Challenge and Selection

Storytelling is of vital importance to consulting in that it is one of the main deliverables  that clients are seeking when they look to hire a partner. People don’t just want to be  told what to do; they want the story behind why the status quo is not working and how  your proposition will make a difference. When I work with different firms, oftentimes  marketing teams are tasked with the impossible and stretched very thin. That means it's  my job to dig into what’s broken, ask questions, create efficiency, and ultimately —  deliver a story to my clients about how we can transform their day to day work from the  way things are to the way things can be. This requires getting to know my clients and  understanding how they will best receive news, both the good and the bad.

Application

Delivering results to a client is about more than just handing them the plan of  execution. For people to feel that they are partners in an engagement, the art of  storytelling is key. In concluding an engagement and delivering results, I use  storytelling to remind clients about the journey we’ve taken together throughout the  last few months. I begin with the problem that we worked closely together to refine.  This is a helpful refresher on how our goals were established and what our KPIs will  measure in the results. I then talk about how our hypotheses informed the experiments  that we conducted, and the reasoning behind what worked, what didn’t, what we  learned, and why I feel the final results are the best path forward. Walking clients  through the whole story of the engagement helps them feel included in the journey  and invested in the new beginnings.

Insight and Approach

The difference between reading results from a slide deck and telling a story make a  world of difference in how people receive new direction. I’ve learned that including  people—listening to them, making them feel heard, and incorporating their thoughts  into the broader story—helps inform results just as much as the experimentation  methods chosen. After all, a consulting engagement is only as valuable as the handoff  between consultant and client. If your client doesn’t feel motivated about the path  forward, then everyone’s time has been wasted. This course has helped me to  understand the true value of storytelling in many different contexts. Most notably, I’ve  learned that crafting a good story begins with listening to the client from the very  beginning, and taking their voices into account every step of the way.


Challenge and Selection Storytelling is of vital importance to consulting in that it is one of the main deliverables that clients are seeking when they look to hire a partner . People do n’t just want to be told what to do ; they want the story behind why the status quo is not working and how your proposition will make a difference . When I work with different firms , oftentimes marketing teams are tasked with the impossible and stretched very thin . That means it 's my job to dig into what ’s broken , ask questions , create efficiency , and ultimately — deliver a story to my clients about how we can transform their day to day work from the way things are to the way things can be . This requires getting to know my clients and understanding how they will best receive news , both the good and the bad . Application Delivering results to a client is about more than just handing them the plan of execution . For people to feel that they are partners in an engagement , the art of storytelling is key . In concluding an engagement and delivering results , I use storytelling to remind clients about the journey we ’ve taken together throughout the last few months . I begin with the problem that we worked closely together to refine . This is a helpful refresher on how our goals were established and what our KPIs will measure in the results . I then talk about how our hypotheses informed the experiments that we conducted , and the reasoning behind what worked , what did n’t , what we learned , and why I feel the final results are the best path forward . Walking clients through the whole story of the engagement helps them feel included in the journey and invested in the new beginnings . Insight and Approach The difference between reading results from a slide deck and telling a story make a world of difference in how people receive new direction . I ’ve learned that including people — listening to them , making them feel heard , and incorporating their thoughts into the broader story — helps inform results just as much as the experimentation methods chosen . After all , a consulting engagement is only as valuable as the handoff between consultant and client . If your client does n’t feel motivated about the path forward , then everyone ’s time has been wasted . This course has helped me to understand the true value of storytelling in many different contexts . Most notably , I ’ve learned that crafting a good story begins with listening to the client from the very beginning , and taking their voices into account every step of the way .