LinkedIN Challenge you will:

  • Learn why you absolutely need to use LinkedIn to get clients (how discover how!)
  • Find out that your LinkedIn Profile is boring – and how to improve it 😉
  • Grow your network significantly
  • Learn how to proactively identify, search for and connect with your ideal customers!
  • Learn how to be more visible on LinkedIn & get clients to contact you!

Plus much more!

I will definitely join Sarah’s challenge again this year. See you there!

2017 LinkedIn Challenge – Save your place here!

By | November 3rd, 2017|Other events, Professional development|0 Comments

Storytelling workshop in Geneva – Monday 29 September 2014

An interesting workshop coming up in Geneva:

“If you are an entrepreneur and you want to learn how to better communicate your project or your passion,
If you are in transition and would like to clarify your objective,
Or if you just want to improve your stage skills for your upcoming presentation, sign up for the next Storytelling workshop organized by The A Factor!

After coaching more than 70 international TEDx speakers, Aurélie Salvaire brings her special touch to your public speaking abilities, helping you find your own message. 
This workshop has already successfully taken place in Paris, London, New York, Barcelona and Madrid. It can take place both in French and English.
Date: September 29, 2014 from 9am till 6pm
Location: Impact HUB, Rue Fendt 1, Geneve
Price: CHF 95.00
By | September 19th, 2014|Other events|0 Comments

Employer Branding for a Storytelling Organization: Concept, implementation and lessons learned Event – 16 October 2014

The EMScom Alumni Association and Burson-Marsteller Switzerland invite you to join the event “Employer Branding for a Storytelling Organization: Concept, implementation and lessons learned”, an introduction to the EMScom Capstone consulting project, winner of the Burson-Marsteller Award 2012. Each year Burson-Marsteller Switzerland presents the Burson-Marsteller Award for Consulting Excellence during the EMScom Graduation Ceremony.

The award aims to honor the group with the EMScom Capstone consulting project of the highest academic standing. Recipients of the Burson-Marsteller Award exemplify the excellence for which the EMScom strives and the industry standards so highly valued by the agency.

The Capstone consulting project was carried out for Bonnier AB, an international media group headquartered in Stockholm, that at this time was facing the change into a digital world. A new kind of talent was required for this shift: the EMScom team was asked to raise Bonnier’s attractiveness for such digital talents. The team combined a classic employer branding approach with the storytelling methodology. The execution of the strategy made Bonnier one of the biggest climbers in the category “Young IT Talents” of Universum’s 2013 employer ranking.
The presentation will not only give an insight into the approach chosen and the solution presented to Bonnier, but also cover the implementation of the concept and lessons learned.

Date: October 16, 2014 at 18:00 hrs.
Location: Le Richemond Hotel, Geneva
Registration at: emscomalumnievent.axaco.se
Cost: CHF 30.-

Followed by networking apéro.
More information: www.emscom.usi.ch or at emscomalumni@usi.ch

Register online here >>

By | September 8th, 2014|Other events|0 Comments

Humour – can it work in Corporate Comms?

A funny thing happened on my way to work today…I read an article that suggested that using humour in corporate messages can be a positive thing to do.

While most communicators steer well clear of using humour in the office, and I have certainly advised many leaders and clients to use it with caution, particuarly in multi-cultural environments, Barb Sawyer of Sticky Communications has other ideas.

She put forward the case for using humour in the workplace stating that it can reduce stress, increase energy, motivate and makes people feel better about themselves and others.

While she agrees humour should be used with caution and offers the following tips to doing so successfully:

1. Know your audience and what they will relate to

2. Tell stories

3. Be yourself, develop your own brand of humour

However, I would argue that these three tips are not just good for using humour, but for successful communications in general.

Knowing your audience is the only useful starting point for any campaign and storytelling is well known for its ability to engage audiences and make messages memorable.

However, developing your own communication style, while it is something I have long advocated, is not something that you hear about too often. I think it’s particularly important in leadership communications as it helps to create a relationship with your audience and demonstrates that messages are  coming direct from the source, making messages more credible.

…so I guess the message within the message is that if you always know what you are communicating and to whom, then you should also be able to determine if humour is appropriate for your message and audience, and what ‘gags’ will go down best.

Melitta

By | September 29th, 2010|Other resources|0 Comments

Resources on storytelling

Many people have asked for further resources on storytelling following our excellent breakfast meeting with Sue Hollingsworth – here are some recommended resources and information:

Article in PME magazine:
Article in French on the website of Sue’s partner (Nicole Voillat) in Geneva

Course:
Sue leads a Corporate Storytelling workshop in England at Emerson College in Sussex in the UK, 16-19 July 2008.

Suggested books:

1) Stephen Denning: “The springboard : How storytelling ignites action in knowledge-era organizations” BH – 2001

2) Stephen Denning: ” The secret language of leadership” John Wiley & Sons – 2007

3) Annette Simmons: ” The Story factor” – Basic Books – 2001

Glenn

By | April 10th, 2008|Other resources|0 Comments