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Storytelling

Diversity = Strength !!

June 23, 2020 By Marilyn Barefoot Leave a Comment

I am certain you’ve heard it before — seek input, be inclusive, welcome perspectives, collaborate with others. But why? Why is this type of inclusion beneficial for individuals, teams, and organizations?

When individuals from different walks of life come together and share unique viewpoints, there is an increase in positive results.

Without diversity of thought, innovation is thwarted, and corporate initiatives may stall.

You need to approach issues with a number of perspectives to be able to see the big picture.

Leaders must leverage the strengths that vary from person to person as well as their unique contexts, preferences, and life experiences.

Many organizations that lack diversity face a common problem: There’s not enough dissent.

When homogenous teams engage in groupthink, they fail to consider outside perspectives, and therefore create blind spots that later get them in trouble.

By inviting people with different cultural experiences and perspectives to the table, organizations can eliminate those blind spots. How? By enhancing understanding of how messaging, products, and services are received by people with different points of view.

And that’s just one way diversity builds strength. Diversity also fosters innovation and creative problem solving by pushing everyone to look at things from different perspectives.

It leverages the different life experiences of team members to create products, services, and solutions that are much more unique than its competitors. This process also helps generate ideas that are more flexible and adaptable to the ever-changing market and customer demands.

And what about attracting that illusive top talent?

Organizations that rank higher in diversity are 25% more likely to attract and retain great talent.

Diversity broadens talent pools, and has been shown to make all employees more engaged and productive.

Inviting diverse perspectives means that on an individual level, we feel appreciated and heard.

Here are some don’ts to keep in mind!

Practice inclusion without delusion!!

Don’t just implement inclusion initiatives for the sake of best practices. Do so out of genuine curiosity and interest.

If you don’t believe someone’s input is worth hearing, believe me, they’ll feel that at their core!

And lastly for the contributors … bring your whole self to the conversation! Your unique experience of the world is both valid and valued!

Every perspective matters!

We’re all moving in a direction toward a common goal in our organizations.

When everyone contributes their perspective to the goal, we can get there more efficiently, more creatively, and more successfully.

Diversity equals strength!


Marilyn

Barefoot Brainstorming

If it’s time to ramp up your team’s innovation and collaboration abilities – we can help! Contact us today. 

For brainstorming tips, presentation and storytelling skills, or keynote speaking pointers be sure to follow Barefoot Brainstorming on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. OR see us in action on YouTube and Instagram!
We would love to hear from you! Leave us a comment down below or tag us on social media.

Storytelling For Inclusion!!

June 10, 2020 By Marilyn Barefoot Leave a Comment

There are few things more gripping than a great story.

Storytelling is part of our make-up, helping to entertain, educate and inspire us.

In business, storytelling is an intrinsic part of our working lives.

We like to hear stories and share them because they give us hope and motivate us.

They also influence our everyday workplace culture.

So why and how does storytelling have such an influence in inclusion?

An organisation’s culture is a culmination of all the stories we hear and share at work every day.

Imagine a story being told in the office about how a colleague who was so excited to be hired that they sent a thank you email to the CEO, and received a delightful email in response.

Storytelling is highly emotional creating either a positive or negative reaction.

The messages they communicate can make or break organisational culture.

There’s no magic formula when it comes to creating a truly diverse and inclusive organisation. It’s about doing a wide range of things in unison. But if there’s one theme that runs through everything we do, its storytelling.

True inclusion means encouraging, hearing and responding to everyone’s story. People want to feel included. They need a sense of acceptance and belonging because of who they are, rather than who the organisation thinks they should be.

Everybody has an inclusion story – even those you might not expect!


Marilyn

Barefoot Brainstorming

If it’s time to ramp up your team’s innovation and collaboration abilities – we can help! Contact us today. 

For brainstorming tips, presentation and storytelling skills, or keynote speaking pointers be sure to follow Barefoot Brainstorming on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. OR see us in action on YouTube and Instagram!
We would love to hear from you! Leave us a comment down below or tag us on social media.

Storytelling for a Cause

October 14, 2019 By Marilyn Barefoot Leave a Comment

Golden retriever sleeping beside a foot
@Diane Bergeron with her dog Lucy

A couple of years ago I had the honour and privilege of being invited to the CNIB Lake Joseph Centre, for a strategic planning offsite … and storytelling.

I had worked with the CNIB before, but had no idea that they owned and operated a property north of the city.

What an incredibly beautiful place … says I … the fully sighted facilitator amongst 50 visually impaired and blind guests.

Truly, I spent my 2 days with these folks taking one foot out of my mouth so I could put the other one in!!

The day of my session, I got up early to set up the beautiful big living room space where we would be doing the session.

I thought it was early enough in the day that I could get all my stuff sorted out and be ready to greet everyone after breakfast.

When I arrived at the main building to set up the room, there were already 3 or 4 people gathered in running gear warming up.

It was still dark outside so I warned them to be very careful and not wrench an ankle. ‘Of course it’s dark outside, Marilyn … it’s dark outside all the time for us!’

This was the beginning of a day that changed my life.

As the group headed out for their run tethered to their dogs or each other, I watched the sun rise over Lake Muskoka.

After breakfast, the guests worked in teams and crafted their stories to answer the following question;

When were you first struck with the realization that, through your work at CNIB, you had made a meaningful impact on someone’s life?

Then, one by one, we sat on the edge of our seats and listened, laughed, and cried, as each guest presented their story.

That day CNIB realized that they not only possessed incredibly powerful stories, but amazing storytellers. They also realized that in order to create authentic human connections with the sighted world, they must share those stories.

@Diane Bergeron was leading the early morning run that day with her dog Lucy. She also was one of the first to stand in the session, and tell several very personal stories.

She asked the sighted guests to close their eyes when she told her stories so we could truly appreciate them from her perspective.

Storytelling is one of the most powerful and evocative skills we possess as humans … it is also one of our strongest and oldest impulses.

At Lake Joseph, I also gained a new appreciation of storytelling as the most accessible art form!

For Brainstorming, Presentation or Storytelling workshop information click here

For brainstorming tips, presentation and storytelling skills, or keynote speaking tips and tools be sure to sign up here: http://eepurl.com/cFGp5H


Marilyn

Barefoot Brainstorming

If it’s time to ramp up your team’s innovation and collaboration abilities – we can help! Contact us today. 

For brainstorming tips, presentation and storytelling skills, or keynote speaking pointers be sure to follow Barefoot Brainstorming on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. OR see us in action on YouTube and Instagram!
We would love to hear from you! Leave us a comment down below or tag us on social media.

Offsites that get Learning off on the Right foot !

June 25, 2019 By Marilyn Barefoot Leave a Comment

Next Level Offsites

I recently had the supreme honour and privilege of attending and presenting at the IABC World Conference in Vancouver #IABC19

One of the tremendous benefits of being a presenter is that you are invited to attend any and all of the other sessions!

The Hyatt Regency Vancouver is a 5 minute walk to the seawall, so I made it my goal to start every morning with a run … easy when your body is 3 hours ahead of west coast time!

My runs were breathtaking (both literally and figuratively) … it had been a few weeks since I had strapped on the shoes!!

The keynotes and the breakout sessions that I attended were packed with new learning and fresh faces. It was like going back to school … only this time it was my choice! I devoured every minute of it!

The experience in Vancouver made a huge impact on me. In fact, it fueled the content of this blog which looks at the incredible advantages of offsite learning.

So many things happen when you take learning offsite!

Focus – People are more focused and therefore learn more effectively when they are away from the office. They are not distracted by phones or emails throughout the day.

Engaged – When learning takes place away from the office, a change of scenery has a very positive effect. Engagement is higher which helps everyone get the most out of the sessions.

Networking – Offsite learning often provides more space to run larger sessions including people from other businesses, departments or teams. This is great for networking and teamwork. It also improves the learning experiences, when people can share advice and ideas on what works best for them.

… And of course I get it that when it comes to budgets, every penny counts! So, you must ensure that every participant learns as much as possible, and retains the learning.  

Studies have revealed that 90% of new learning is lost within a year. So yes, the environment in which the learning is delivered is paramount to retention.

It doesn’t have to be a view of snow-capped mountains in Vancouver, but please try your best to avoid the windowless training room in your offices!

IABC offsite brainstorm

IABC brainstorming session

IABC Group brainstorm

IABC brainstorming session

Photos courtesy of IABC

If it’s time to ramp up your team’s innovation and collaboration abilities – we can help! Contact us today. 

Marilyn

Barefoot Brainstorming


We would love to hear from you! Leave us a comment down below or tag us on social media.
For brainstorming tips, presentation and storytelling skills, or keynote speaking pointers be sure to follow Barefoot Brainstorming on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. OR see us in action on YouTube and Instagram!

Brainstorming Tool Kit

May 28, 2019 By Marilyn Barefoot Leave a Comment

Tool Kit

Every month we will be adding items to your brainstorming tool kit. I hope you enjoy the following with your team:

Rory’s Story Cubes – A limitless source of story ideas

Rory’s Story Cubes consists of a set of nine small cubes, much like conventional dice. Each cube features a different image on each side, for a total of 54 images in the entire set. They are meant to inspire storytelling and creative ideas.

These symbols can have a nearly infinite number of meanings. You are free to interpret each symbol however you like – or in whatever way suggests an idea for a story.

Here is one way I love to use them.

Session Kick Off/Introductions

Create small teams of 9. Provide each team with a cup full of the 9 story cubes (you will need a few sets). Ask someone to shake the cup and then randomly distribute 1 cube to each member of the team. No one should look at their cube until it is their turn.

Go around the team and ask each person to randomly reveal 1 side of their cube. Each person is then asked to use that image to create a 30 second story.

The topic for the story could be any one of the following:

  1. How the image relates to them as a person.
  1. How the image relates to what they do for the company.
  1. How the image relates to the weirdest, or funniest thing that has ever happened to them.
  1. How the image relates to what they hope to get out of the session/meeting.

If it’s time to put a modern spin on your next Storytelling workshop – we can help! Contact us today. 

Marilyn

Barefoot Brainstorming


We would love to hear from you! Leave us a comment down below or tag us on social media.
For brainstorming tips, presentation and storytelling skills, or keynote speaking pointers be sure to follow Barefoot Brainstorming on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. OR see us in action on YouTube and Instagram!

The ‘So What’ Around Brand Storytelling

May 27, 2019 By Marilyn Barefoot Leave a Comment

Brand Story

So what?! These 2 words are a really big deal for me.

I wish this question/these 2 words were a really big thing for more people, particularly in business!

When you are in a meeting, giving a presentation, sending an e-mail or telling a story, it is imperative to ask yourself the question … So What?!

It sounds incredibly simple and basic, but you would be amazed at how infrequently we all stop and think ‘So What?!’

To grab the attention of consumers, you have to stand out. And the way to stand out is to make sure your brand story can answer the question ‘So What?!’

At their most basic level, brand stories are your unique connection to your audience. No one wants to read a laundry list of great brand attributes. Anyone can do that, and it’s really boring.

Start by outlining some baseline facts about your business and the brand. The deeper you dive into this exercise, the more ideas will float to the top.

  1. Who are you?
  2. What do you do?
  3. How and why you do what you do?

Dig deep and look for interesting pieces of the answers that make you unique and able to tell a story that no one else can tell.

Contrary to popular belief, brand storytelling is not about your company. It’s about your customers and the value that they get when engaging with your product or service.

The most powerful brand stories are the ones that prioritize customers as the stars.

 ‘Land Rover’s campaign offers a brilliant example and a reminder that the best stories are not your own, but those of your customers and your fans. Sourcing those stories might be tough, but when you find those that truly touch people’s hearts, invest in bringing them to life and prioritize them over your product message.’

 

My story in starting this business began with being laid off by BBDO. Yeah … so what? What makes the story captivating and memorable is not what happened, but how it made me feel. In my case, it made me feel like I had fallen on the ground so hard that the wind had been knocked out me … literally … I was gasping for breath.

The same is true for brand stories. Brand storytelling doesn’t have to be complex but it does have to be emotional … and it does have to be real, human, and most of all answer the question ‘So What?!’

If it’s time to ramp up your team’s storytelling skills and sales abilities – we can help! Contact us today. 

Marilyn

Barefoot Brainstorming


We would love to hear from you! Leave us a comment down below or tag us on social media.
For brainstorming tips, presentation and storytelling skills, or keynote speaking pointers be sure to follow Barefoot Brainstorming on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. OR see us in action on YouTube and Instagram!

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