From experience-seekers to story-seekers
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Keynote at the Victorian Tourism Conference - 20-21 July 2015
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- 3. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® At the end of the vacation, all pictures and videos will be destroyed. Furthermore, you will swallow a potion that will wipe out all your memories of the vacation. A provocation by D Kahneman
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- 5. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® “Let there be granted to the science of pleasure what is granted to the science of energy; to imagine an ideally perfect instrument, a psychophysical machine, continually registering the height of pleasure experienced by an individual, exactly according to the verdict of consciousness, or rather diverging therefrom according to a law of errors. From moment to moment the hedonimeter varies; the delicate index now flickering with the flutter of the passions, now steadied by intellectual activity, low sunk whole hours in the neighbourhood of zero, or momentarily springing up towards infinity.” FRANCIS EDGEWORTH 1881
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- 21. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® STORY ANTI- STORYVS
- 22. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® YOU CAN’T BEAT A STORY WITH A FACT, ONLY WITH A BETTER STORY
- 23. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® STORY-TRIGGERING P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K®
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- 29. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® S T O R Y T E L L I N G F O R L E A D E R SP U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K®
- 30. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® STORY-LISTENING P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K®
- 31. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® QUESTIONS WHAT STOOD OUT FOR YOU TODAY? DID YOU HEAR ANY GOOD STORIES? ANY MOMENTS YOU’LL REMEMBER FOR A WHILE? WHAT SURPRISED YOU? P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K®
- 32. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® ATTITUDE I’M INTERESTED I HAVE TIME IT’S FUN IT’S INFORMAL
- 33. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® S T O R Y T E L L I N G F O R L E A D E R SP U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K®
- 34. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® STORIES ARE MEMORABLE P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K®
- 35. P U T T I N G S T O R I E S T O W O R K® THANK YOU Shawn Callahan Twitter: @ShawnCallahan www.anecdote.com Email: shawn.callahan@anecdote.com Phone: +61 410 346 343
Editor's Notes
- The tourism industry is focused on experience-seeking. But I would like to propose that experiences are not enough. In fact they are ephemeral. We need to take it up a notch and foster story-seekers. When I travel I like to buy a book about some aspect of the place I’m going. Recently I went to Rome with my family and bought Michelangelo and the Popes Ceiling by Ross King. It’s about the Sistine Chapel. BTW Michelangelo didn’t paint it lying on his back. We bought tickets to the breakfast in the Vatican Museum which gave us access 90 minutes before everyone else.
- Have you ever been to the Vatican Museum? What do you notice about this picture? No people. My daughter and I raced through the galleries and when we got to the Sistine Chapel there were only a handful of people there. We spend over an hour looking at Michelangelo’s work. We even got to sit down and in our own time gaze up at the ceiling. This is unheard of.
- How much would you pay to go on the vacation?
- The tourism industry is focused on experience-seekers over destination seekers or happy snappy takers. But this is not a new interest.
- Back in 1881 English economist Francis Edgeworth proposed the invention of the hedonimeter to measure experience levels.
- Let imagine we have a hedonimeter and we follow a typical Aussie woman to the beach.
- Let’s call her Rhonda. When she arrives at the beach pleasure goes up and when she goes back to hotel pleasure returns to its starting point. The area under the curve is the total amount of pleasure Rhonda has at the beach. But what if something happened on the beach?
- Ketut comes down from the hotel to offer Rhonda drinks. There eyes meet. There is an attraction. Rhonda’s ‘experience’ at the beach is forgotten and the only thing remembered is her meeting Ketut. We remember peak experiences, good or bad. We remember what we feel.
- And so we should be looking for ways to help travellers create stories of their experiences. That will be the only thing that is remembered in the long run. Also stories can be retold which is the beginning of the word of mouth discussion of your tourism operation. You definitely want to facilitate stories to emerge.
- And there is more to story work than storytelling. http://www.anecdote.com/2011/11/making-most-story-work/
- Here are the foundations.
- Authors, screenwriters, advertising agencies all operate at the Big ‘S’ end of storytelling. Crafting effective stories using every trick in the Hollywood book. Everyone else is at the little ‘s’ end of storytelling. Those stories we tell our friends and family over a cup of coffee. We are interested in this end of the spectrum. We can learn some things from the other end but you don’t want to go too far and fall into the uncanny valley or storytelling. http://www.anecdote.com/2011/01/the-uncanny-valley-business-storytelling/
- http://www.anecdote.com/2014/09/story-framework-infographic/
- So how can storytelling make a difference to your tourism operation.
- I remember standing in front of this monumental painting with Sheenagh of Napoleon Bonaparte being crowned emperor of France by Pope Pius VII. Isabelle, our guide, told us that what had really happened on that day was that, just as the Pope had been about to place the crown on the new emperor’s head, Napoleon had snatched it away and crowned himself. This was faithfully depicted by the painter Jacques-Louis David, who loved the drama. But when Napoleon saw the painting, he understood that it would cause a PR nightmare, and so he demanded that the artist paint over his work to show the Pope doing the crowning. Isabelle told us to take a good look at David’s painting. As we moved closer, we began to see the old image under the newer one, age starting to reveal it. It was as if we had been let in on a secret. We had a story to tell.
- We had some great tour guides but the storytellers made the experience memorable.
- Sydney bridge climb train their guides to be storytellers but instead of giving them stories to tell, they teach their guides where to find them. That way the guides own the stories and can refresh them whenever they feel stale.
- Moments are one way to improve your storytelling. Here are some more http://www.anecdote.com/2015/07/improve-your-business-stories/
- This is the rookie mistake in storytelling http://www.anecdote.com/2014/12/business-storytelling-mistake/
- http://www.anecdote.com/2014/10/making-strategies-stick-tackle-anti-stories/ http://www.anecdote.com/2014/11/making-strategies-stick-tackling-anti-stories-part-2/
- http://www.anecdote.com/2015/06/how-to-counter-half-truths-and-lies-with-a-better-story/
- Sometimes you need to do something remarkable to trigger a story.
- My wife and I recently walked 115 kilometres of the Camino pilgrimage trail from Sarria to Santiago in the north of Spain.
- Along the trail we could hear music ahead on the path and then we see this unusual metal box.
- When we get closer we see it’s an advertisement for a nearby hotel for walkers on the trail including a little video. It was unexpected and interesting. It triggered a little story.
- We’d pre-booked our accommodation along the trail, and as a result, each night we would have dinner in a hotel restaurant. We would inevitably eat alone at our own table, as would five or six other couples. This meant that while there was a background hum of gentle conversation, few stories were told about that day’s activities because each couple had shared the experience.
- A simple and effective change would have been for the hotels to provide a communal table for Camino walkers. Fellow pilgrims would have had plenty to discuss with each other, and the stories would have instantly flowed. This would have benefited the storytellers as much as their audiences. When someone tells a story for the first time, they have an opportunity to make sense of an experience – it becomes more meaningful to them. A small change in the physical layout of a restaurant would have made all the difference.
- Religions do story-triggering as an art form (literally). http://www.anecdote.com/2014/08/trigger-foundation-stories/
- And of course we should help our guests tell their stories. It’s often the very first telling.
- Start with good questions. We have written a book called Character Trumps Credentials. You can get it on Amazon. If you have any troubles contact us at anecdote.com.
- Also you have to have the right attitude to hear someone’s story.
- On our private tour of The Louvre in Paris, our guide, Isabelle, said she planned to show us some special exhibits rather than overwhelm us with the museum’s full treasure trove. When we arrived at the Mona Lisa, Isabelle steered us past the gaggle of people crowding around the portrait until we were about 15 metres to one side of the painting. ‘Which way is the Mona Lisa facing?’ she asked us. We replied that she was clearly facing towards us, her chin pointing in our direction. ‘OK,’ said Isabelle, ‘now come with me’. We followed her to the other side of the gallery, where she asked us, ‘Which way is she facing now?’ We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. It was as if the Mona Lisa had turned her neck – not just her eyes – and was still facing us. This was a surprising, exhilarating experience, one that I have related many times. I don’t think I will ever forget it. Our guide had created a truly story-worthy experience. Imagine of your guests went away with a bunch of great stories to tell. Imagine how much more they would appreciate their visit.
- There is no doubt that stories are memorable. So to create memorable experiences for your guests look for ways to share stories, to trigger stories and to listen to their stories. Your business will reap the rewards and have fun doing it.