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CORPORATE STORYTELLING:
Discovering Fire for the Second Time
Vol. 7, No. 8, 2007

Publisher: Evelyn Clark
evelyn@corpstory.com http://www.corpstory.com

(c) Clark & Company 2007

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“If you don’t know what to do, it’s harder to do it.”
--Malcolm Forbes

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IN THIS ISSUE

1. Three Steps to Clear Decision-Making

2. Questions, Anyone?

3. The "Seven Dirty Words" of E-Mail—Plus 100 More

4. "Telling Tales" Re-Published in Canada

5. Corporate Storytelling Live

1. Three Steps to Clear Decision-Making

After handing a life-or-death crisis in her own company, Luda Kopeikina was inspired to write a book on how to make clear decisions even in the toughest of times. As she thought through the process while writing The Right Decisions Every Time: How to Reach Perfect Clarity on Tough Decisions, Kopeikina found that clear decisions require just three steps:
1) Identify the best decision-making process
2) Find the best data and analysis available
3) Set a goal of clarity in defining the solution

In an interview published in MIT Sloan Management Review, Kopeikina says that clarity is “a state of coherence. It involves three systems: emotional, physical, and mental. It is a state of being physically relaxed, of being happy and having confidence, and of being mentally focused on the task at hand.” Once that state is achieved, Kopeikina recommends that the decision-maker “speak up about your decision rather than picking conceding to what everyone else wants.”

To read the entire interview with Kopeikina, visit: http://sloanreview.mit.edu/smr/decisionmaking/

2.Questions, Anyone?

Have you ever given a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session—only to feel lost when there were no questions? In a recent article from Melcrum Communications, Angela Sinickas of Sinickas Communications offered several suggestions for making any presentation and/or Q&A session more effective by putting the audience at ease.

First, distribute an outline of the subjects to be covered prior to the meeting to give attendees time to think about them. Second, as people arrive, greet them at the door; this is especially effective for top executives because it gives the leader a chance to “get a first-hand sense of what’s on employees' minds.” (Editor’s note: Meeting executives one-on-one also makes employees more comfortable about interacting with their leaders.) Third, be prepared with some questions for the audience to warm them up, which will initiate the desired conversation.

3. The "Seven Dirty Words" of E-Mail—Plus 100 More

No doubt you’ve received your share of e-mails with the subject line of "Earn extra cash" or "Lower your mortgage rate". After George Carlin’s famous "Seven Dirty Words" forbidden on the airwaves, which also are "no-nos" for e-mail, there are 100 more words and phrases that should be avoided messages so they won’t be treated as spam.

According to an article from MarketingProfs.com, those words include such familiar headings as "100% Free," "50% Off” and "Act Now".

To read the entire list of words to be avoided in e-mail messages, go to: http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/seven-dirty-words-email-subject-lines-ayan.asp

4. "Telling Tales" Re-Published in Canada

Reflecting the far-reaching interest in corporate storytelling, an article based on Evelyn’s book and work has been reprinted in the current Canadian edition of The Costco Connection.

If you missed "Telling Tales" in the U.S. edition of the magazine in October, you may still access it at: http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/200710/?folio=22

5. Corporate Storytelling Live

An audience of 80 corporate communication executives applauded Evelyn’s recent master class at the European Storytelling Congress in Salzburg, Austria. Although many European companies are already employing stories systematically in their communications strategies, others are eager to learn how to leverage stories in their own organizations.

The top concern among the attendees was to hone their core corporate story. In a series of roundtable discussions that preceded the master class, a select number of the executives shared stories they currently are using to great effect. We’ll discuss one of those in the next issue of Corporate Storytelling, so stay tuned!

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