Podcasts Business Storytelling School How to Rethink Storytelling

How to Rethink Storytelling

Published: May 18, 2022, 7 a.m.

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My client arrives to rehearse her high-stakes keynote. She\\u2019s giving this speech in front of thousands upon thousands of people. Before she begins, I say to her, \\u201cToday, we\\u2019re going to start at the end. So go ahead and run through your closing paragraph now.\\u201d

That throws her off. She responds, \\u201cI\\u2019ve memorized my talk in a very specific order. Isn\\u2019t that going to mess me up?\\u201d\\xa0

Then I ask her how many times she\\u2019s rehearsed her opening paragraph.\\xa0

\\u201cI don\\u2019t know, maybe at least 75 times?\\u201d\\xa0

And the closing of her talk?\\xa0

\\u201cOh. Maybe a handful--five?\\u201d

Aha! Speakers tend to focus on the opening. They go through it from the beginning, make a mistake before getting to the end, start over, make a mistake again, start over, and over. And over. And over. It\\u2019s like a pilot focused on getting the takeoff right but not the landing! And it goes on this way for days or weeks.

When I explain this to my client, she says, \\u201cKymberlee, I never thought of it that way,\\u201d which segues nicely with my special guest today. Sun Yi runs an award-winning digital agency that focuses on helping personal brands tell their story by challenging their thinking. And his actual tagline is \\u201cI never thought of it that way.\\u201d In this episode, he and I discuss things like:

What elevates a story (and how is a narrative different from a story)? How do you know you\\u2019re being as vulnerable enough in your storytelling (and what\\u2019s the difference between vulnerability and a sob story)? Where do people using stories for business purposes tend to screw up? And how can you use storytelling in your brand when there\\u2019s no conflict in your personal story?

What you will learn in this episode:

  • How to correctly set up your story for an emotional payoff
  • What mistakes entrepreneurs make when telling personal branding stories
  • How to engage in \\u201cmicro-storytelling\\u201d for social media audiences (and algorithms)

Who is Sun?

Sun Yi founded Night Owls, an award-winning digital branding agency based in New York City. For over 12 years, he\\u2019s used his passion for personal branding to help brands go from zero to over a billion dollars in revenue. His company has a well-earned reputation for its expert branding, marketing, and copywriting knowledge, as well as its high-quality website design and client service.

Sun built his firm with culture in mind. After starting and quitting so many times, he decided to put community first and create a collaborative environment where he and his employees felt passionate about putting love and care into their work. As a result, Night Owls has attracted household names like Spotify, Columbia University, and the American Red Cross as well as best-selling international speakers and authors like Mel Robbins, Gabby Bernstein, and Jay Shetty as part of their clientele.

Sun also loves teaching and creating educational content on Instagram for personal brands. In his spare time, he enjoys motorcycles, listening to audiobooks, watching Youtube videos, and doing yoga. You can learn more about him and Night Owls at his website.

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