Getting Past the Smile

“And then he showed me the burn marks.”

The setting, mStoner’s planning room (picture the batcave, minus the bats and the really cool car but with plush microsuede couches and a shag leather rug). The quote, from Laurel, explaining that the best story she ever heard was from her father, who as a child ran into a burning house to save his dog and to this day has the scars to prove it. The impetus, Dark Kevin wondering whether the personal profile had died but had yet to be told it should bury itself. Death of personal profiles? In the face of such a challenge, we did what we always do: we ordered in, and hashed it out.

Since we launched the firm (almost 10 years ago now), every project has incorporated some sort of personal profile. Everyone agrees that these profiles help to connect prospective students to the school’s community, to show donors the life-changing impact of their generosity, to strengthen the bonds between alumni and their alma mater, and to humanize the organization for the people whom it serves. Profiles help to tell an institution’s story and to create a sense of authenticity in communications.

Problem is, we’ve seen so many profiles, on so many sites, of so many shiny happy people laughing, that the smile ceases to register. How do we get past the smile and into some substance?

Earlier today I went to a lunch meeting (Potbelly’s sandwiches, yum) on the subject of storytelling with Laurel, DK, James, Doug, Patrick, Jeremiah, and our good friends from Gaper’s Block, Andrew Huff and Naz Hamid. We shared some anecdotes from our personal experiences with interesting and unusual stories. As we talked, it became clear (to us, anyway) that the biggest problem with profiles used for storytelling is simply that a profile in and of itself isn’t a story. 

The Center for Digital Storytelling outlines seven key elements for a story told online:

Audience – Stories have a particular audience in mind.
Purpose – Stories are trying to accomplish a task (inform, educate, entertain, scare, etc.)
Content – Content must be meaningful. Digital content adds to the story.
Voice – Stories are told from a specific perspective(s) and uses the tellers voice to enrich the story.
Technology – Technology is used to extend the story.
Connections – Good stories connect with the participants.
Economy – Stories tell enough to get the point across and no more.

How many profiles have you seen recently that incorporate these elements? I think “economy” is particularly hard. It’s a huge task to cover diversity, collaboration, a supportive community, opportunities for leadership, the chance to see the world, friends for a lifetime, faculty members who know your name, and a brilliant post-degree future with a far-reaching alumni network in 300 words or fewer. 

Several sandwiches later, we landed on the simple idea of taking the focus off of the person … in favor of that person’s story. One discreet experience or encounter, told purposefully through a compelling, real voice, crafted carefully, and augmented by content (images, audio, video) that help make that experience come alive for the people the story was meant for. It seems like a small thing, but I don’t think it is. Imagine the difference between responding to “tell me about yourself” and What will you remember most about the first week of your freshman year?” Specificity, the primacy of the experience rather than the individual, a beginning and an end to the narrative, and most importantly, an actual point to it. 

Doug once said to me that he thought everyone had at least one good story in them. I’d agree. And most haven’t really had the chance to tell them yet.