Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story

Our president, Perry Goldsmith, is an effective storyteller.  His stories are compelling, filled with passion, humour, quotes, and resonance.  I, on the other hand, am an avid reader, active listener and absorb all things speaking, but still don’t feel confident in my own ability to tell a great story. Maybe it’s because I’m surrounded by so many speakers who know how to do it so well, I can see the flaws in my own;  I rush through them, can’t remember key information and have difficulty reenacting or bringing it to life.

So when Peter Guber’s name came up for consideration as a keynote speaker for our own industry conference at the International Association of Speakers Bureaus (IASB), I thought  – he’s so perfect for our industry! Here is a master of story telling. We had the good fortune to meet him and experience his most current presentation Tell to Win, in San Diego.

Guber is founder and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment, the visionary multimedia venture spanning movies, TV, sports, and new media. Films he personally produced or executive produced, include Rain Man, Batman, The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Gorillas in the Mist, and Flashdance, garnering more than fifty Academy Award nominations.  Successful in both filmmaking and music, Guber led Sony Pictures as Chairman & CEO, Columbia Pictures as President, Polygram as Chairman & CEO and Casablanca Record & Filmworks as Co-Owner and Co-Chairman.

Arriving in a jacket and jeans, Guber took over the platform with his Tell to Win presentation, sharing with us his engaging methodology to connect, persuade and triumph with the hidden power of story – to help build friendships, business success, and achieve your goals.

Key Takeaways:  It’s not about great storytelling; it’s about telling a purposeful story.

• Know your own story.  Own it.  Decode the power of you’re his-tory and how it would resonate with others.
• Move beyond soulless Power Point slides, fact, and figures to create purposeful stories that can serve as powerful calls to action.  Analytics are proof of process but are most effective if they’re hidden in a story like a Trojan horse
• Motivation is MAGIC: Motivating your Audience to your Goal Interactively with great Content
• Your Content should have Conflict. Drama. Resolution
• How and when things happen is the drama. Not so much the ‘what’ of what happens
• Think of yourself not in the information distribution business but in the emotional transportation business. Emotional context helps bind into our memory. You may lose the details but will remember the feeling
• Surrender control. You want the audience to own the story – like a comedian wants an audience to retell her/her joke
• Empower others to be advocates for you, and relate your story so that it moves your listeners to action.

So, what’s your purposeful back-story?  What is it about your history and experiences that allow you to connect with other people, show your vulnerability and ignite their emotions? Become the hero of your own story and engage others along the way.  (Of course, it never hurts to include a great car chase, explosions, wistful romances or high stakes in Vegas…)

What Have You Done Lately?

Written by Guest Blogger, GSA Account Executive Jeff Lohnes

On Sunday, May 1st, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing three of GSA’s finest – Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, Dr. James Orbinski, and LGen Roméo Dallaire together on one stage discussing the topic “Living with War” at The Globe and Mail Open House Festival. What a treat!

Every so often in our individual lives, the topic of world peace is distantly discussed; whether it be the newest goal for your young child, a specifically terrifying shakeup in our global conundrum, or pageant season on TV. Either way it comes up, we discuss it and quickly put it to bed; its unattainable nature makes it too stressful to keep on the mind and too impossible to tackle. For most of us, the complexity of discussing the topic of world peace simply makes us stop discussing the topic of world peace, yet for these men, they not only discuss it but they have dedicated their lives to making it a reality.

They have come to this crusade for peace from different paths. One, General Dallaire, a military leader whose beliefs have led to a life devoted to peace keeping and whose actions helped shape history. Another, Dr. Orbinski, a physician who spent years offering aid to those in the most dangerous places on earth, and now works towards the prevention of unnecessary injury and death. Finally, Dr. Abuelaish who recognized a calling long ago that hatred is unproductive and unnecessary, and through personal loss has made his campaign global to ensure that people see that hate can never be an answer to any of life’s questions.

Their lives are consumed by this endless struggle to ensure that children born tomorrow can grow up in a world less filled with war, crime and hate as the world is today. In North America, we live wonderful lives, but be assured innocent children born in the other parts of the world desperately need these men and the work they do.

There are many things we can do to help support a peaceful and healthy global future. From offering our time to help support local non-profits that have a far reaching  impact, to donating funds to worthy causes, and most importantly and something Dr. Abuelaish will spend every last day encouraging – do not hate. We simply have no reason to hate in our world. Life is too short, the world is too wonderful, we have too many good things to allow ourselves to get caught up in hatred for even a moment.

Though I’ve had the honour of getting to know each of these amazing men over the past few years, still, I was in awe with the rest of the audience as they shared their intertwining stories and brilliantly dissected the questions posed. These three represent our hope for global change and they are willing to do their part to make sure we get there, now we just all need to pitch in and do our part as well.

Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout

No cause for alarm about climate change?  We should use more wood? Poverty is the worst environmental problem?  His views are considered controversial by some, but longtime NSB speaker and founding member of Greenpeace, Dr. Patrick Moore’s science and facts behind these arguments offer a reasoned approach to a more sustainable world. 

Dr. Patrick Moore has played a prominent role in raising environmentalism to the forefront of public concern in Canada and throughout the world.   His latest book is earning thoughtful reviews for his approach to sensible environmentalism.

Moore has just released Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout in which he details his vision for a more sustainable world. One of his greatest talents is his ability to clearly set out the environmental challenges we face and identify innovative solutions. His principle beliefs are based on logic and known scientific facts, avoiding sensationalism, and scare tactics.  Moore says:

1. There is no cause for alarm about climate change. The climate is always changing. Some of the proposed “solutions” would be far worse than any imaginable consequence of global warming. Cooling is what we should fear.
2.  We should grow more trees and use more wood. Wood is the most important renewable material and energy resource.
3. Nuclear energy is essential for our future energy supply, especially if we wish to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. It has proven to be clean safe, reliable, and cost-effective.
4. Geothermal heat pumps, are far more important and cost-effective than either solar panels or windmills as a source of renewable energy. They should be required in all new buildings.
5. Genetic science, including genetic engineering, will improve nutrition and end malnutrition, improve crop yields, reduce the environmental impact of farming, and make people and the environment healthier.
6. Aquaculture, including salmon and shrimp farming, will be one of our most important future sources of healthy food. It will also take pressure off depleted wild fish stocks and will employ millions of people.
7. Poverty is the worst environmental problem. Wealth and urbanization will stabilize the human population. Agriculture should be mechanized throughout the developing world. Disease and malnutrition can be largely eliminated by the application of modern technology. Health care, sanitation, literacy, and electrification should be provided to everyone.

Have a read of an excerpt from the book on his webpage.

Egypt ‘Turns off’ the Internet?!

My oldest and dearest friend has been living in Northern Africa in Tunisia with her family for the last year. Into the new year she was giving us regular updates on the unrest in the country, as the 23 yr Presidential dictator declared a state of emergency when protestors spoke out about the rising unemployment and claims of government corruption; he dissolved the government and then fled the country while the Prime Minister declared power. I learned of evening curfews, gunshots and looting in the streets nearby. I was worried for her and her family, sleeping together in one room and debating evacuation for safety.

All along I was watching the comparisons between the situation in Tunisia and in Egypt as journalists mused over how nearby Egypt would deal with similar challenges of dissent, political upheaval and demonstrations about their authoritarian regime with President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

It was the topic of conversation in our office this morning as we learned Egypt had effectively closed its mind to the 21st century and ‘turned off’ the internet last night to reduce the ability for protestors to mobilize and allow both their own citizens and the rest of the world know what was happening. No twitter, no Facebook, no Blackberry service, no internet. From what I understand this is censorship stronger than when any other country has blocked access to information. I didn’t even know it was possible.

The shock turned to gratitude for the freedom of speech and expression we enjoy in Canada. Sure there was the firm handling of the G8 protests or frustrations with some access to information, but I can’t ever imagine the country blocking any type of 21st century communication, in attempt to stop unrest. This can only make citizens more frustrated and angry with the government, non? When the people are united, they will find a way. And what they are asking for – solutions to poverty, reduction in food prices, corruption, and need for communication – is worth speaking out for.

These protests caused me to revisit earlier discussions I’ve had with GSA speaker and veteran activist Judy Rebick, who believes in the power of building a movement from the bottom-up and who studied the rise of participatory democracy in Bolivia. Author of Transforming Power: from the personal to the political, Rebick shares: “what emerges from the new political directions around the world is that transforming power at every level is what is common and central to progressive social change in the 21st century. Envisioning and creating a new world in the soil of the old is critical to building movements for change…”

She notes the power is in the process that ‘brings communities of people together to produce something new; building a movement from the bottom up; emphasizing co-operation and consensus over confrontation and political partisanship, and spreading ideas and actions through local and global networks.’

The voice of the people is struggling to be heard and they will find a way to communicate and spread their message, even if the internet goes dark.

I Shall Not Hate

Elie Wiesel famously stated:  “the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.” Better to feel passionately one way or the other, than to feel nothing at all.

When we met with Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish this past fall, we were moved by his intense love for his family, and understood that while there is anger towards those who took the lives of those he loves, there is not hate. Dr. Abuelaish makes a personal distinction between hate as a fire that burns you from the inside, and anger which can fuel your passion for positive change.  Both men agree that indifference is not the answer in the face of challenge, and both have suffered incomparable tragedy.

As Izzeldin Abuelaish prepared for one of his regular media interviews on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on January 16, 2009, Israeli shells hit his home, killing three of his daughters and his niece before his eyes – Besan, 20, Mayar, 15 and Aya, 14 – and Nour, 14.  His painful cry was heard round the world as he faced this tragedy head on, live in the media.  “It opened the eyes of the Israeli public. The secret about the war in Gaza was disclosed,” he says.

Two days later, the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, announced a ceasefire.

This weekend is the anniversary of the tragic deaths of his daughters, and marks the consummation of an Israeli statute of limitations. As a result, Abuelaish filed a lawsuit against the Israeli government in December for an apology and compensation. The compensation would go towards his Daughters for Life Foundation, in his daughter’s memory.

Abuelaish, “The Gaza Doctor,” has built his reputation as an advocate for a peaceful coexistence between Israeli and Palestinian people with mutual respect for each other, both before and after the tragedy of his family.

Dr. Abuelaish was born and raised in poverty in a refugee camp. Fortune and hard work earned him scholarships, degrees in Cairo, London, and subsequently his Masters in Public Health (Health Policy and Management) from Harvard University. He specializes in infertility and fetal medicine, with a strong belief in health healing in many ways, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The attack on his home happened just months after Dr. Abuelaish lost his wife and his daughters their mother, to leukemia.

His story is overwhelming and incredible.  He has faced a life that is remarkable in its success and pain.  And yet he continues not to hate, but to have faith and hope in a better world for all.   And what can we do?  Abuelaish states:

“You can do a lot. You can support justice for all by speaking out loudly to your family, friends, community, politicians and religious leaders. You can support foundations that do good work. You can volunteer for humanitarian organizations. You can vote regressive politicians out of office. You can do many things to move the world toward greater harmony…

“I know that what I have lost, what was taken from me, will never come back. But as a physician and a Muslim of deep faith, I need to move forward to the light, motivated by the spirits of those I lost. I need to bring them justice… I will keep moving but I need you to join me in this long journey.”

Dr. Abuelaish is currently on tour with his recently released book:  I Shall Not Hate, garnering rave reviews for his honest personal story and approach to peace, and raising money for his Daughters for Life Foundation. The foundation began in memory of his daughters, to provide education and health access to women and girls in Gaza and the Middle East to support their leadership development.

Read more about Dr. Abuelaish and media coverage of the tour.

Education in Haiti and at Home

It’s the one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti and we wanted to give thanks to those who are committed to helping with the reconstruction in the country and focused on education to help rebuild.

Those Canadians bringing us the stories include:

The United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti and Canada’s Governor General 2005-2010, Rt. Hon Michaëlle Jean, who notes that in Haiti,  “If we want to see a change … we need to start working differently now…and move from the logic of assistance to the logic of investment. What Haiti needs is investment in people’s capacities, in governance, investing in education.”

Michaelle Jean in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Photo: The Canadian Press / Tom Hanson

Michaëlle Jean moved to tears.

Michaëlle Jean on the logic of investment.

From Free the Children’s Craig Kielburger
We remember when Craig Kielburger travelled to Haiti just a week after the earthquake last year, distributing aid and reconfirming his organization’s projects there.  He returned again this past December with Mia Farrow, coinciding with the results of the highly-contested election, and has been updating Canadians on the status in Haiti, in the media and on his special on CTVs W5.

Kielburger agrees with Mme Jean’s focus on education: “That’s the thing about schools – an earthquake might knock down the walls, but education can build them back stronger.”   Kielburger’s organization was recently completing their 11th school in Haiti.

Kielburger in the Toronto Star with his Global Voices column.

He encourages us to stay involved: “A year post-earthquake, we, like most others, are frustrated by the lack of progress in Haiti. Emotion drove millions to donate last January. Frustration needs to drive us to demand sustainability and efficiency a year later.”

A 3-year old teaching Craig to dance at opening ceremony for a new Free The Children school in Haiti

MTV’s Aliya-Jasmine Sovani travelled to Haiti recently in advance of the one year anniversary and returned with a special for Daily Planet on the Discovery Channel with inspiring stories from Haiti. You can see her reports this week at 6:26 p.m. on MTV NEWS. A full video diary of her journey will air Sunday, February 20 at 6 p.m. on MTV NEWS PRESENTS: IMPACT.  Sovani is also on special assignment for Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet, which reports airing all this week, at 7pm ET looking at future risks and surprising innovations including employment opportunities, reducing risks associated with earthquakes, and new construction techniques.

Aliya-Jasmine & Jared Leto doing an interview in Haiti for MTV News Canada

More on Canadian media coverage of the recovery in Haiti.

There are so many moving pictures from Rt. Hon Michaëlle Jean‘s & Craig Kielburger’s numerous trips to Haiti we wanted to share a couple more.

Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean dances in her childhood town of Jacmel during a visit to Haiti in 2006. Press File Photo.

 

Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean hugs Maile Alphonse in Jacmel, Haiti. Alphonse lost her mother Magali in the earthquake who was the godmother of Jean's daughter Marie-Eden. The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson

 

Craig Kielburger & Mia Farrow in the streets of Port-au-Prince

 

Craig giving a boost from behind the crowds at the school opening ceremony

 

3 Things We Can Learn From Gen Y Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Written by GSA speaker Cheryl Cran

Cheryl Cran

Gen Y’s are often generalized as a group that defies authority, lacks social skills and show disdain for traditional work methods. Well after seeing the movie, The Social Network this weekend I have to say that Mark Zuckerberg as he was portrayed definitely fit all of these generalizations.

What was most striking to me though was although we may view his behavior as overtly thumbing his nose at the structure at Harvard you could not deny that it was his brazen defiance that led to the creation of a world phenomenon.

It was not his intent to tackle the Traditionalists and Baby Boomers adherence to privacy rather he was focused on the needs of his generation and what they wanted which was transparency, connection and ways to find out if ‘girls were single’.

It turns out that Zuckerberg did not authorize the portrayal of himself in the movie and at the same time that the movie came out he made a major donation in New York to counter any negativity from the movie. There were 3 very distinct learnings I took away from the movie that I think applies to all of us in leadership and business.

Here are the 3 things I think we can learn from Gen Y CEO of Facebook:

1. In order to create a new social order there needs to be a ‘tearing down’ or a ‘letting go’ of existing structures. If Zuckerberg had not gone ahead and created Facemash at Harvard he would not have had the foundation for what was to become Facebook. He also ‘borrowed’ pictures from directories from the houses within Harvard without permission. Although this caused a ruckus for the ‘structure’ it created a new order that quickly overtook and created a new structure for his own generation and ultimately for the 500 million users on Facebook today.

What structures do you have in your organization that need to be ‘restructured’ in order to create a new level of connectedness?

2. Zuckerberg has a vision and a passion to create open, and transparent forums for people to connect and share. He is adamant about not selling out to big corporate and to keeping himself as the guiding vision for the future of Facebook. For many traditional business people the goal is to build a business and then ‘sell out’ to make a buck- not so for Zuckerberg or for many Gen Y’s who truly believe that connectivity is the global future.

What does your company stand for? Do you feel aligned to the mission, vision and goals and if not do you have ideas on how you could re-ignite this in your company?

3. Intelligence and honesty is more impressive than ‘smoke and mirrors’ which Zuckerberg has absolutely no time for. People describe him as ‘looking right through you’ if you stated the obvious and although some of us might interpret that as rude it is an example of just not suffering fools gladly. We could all learn to focus on honesty and directness as a transparent form of communication.

Do you or your team members stay ‘politically’ correct by saying the right things but not necessary the ‘needed’ things are being said? How could you elicit more honest dialogue within the company?

It is important to see the things we can learn from rebellious Gen Y’s- it is likely many of us will be working for them one day since most of us won’t retire until at least 75- time to get on the train right about now.

Cheryl Cran, CSP is the author of “101 Ways to Make Generations X, Y & Zoomers Happy at Work” and is a leadership & generations expert. She has been interviewed by Forbes, Entrepreneur and Selling Power magazines and is a regular on the Fanny Kiefer TV Show.

Old Spice Guy: The Man Your Marketing Could Look Like

Summer’s in the air, the heatwave is getting to us, and we get a little silly.  Makes me want to offer some levity in this post.  So, I admit it.  I really enjoy the Old Spice Guy. Who doesn’t love those commercials and his voice? 

This week’s clever campaign with the Old Spice Guy was fantastic. We recently tweeted about ‘How Much is a Facebook Fan Worth?’ with commentary by Kerry Munro.  In the case of this campaign, the interaction and engagement by fans on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter seems priceless, and will be analyzed over and over. 

If you haven’t heard or seen, Old Spice Guy, Isaiah Mustafa sent 100 personalized You Tube messages to his Twitter fans, mostly average people writing in questions or compliments, along with celebrity tweeters Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Ellen DeGeneres and Ryan Seacrest. And then a whole twitter/YouTube exchange went on with four personalized messages to Alyssa Milano!  And a video of advice to President Obama.

Old Spice Guy

It was quick, real-time, smart, sassy, and good fun. One to one internet marketing idealized and realized.

By the end of the 2 day hilarious blitz he’d made more than 175 videos, gaining hundreds of thousands of views and tens of thousands of new Facebook fans and Twitter followers.  And we all had fun along the way.

Check out PC World’s summary of the campaign and their Top 5 YouTube Video Picks from the Old Spice Guy.

The parody videos of course have followed. Next thing you know he’ll be a guest on Saturday Night Live…or a speaker!

Old Spice Guy… the man your marketing could look like…

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Aside:  I started thinking about this post when our office was taken this week by the Dutch department store HEMA’s website and what fun it was to watch.  It quickly went viral amongst our team and beyond I’m sure: http://producten.hema.nl/

What Lies Beneath: Taking Pictures of an Oil Spill’s ‘Biological Black Hole’

Remember your first underwater camera?  How cool it was to take pictures below the surface of the ocean on holiday?  The images weren’t the clearest, but it was revealing to share what could only earlier be seen underwater.
 
Imagine what we’ll see when high def images are released from the BP oil spill?  No holiday shots here.  The spill is now considered the worst in American history, with speculation of approx. 4,000 barrels of oil a day trapped between the ocean floor and the surface, and leaking approx. 15,000 barrels of oil a day.
 
I’m drawn to learning about how this crisis is being dealt with from a leadership perspective and from an interdisciplinary approach. Call for more images and recommendations to help address the spill are now coming from those not in the oil industry, but from those experts who live and breathe underwater.  While the arrival of Titanic and Avatar celebrity director James Cameron offering assistance was initially met with some skepticism, we’ve quickly learned that he is a passionate underwater expert with more than 20 years experience, over 50 major dives and owns submersibles and ocean-ready robots. 

Dr. Joseph MacInnis under water

Cameron was joined recently by Canadian deep-sea expert Dr. Joseph MacInnis in Washington, where more than 25 scientists, and government and private-sector experts discussed potential solutions and recommendations for the spill.  CTV’s Seamus O’Regan interviews MacInnis on the meeting here.

Since the oil spill late April, only BP camera’s have been providing images to the world. They have been low quality and primarily just at the surface.  Experts like Joe MacInnis are encouraging the need for 3rd party images – in high definition, 3D camera’s where possible – and an independent group to provide insight.
 
Finally, just this week, BP released underwater images of the gushing oil and estimates of the damage continue to increase with this new information. 
 
MacInnis, a passionate undersea explorer, leadership expert and environmentalist noted in a recent interview:  “I am devastated, angry and frustrated…suddenly the Gulf of Mexico, the ninth-largest body of water in the world, takes this colossal hit. It’s [now] a biological black hole.”

MacInnis is focused on the damage below the surface: ‘IMAGINE A SUBMERGED PLUME OF OIL four times as high as the Empire State Building. It begins at the seafloor, thundering out of a shattered twenty-inch pipe with so much force that the sediments seem to sway….At this depth, fifteen hundred meters below the surface, there is no light so the oil is unseen-a murderous black presence within an everlasting darkness. As it rises, it swells into thunderheads, roiling clouds, and ragged columns. Everybody has been talking about what is going on at the surface, but there is a mile between the seabed and the surface. What is happening there?… It is the killing fields. For sharks, whales, and thousands of other species they’re a place of incalculable carnage.’
 
How often do we get caught up only in what is on the surface – of a person, a book or an issue at hand – and neglect what is going on behind the scenes and beneath the surface? It’s a high definition, transparent world we now live in. What’s below doesn’t stay there very long before being discovered…
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More from Dr. Joseph MacInnis:

Article in the Globe & Mail – Damage from spill turning Gulf into ‘biological black hole’

Article in Sea Shepherd – The Gulf of Mexico Killing Fields BP Doesn’t Want You Thinking About 

Article in Vanity Fair – James Cameron’s Oil-Spill Brainstorming Session: “It Was Time to Sound the Horn”

Theresa Beenken Appointed President of IASB

GSA vice-president, Theresa Beenken, is the new president of the International Association of Speakers Bureaus (IASB). For the first time in more than 20 years, a member outside of the United States has been given the honour.
 
“Our company has always taken great pride in supporting our industry and being an industry leader, in Canada and on an international level,” says Beenken who was appointed to the position at the IASB convention in April.
 
“Our active membership in IASB ensures that our clients have the comfort of knowing they are working with trained professionals who provide expert information about any meeting or event, while providing accurate information about rules and procedures around speakers.”

GSA’s commitment to IASB goes back to our president, Perry Goldsmith, who was one of the association’s founding members more than two decades ago. More recently, Beenken was the recipient of IASB’s President’s Award in 2008 and the Above and Beyond Award in 2006. 

Theresa Beenken at the podium