Reinvention Summit Explores The Power Of Narrative
The world’s first virtual storytelling conference explores how narratives help to build communities and strengthen brands.
A new tribe of storytellers is gathering as part of the world’s first virtual storytelling conference: The Reinvention Summit. Designed to explore the power of narrative as a way to break silos, build community, and change the world, this global summit is attracting story experts such as Michael Maslansky, CEO of maslansky luntz + partners and author of The Language of Trust: Selling Ideas in a World of Skeptics.
During the Reinvention Summit, Maslansky will join Julien Smith, co-author, Trust Agents, in a panel facilitated by Social Media Hour host Cathy Brooks to address the role of trust in shaping public relations.
The Summit will run from November 11-22.
Maslansky shared some insights from his book with PSFK:
So often a brand’s message doesn’t translate as intended. In your book, you introduce this concept and distinguish between Their Truth vs Your Truth. Can you explain this idea, and how this affects brands today?
Organizations live, eat, and sleep within a particular universe – their industry, their philanthropic mission, their product. They develop their own lexicon, subscribe to their own myths, and tend to filter in information that supports their view of the world while ignoring data that is inconsistent with what they believe. This is “Your (the communicator’s) Truth. This view is often highly inconsistent with the perceptions, attitudes, and worldview of the audience (“Their Truth”). When these inconsistent truths collide, the result is misinterpretations of language and messages — almost always to the detriment of the communicator. Organizations must close the gap between Your Truth and Their Truth if they want to communicate in language that is interpreted as intended.
Everybody is in the midst of reinvention. What is the role of storytelling in this process?
Reinvention means finding a comfortable place to operate in a changing world. It means learning new skills and breaking new ground. In uncharted territory we cannot use facts to persuade; we must create a vision of who we are, where we fit, how we can help. Storytelling communicates this vision by creating a credible narrative that prompts people to buy what we are selling (literally and figuratively).