#Its a quiz about knowing your element and hes a scientist get it

[celibibratty]

I need everyone to take this quiz right now and reblog what element they get

[lucyariablog]

The Business Story Argument: A Working Framework to Pressure Test Your Story

Storytelling.

It’s got a bit of a buzz these days doesn’t it?

It seems every technology provider, agency, and consultant promises to help you tell a better story. But what does “telling a better story” even mean?

To tell a better story, do marketers need to be edgier and differentiate themselves to an audience numb to everything except the completely outrageous? Maybe. But that ultimately seems like a zero-sum game. How many more over-the-top content ideas do you produce before you jump the proverbial shark? Is BuzzFeed, with all its cat-video and which-Game-of-Thrones-character-are-you-quiz “trending buzz,” a huge success? Or, is it failing to differentiate?

And, the way things are going lately, today’s mainstream news headlines are probably going to be more outrageous than your brand ever will anyway.

Does “telling a better story” mean you just need to put more and more detail into your content? Give away all the thinking and bombard your audience with so much quality and detailed facts that they must appreciate the sheer amount of content (#AllTheEducation)?

No.

Neither of these approaches is at the root of getting to a better story. As so many of my mentors in storytelling drilled into my head – the heart of a great story is an argument for the truth. And, the truth has little to do with the number of facts or what happens, no matter how outrageous. As one of my mentors – the great storytelling coach Robert McKee – has written, “What happens is fact, not truth. Truth is what we think about what happens.”

If the last 24 months of the daily news cycle haven’t illustrated this “truth” in spades, I’m not sure what will.

Put simply: A great story is a well-crafted, entertaining, engaging, and (ultimately) convincing argument. With a fulfilling story, if I’m successful as an author, I’ve taken you on a journey and you believe (or are at least open to believing) something different at the end of it.

A great story takes you on a journey where you believe something different at the end, says @Robert_Rose. Click To Tweet

This is something you as a marketer can test as you create your content.

Prologue: The Business Story Argument Framework

I’ve worked with hundreds of marketing professionals and storytellers over the last 10 years. I’ve employed and customized a number of borrowed “tools” to help them get to better stories. If you read my first book, Managing Content Marketing, written with my colleague Joe Pulizzi, you might remember how we used a modified version of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to help structure what we called the Brand Hero’s Journey.

If you read my book with Carla Johnson, Experiences: The 7th Era of Marketing, you might remember we’ve used the classic “5 why’s” as a means of helping content marketers get to a deeper, more meaningful story.

While I still use both approaches in coaching and in the content creation process, I recently found another approach that helps marketers pressure test a story to see if it has all the components that make it a good one rather than just an outrageous situation or a collection of facts. With a huge hat tip to my friend and writers’ coach Jeff Lyons and his Anatomy of a Premise Line, I customized a framework that I call the Business Story Argument Framework.

Now, the key utility of this framework is to know that it doesn’t write your story nor serve as a template. Its usefulness is in how it can help you pressure test an idea for a story you already have.

Getting to a satisfying story can be truly difficult. Add to that the fact that marketers are often pressed for time, and it’s just near impossible to truly settle in and think about how to create a meaningful, engaging, and convincing story that illuminates some greater truth about the world.

But if you can pressure test your ideas more quickly, perhaps you can at least improve the chances of focusing only on the best ideas or provide clearer direction for your existing content marketing initiative. Are you ready for the adventure? OK, let’s do it.

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Act 1: Every great story has 4 parts

We all know creative ideas come from random places. I love the quote from Nicholas Negroponte who asked, “Where do new ideas come from? The answer is simple: differences. Creativity comes from unlikely juxtapositions.”

You may come to an idea for a content marketing story from any number of places. The lightning of an idea may strike you in the shower or while you’re walking the dog. Or you might be inspired by an idea that comes out of your team’s latest brainstorming standup. Or you may inherit a story because your company just acquired a brand that has a digital magazine.

However an idea comes into your possession, know that every great story has four distinct parts:

The human – Every great story has a human soul at its core, even if that human is a talking Lego character. Nobody wants to hear the story of industrial manufacturing. They want to hear the story of Jane, the enigmatic heroine who finds herself challenged with leading a new industrial manufacturer.

The goal – A goal is a conscious or unconscious desire of the human. The desire to achieve a goal is what propels our human hero through the story journey. When the goal is conscious it is related to the greater “truth” (as detailed below). The superhero team’s goal, for example, is to simply defeat the monster. When the goal is unconscious, events transpire in the story that ignite the illuminated truth in our human hero. Think of the classic detective story, where the hero feels she’s getting too old and just wants to solve the last case so she can retire. However, by solving the most difficult case of her career the hero also discovers it’s the work that keeps her young. The best stories have both conscious and unconscious goals.

The resistance – Every great story needs a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Occasionally, this comes in the form of a great human villain petting a white cat in a secret lair. Other times the resistance is simply a “mountain” that must be climbed or a giant shark that must be killed. The bigger the resistance and the more relatable to the hero, the better the story.

The truth – The truth is your argument – what you believe in and what you are arguing. Some might call this the “theme” or “message” of the story, but at its core the truth is simply the belief you are trying to inspire in the audience of your story.

Every great story has 4 parts: human hero, a goal, resistance, and the truth, says @Robert_Rose. #storytelling Click To Tweet

Now, if you are a fan of Joe’s book Content Inc., you can roughly map these four attributes to what he calls the anatomy of a content mission.

Human = core target audience – In most cases your business story’s hero is the audience you are targeting. At a broader storytelling level, your human hero must simply be relatable to your target audience. In every great story, the audience can see themselves in the hero.

Goal = what will be delivered – The content must meet the desire of your audience consciously or subconsciously. If it is conscious then you promise what the audience said it desired. If it is subconscious then you either illuminate something previously unknown by your audience or challenge a core belief and work to successfully alter it. Again, the best stories satisfy both conscious and unconscious goals.

Resistance = outcome for the audience – As content marketers, you help deliver challenges and adventures for the audience to go through. The bigger the challenges and the more satisfyingly you pull the audience through them – the more satisfying the story and the more convincing the argument.

Truth = content tilt. Joe calls his “content tilt” the “sweet spot.” This is the differentiator and should be the greater truth that you illuminate. This is your unique point of view, and ultimately what you want your audience to believe. As Joe points out, entrepreneur Ann Reardon started a blog called How To Cook That. Her truth, or content tilt, is that she believes that “a qualified food scientist and dietician who likes to cook (should teach you to make) ridiculously unhealthy desserts!” He didn’t make that up. It’s the first line of her About Us page.

That brings us to Act 2 – the tests and challenges.

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Act 2: The challenge of the 7 questions

To get to the four parts of a great story, break down this framework further and pressure test the component elements of your story. I created seven questions to which satisfying answers should be present in your story.

When you’ve created a great story, you should be able to provide satisfying answers to these questions:

Who is your human hero? Identify the person who will be on the journey.

What is the hero’s constriction? What is pressing the hero to action? Something in their world is broken and the hero is being pushed or pulled to fix it.

What is the hero’s desire? What is the conscious or unconscious desire of our human hero?

What relationships can help? What (or who) are the important relationships that will help your human hero move through this adventure?

What is the resistance? What is the active resistance to your hero? What seems impossible to overcome?

What are the adventures? What are the series of tests and challenges that must be overcome? Have you truly tested your hero? If you have holes in your story – where your audience will disbelieve your argument – it is usually because you haven’t truly tested your hero.

What Is the truth? – What is your argument? It may be connected to a conscious desire or the hero may discover the truth through the adventures that transpire.

The answers to these questions can be combined to get to your content mission or to pressure test the story you have in mind.

Act 3: The framework in action

Once you have identified answers to the seven components, you can combine them into the four parts of the great story to get to the anatomy of your content mission. To help put this into context, let’s look at an example.

Recently, I was privileged to work with an institutional financial services company on a new content mission. It was looking for a new and clearer focus for its digital magazine. The publication was working, but the articles from different parts of the business were becoming broader and less valuable. The team wanted a clearly defined – and differentiating – story for the magazine that they could communicate.

We worked through the answers to the seven components and combined them into the four parts of their new story. As you’ll see below, the components are well detailed but certainly not perfect. The team is still working on using this to polish the mission for internal and external audiences.

The human (combines the hero and the constriction) – The hero is the financial advisor who is under increasing pressure to perform for clients and to prove expertise and ability to manage money is better than an algorithm.

The desire (combines the desire and relationships) – These advisors need and want continuing education. They don’t need more noise; they need unique perspective and guidance from expert portfolio managers, trusted colleagues, and true thought leaders in the industry to remain relevant to their clients.

The resistance (combines resistance and adventures) – The advisor’s world is in danger of becoming automated by algorithms and artificial intelligence. It’s an atmosphere that increasingly devalues the human investor. Time is pressure. Today’s advisor must get to deeper meaning, perspective, and the long view as quickly as possible.

The truth. Human investing is the only investing. It is a higher calling. And once the advisor has this ability, he can not only deliver the long-term value for clients, the advisor can deliver sustainability in his career.

Can’t you see better stories, better posts, and overall a differentiated value coming from that framework? Remember, the framework and how you construct it isn’t itself meant to be the mission. It’s meant to help you convey the mission. You can use the four parts of your great story as the anatomy of a wonderful and differentiated argument, the heart of a great business story.

A wonderful and differentiated argument is the heart of a great business story. @Robert_Rose #storytelling Click To Tweet

To be clear, it’s not a template. I very much see this as Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer’s Journey, described Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. As he writes, the Hero’s Journey “is not an invention, but an observation … a set of principles that govern the conduct of life and the world of storytelling the way physics and chemistry govern the physical world.”

In other words, not every great story will have some earth-shattering, differentiating answer to every question. But the better the answers, the better chance you have something truly worth exploring. So, the framework can be a tool of expedience; getting to a better story more quickly. Or over a longer time, the framework might help you develop a bigger and better story where none existed.

Overall, I just hope it becomes another tool in your skill box, helping you to become an amazing storyteller in a world that will increasingly value that talent.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

The post The Business Story Argument: A Working Framework to Pressure Test Your Story appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

from http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2018/02/business-story-argument/

[roinish]

I have had the honor and privilege of mentoring students who applied for a few Top Ivy League Colleges. And I even have 2 clients who are currently at Harvard. So given my interaction with them here are some of the pointers I feel will help you become a Top Student yourself.1. Very Clear Cut GoalAlmost every Top Notch performer I have worked with has a very clear cut goal stated IN WRITING. They have this goal pasted on top of their study table, in the toilet, on a notice board in the house, and some of them even have a piece of paper in their pocket. That is the kind of obsession they have with their goal.It is very clear. It is very specific. They have the date, the time, the number - whatever possible to make the goal as clear, as specific, as measurable and as powerful as possible. For instance - I have met a peak performer who stated “I want to run fast” rather I have met people who achieved their goal as “At the Dubai Half Marathon on 3rd December 2017, I will run 21kms in 1 hour 59 minutes”.And once they create and craft their goal - they work backwards to where they are currently at the moment.Top notch students have a long term strategy where they are, where they wish to go and they even know why they want to get there.2. Long Term Plan I have yet to meet a student who just planned out his future for one year. But I have met many Top notch performers who have clearly stated a long term strategy. For instance students have a clear cut goal of what their future is going to be like I will take up science stream with specialization in 123, from there I will pursue a career as a doctor who will specialize in XYZ, from the University of ABC. And after that…..”It is never a 6 months or 1 year goal. Never. It is always a career plan that is carefully and intelligently crafted for a lifetime.3. Backup Plans There is a certain thrill that comes from having an outlandish goal and achieving it. And don’t we all love to have a underdog success story! However, smart & practical people know that there is always a possibility that they may fail. So even though the student (or competitor) goes Kamakazi with a “Do or Die” attitude in heart, there is always a smart strategy being kept alive in their mind - that is in case failure comes knocking on their door. So that is where not just Plan (A) is in effect, there is always a Plan (B) kept secretly intact. And if Plan (B) doesn’t work, there is a Plan (C).4. 100% Family SupportIf there is one criteria I feel is exceptionally important - it would be this one. You cannot - just cannot succeed in your goal to become a Top Student if you have an environment that doesn’t support your goal.Imagine trying to study in a noisy house where everyone is watching TV or having fun with their friends. Almost every Top Student I worked with - the Mother, the Father and the entire family was behind the youngster. You need this kind of support every single day - day-in and day-out.I have literally known parents who wake up with the young child in the morning (at 2am) prepare his/her breakfast and then go to sleep. At 5am drive the child to extra classes. After classes, the child is taken to school. En the breakfast is given. Once school is done with - again the child is picked up and brought home. Once at home - lunch, a 1 hour nap - and back to studies. And after that a break - rest and then back to studies with another tutor. Finally dinner and sleep. Throughout the entire schedule - the parent - both the Father and Mother ensure that the child is being supported towards this one goal.*5. Consistency * You can not and I mean CANNOT achieve Top Notch Status if you are not consistent. It is not about taking the book for one day - reading it for 18 hours and thats it. Day after day after day the student takes up his book to study, learn, research and focus completely on his goal - to become Number 1. And there are some whom I have known to be consistent towards their goal for 12 years - which calls for incredible consistency.6. Total Immersion & Obsession If you want the 1st step and only step among everything else towards being a Top Notch Student - it would be this one ingredient. The level of Immersion (being involved and into something) and the amount of Obsession (Crazy Focus) with regards to their goal in life is beyond human.I remember meeting this young girl (South Indian) at my residence. Her parents had brought her to me with regards to preparing her for a Presentation. No matter what I asked her - even casually, there was only one answer, one priority, one focus - she wanted to be Number 1 in her college with the highest marks.When I asked her what her hobbies were, when I asked her what she did in her spare time and even when I asked her what she liked - there was only one answer - To succeed in her goal of being the Number 1 student. Even though I felt it was a bit extreme - but I was blown away with the intensity and her focus. And mind you - by speaking to her for a few minutes - I knew 100% she would achieve her goal no matter what.So if you want to be a Top Notch student - this element is paramount.7. Smart Choices of Friends Here is a Pop Quiz for you - Choose one.Do you think a Rank Holder will spend time with Rank Holders who are focused on their goals of achieving Number 1 status in College, those who are studious and who love studies ORDo you think a Rank Holder will spend his time Dropouts, youngsters who are addicted to substances, those who have no interest in Education or in being the best?Which one do you think makes more sense?Remember - Mix Hot & Cold water and what do you think happens? Keep someone healthy with a bunch of unhealthy people - what do you think will happen?Keep this much in mind - Bankers hang around with Bankers, Scientists hang around with people of science, Bikers hang around with other fellow Bikers and Marathoners hang around with people who run Marathon. So what kinds of people you think Top Students would hang around with? In fact - ask yourself - What kinds of people would the parents of such Top Students would allow their children to be surrounded with?8. Smart Choices of Execution I get tons of ideas sent to me every single day on how to achieve a goal or a business or a new venture. And I always tell them one simple thing - Ideas are worthless. Execution is everything. For entering into the elusive world of being called a “Top Student” - its not just theories and plans that are focused upon - the execution of these plans are studied, researched and implemented. That is why some of the parents end up at my doorstep because they are searching for that ‘something new’ or that something ‘extra’ which will push their child towards success.So you must have ‘action’ and not just theory if you are looking to be a Top Student. And that action should be implemented not only by the Student but by the Parent also.9. The Power Habits How many times did you check your smartphone for notifications? How many hours did you study? What time did you wake up? Which professor did you consult today? How many classes have you attended during the year?I have personally noticed that Top Students do not have any habits or engage in any activity that takes them out of their zone or away from their goals.You are a creature of your habits. And you cannot achieve any success in any endeavor if you do not have powerful habits. And Top Students have Powerful Habits.10. Self Evaluation Feedback Loop How would you know if a supplement offers you the benefits it says it delivers? How would you know if an exercise is truly helping you become better, faster, stronger and more competitive? How would you know if the new coach you appointed is the right coach for you?You evaluate it through a test or you check it through constant & acute observations.Top notch Students constantly have tests and exams to know where they stand, how much they understood, what did they understand, where they weak points are and where they need to improve on. And it is not just one time but every single week and every single month that such tests are undertaken.The reason for this - they are very clear about the pace, the speed and the performance they are looking for. And just as if you had a terrible or miserable performance throughout the year during the trials - you cannot become a star suddenly on the day that it truly matters - in the same way Top Students ensure they are 100% battle tested every single moment.11. Sacrifices I recently watched the Indian Movie Dangal (Dangal (film) - Wikipedia ) A very powerful and inspirational sports biopic staring Indian Superstar Aamir Khan where he narrates the story of how Mahavir Singh Phogat (played by Aamir Khan) ensures both his daughters become India’s first world-class female wrestlers.You should seriously watch the movie in its complete entirety. An exceptionally powerful movie. What I really loved about this movie was the depiction of how sacrifice was clearly shown to be the underlining factor that pushed this family and these two girls to achieve their dreams.I personally had moments of tears when watching this movie because it was so real. So the point I am trying to make here is - without sacrifices - truly heartbreaking and intensely blood churning sacrifices - you cannot - just cannot achieve success. Or for that matter become A Top Notch Student.12. The Extra Mile Even though I am not a Top Student where Academics is concerned, I consider myself a Top Student where my field of work is concerned which is Personal Branding, Communication & Peak Performance. And this has lead me from my simple humble beginning as an School Dropout Toilet Cleaner who started his career with nothing and no money - to being the World’s Best at what I do today - Personal Branding. And even though I am a South Indian with a South Indian accent - I have tutored and trained World Class Speakers.So how is this humanly possible?It is possible because I followed one simple principle in life: “Never let anyone out prepare you” If someone was practicing their speech 10 times, I choose to practice mine 100 times. If someone committed to 100 drafts, I would ensure my speech would go through 3,000 drafts. If I learnt that the industry standard while preparing a speech was 30 days before the actual speech performance - I would prepare my 365 days before the planned date. Such was my extreme planning, preparation & commitment.I never ever ever let anyone out-prepare me. And that is why I achieved success more than anyone else.If you can wake up and workout when the world is sleeping, if you can sacrifice all the pleasures of a good life just for your goal, if you can say no to others when everyone is calling you to have a good time because you need to focus on your goals - you my friend will achieve immortality.13. Diet, Breathing & Meditation This may sound like a rather weird or unheard of combination. And to be honest, even I didn’t know this ingredient existed - however, once I started interacting with top-notch performers - I realized this was a very powerful component to the movers and shakers of our generation.Most of the high performance achievers at Harvard, Yale & the top Ivy League schools are very particular what they eat, how much they eat and when they eat. Its not like they do not eat burgers, pizza’s and fries - but the majority are very particular about what they eat. And most of them eat to live - and not live to eat. Because end of the day - they have to get back to ‘work’.Where Breathing & Meditation is concerned - most of them given the amount of work they do - ensure they are able to reset their system and get back into the zone of work. And that is why they always spend time either Exercising light to ensure health and yes, Meditate to ensure their minds are fresh and powerful.There is nothing like having a powerful body and powerful mind as the ultimate combination.14. Routine I have stated this in almost every answer possible and nearly all successful have this particular ingredient - a Routine.If you haven’t read the routine I follow - here is the link:Loy Machedo's answer to What is Loy Machedo's daily routine like?Loy Machedo's answer to Can Loy Machedo suggest a daily routine for a teenager going to college to become a successful person in life?Loy Machedo's answer to What is Loy Machedo's daily routine from the time he wakes up in the morning until he goes to sleep at night? Does he maintain such routine through out the year? If his routine changes then when and why?To achieve that level of success - you must have a routine. Without this - forget it.15. Professional Coaching & Mentoring Sometimes I wish someone had told me how important this particular factor was - I really really really wish I knew this. Because had I known how powerful and impactful this particular aspect was towards success - I would have begged - literally begged my parents to get me a mentor.Almost ALL and I mean ALL successful people have mentors. If you have a mentor, with everything else being equal - your chance to success increases at least 1000% more than the person who doesn’t have a mentor.Need I say more?16. Money Talks In the end - if there is one trait that is the most unfair and most painfully obvious - it would be this one - Money. Without money, you cannot get yourself into a world-class educational institute, you cannot get yourself world class facilities, you cannot get yourself a world-class mentor and you cannot get yourself into a world-class environment. Sad as it sounds - you need money to help you make more money. And without this - you will never - and I mean NEVER be able to achieve your dreams - at least easily.Yes, there have been students who have been awarded scholarships, but then again - how many do you think can boast of this rare privilege? And if you are looking forward to enter in Harvard or some top notch institute - do you see it being a cake-walk?You need this valuable resource. And it is only those who have planned for this day will be able to access and take advantage of the opportunities that present itself. Given the amount of competition, the number of people who want to succeed and the limited number of chances available - the person who has the money - will be able to take advantage than the person who doesn’t have any.So I hope these pointers gave you some insight into what goes into being a Top Student. Let me know what you think about it in the comments section below. Would love to hear from you.source http://ift.tt/2lv7aNB via /r/LifeProTips