One of the more interesting parts of my job at FedEx is to be a blog coach. My duties as a blog coach include helping bloggers find interesting angles on daily ideas, create and edit blog posts. Basically do whatever it takes to keep bloggers interested in creating content and inspired to find new things to talk about. It’s quite the rewarding experience when it works.
Recently, one of my bloggers gave me some feedback that since she’s been telling her story on the FedEx Citizenship blog, everywhere she goes people are telling her their story. They tell her stories in hopes that she’ll find them fascinating or that she’ll be moved as much as they are to tell our audience about them. She tells me she is now hearing stories everywhere she goes. Now she’s overwhelmed, doesn’t know which story to tell. Is this not a fascinating dilemma?
The truth is people have come to see her—and others that write for the blog—as a storyteller. She’s a channel in which stories get told. People have become aware of her audience, the impact that each one of her posts has on people and they want to become part of the experience.
To be a true storyteller, it’s not so much about the stories you tell, but listening for the stories that are out there. If you become a storyteller, understand it’s not just about what you have to say. But it’s what you will hear.
1 response so far ↓
amy // September 2, 2009 at 9:41 pm
If you don’t tell your own story, somebody else will. My #1 rule for PR but agree you have to listen first and foremost. Great blog