Episode 3: CROW is not just for the birds

The Storyteller's Mind Movie™ Makers Show

Melissa Reaves, Story Fruition:
Well, hello, mind movie makers. It's Melissa Reaves. I am here to work with you on how to become an awesome storyteller, especially in business. So today, we're going to talk about kind of the framework that I use to help executives understand how they could be more compelling.
And I'm a professional improviser. I have been with the Unexpected Productions here in Seattle for over 10 years, and I absolutely love it. And what they taught me was something called C.R.O.W. So improvisers know this acronym called C.R.O.W. And when I started working with executives, they like acronyms. They need a framework. And so I, being a storyteller, on the fly actually, and a regular storyteller that steps onto stages like The Moth, I realized they need this. So. C.R.O.W. stands for this. In all stories, when you follow it, you have a clear mind movie happening in the audience. So crow stands for characters, relationships, objective, and where. And I'm gonna break that down a little bit more. Every story that you tell, especially personal stories, you're one of the characters. And then someone else shows up, maybe one or two people.

And they have relationships. You either like them or you don't like them, okay? Or you don't know them and then you suddenly wanna know them. Or you liked them a lot and then you didn't like them at all. Those are transformational moments as that story unfolds. Which leads us to the O. So we have characters, relationship, objective. What is the point of this particular story that you're working on to craft? What are the stakes? What is the learning lesson?

That you are going to teach from this story sample. So is this a story about your resilience? Is this a story about fortitude and keep on going? Is this a story about listening, know, listening to another person? Is this an empathetic story where you see someone and maybe you in that stage of life were very kind of cocky and arrogant and then you met someone who humbled you? Those are gorgeous stories. And those are moments that if you can craft stories like that, you can become
quite magnetic in your leadership because people see you as human. Making mistakes, but learning from them. Some people just keep making mistakes. They just keep going. But not you. You're listening to this podcast because you want to learn how you can be a more heart-led, empathetic, clearer communicator. And I applaud you for that. Because guess what? You are a walking, talking storybook, as I said in the last episode and

We want your stories to show us, not just tell us. And that's very important what I just said. You want to show us, not just tell us. And then there's the where, okay? The where is, that's pretty multiple pronged. It has the where physically. So I usually start my stories with where. Where am I? Where am I physically, but where am I in life? If it's something that just happened, I'll let people know this was just a recent event.
But if it's something that happened years back, then I want to tell people how old I was, maybe even talk about the era. So we'll get into that a little bit more as to why we go into those depths. But you've got the where. And then there's also your mental or spiritual state of mind, right? So at the time of the story, where are you in life? Are you confused? Are you miserable? Are you absolutely floating high? Everything's great. You know, we want to know that because you're setting up your character. You're letting us get to know you. Then someone shows up in the story and something happens. So in my book, you'll see I use the hero's journey because it's a very, very easy framework once again to follow. So you're doing your thing and someone shows up and then you go on this adventure. It's a little, this is the story, okay? So there's not like, so just by setting it up properly.
with C.R.O.W.. you ignite the mind movie. And when you start to realize that all these little pieces of data that you're dropping in are really creating the mind movie. Most people who have not been trained in theater, because theater kids only care about the audience and their experience, they tend to say stories pretty vague, pretty bland. They leave out a lot of details. Is that you?

Are you listening to this? Because you're like, I think I could raise my game. Yeah, sure. It's okay if you're there. You're not alone. You're not alone. But what happens is when you're vague or you're assuming that people understand and you haven't been really clear, then what happens is your audience has to work harder. They have to like squint their brains to try and see where you are in life. Like sometimes people...

The common one is not identifying your age. So this is a story from the past, and all stories are from the past, but is it from the past past? Is this a childhood memory that you're sharing? How old were you? So let's say you're gonna tell a story about how you learned you were really good in marketing, because of your lemonade stand work. That's a great story. What'd you do? That could be an amazing story. But if you, were you six years old? Or were you 12 years old?

Because right there, those pieces of data right there, one, make the audience imagine you at that age. They actually will physically see you as like a six-year-old or a 12-year-old. But then very quickly, they become relating to that age group. They remember being six. They remember being 12. And with that comes a whole bunch of other stuff that's going on. What is a six-year-old value over a 12-year-old? Right?

And so when you're introducing yourself in the story by sharing your age and then sometimes the era, you know, like if I said it's 1971 and I am six years old and I have my mom's bridge card table lined up on the corner and I've got a bowl of lemonade and some oatmeal cookies. Alright. You can see all that, right?

Most people would say, when I was a little kid, I was really good at marketing and I remember being really good at my lemonade stands. Okay. You didn't tell me your age. I can see a lemonade stand, sure. But my other version, you saw it as my mom's bridge card table. What's that look like? And even when I said it's 1971, for those of us who were there and may have been in that age group, we remember that that 70s was loaded with a whole bunch of stuff.

You know, there was, you know, gas prices in Vietnam and Nixon and there was music and, you know, the Beatles were tearing up the sound. I was young. I wasn't following all that stuff. But my sister, Sheila, who was 17, was absolutely all over all of that. Right. And so that little piece of data helps define the character, but it also helps your audience see it and relate to it more. Alright. And that's following C.R.O.W.. Alright

So I'm going to give another example now of a story that most people would probably tell. Okay, so in business, we're telling a lot of different types of stories. We're talking about customer success stories, vision stories, founder stories, mission stories, all of that is coming up throughout the day. Most people don't do a great job telling those stories. Alright, and I'm not saying you have to go up and grab a microphone and be all ego. I'm just showing you how you can tell a story and relate to the human being who's listening to it a little bit more. It's okay to delight them. They love it. I even like to call it edutain them. And so a customer success story sample might be something where the vague, bland version, let's say you're a salesperson, you're in a technology company and you're calling on Microsoft. Okay? We all know that. We all have a relationship some way, somehow to Microsoft. Millions of different ways that it could be.

Right? So it's a brand that people know. Alright. So someone said, well, when we first started working with Microsoft, they were really upset with us. And then we turned it around. And now it's great. Good for you. So happy for you. Wow. That was amazing. Said no one ever. I mean, it's just not that compelling. So how can we raise the bar and really tell that story so that people can see what a hero your company was when they faced a very tough time? So an example would be you're the character. And we have I said they were very upset when we were working with Microsoft.
Okay, we all have a connection to it, but what do you see? People tell me they usually see the logo. And that's okay, it's something. But a logo is not a human. And Microsoft is made up of humans in lots of buildings across the globe. Alright? And so I would say you'd want to introduce who the person was at Microsoft to a degree that we could see that person.
And then we want to show what that relationship was. I just told you what the relationship was. When I started working with Microsoft, they were really upset with us. But then we turned it around. OK. Let's try this version.

Back in 2000, when we started working with Microsoft, it was Sarah James, the Senior Vice President of their online marketing technology. And when we walked in, her office was so pristine. I mean, it was, you could eat off of her desk, the floors were glimmering, and all she had were her awards behind her. And she saw us and she said, hi, sit down. Ooh, are we in trouble? And she let us know that she was very disappointed with our customer service, that her customer success people are not feeling as though you're there when they are having trouble using the software. What is up with that? You told me when I signed this contract that you were gonna be amazing and be on it. We're not seeing that. my stomach sunk a little bit inside because I'm sure the salesperson did say that. And I know for a fact that we had dropped the ball and that's why we were there. And I just listened to her and I allowed her to get it out and then I owned it. I said, Ms. James, I'm so sorry that you're feeling this way. This was not our intentions. And I want you to know that before I came in here, we had a team meeting.

And we now have not just one dedicated account success manager assigned to you, we have four. You're that important to us. And we want to stay here today with you and figure out how best in your viewpoint would it be to have those four servicing the account with the most impact.
and we fixed it. And the next time we came into her office, she puts on her coat and she says, where do you want to go for lunch today?

So now you can see a transformation in the story. Okay? So now we see a human, we saw her office, by the fact that she only has awards up behind her says, about her? She's very talented, she's probably very strong, she enjoys and appreciates recognition, she's a woman in tech, and she has earned a lot of respect. That's what I would say.

But I didn't just say it she was upset with us. I showed you. She said, hi, sit down. She didn't say, hi, sit down. The way you use your voice in storytelling can show the audience the relationship. Alright? Now, I didn't describe her. I could, other than I described her in that she's a very celebrated leader, but I could have described her physically if I wanted to.

You know, I could have said, and we met Sarah James and she was a woman that was in her mid thirties and you could tell that she was very busy. She had her briefcase right next to her looking as though she was ready to pop it out the front door. Okay. Something like that. So you could describe it so that the audience can kind of see her, but I don't think in that case, it's really necessary. I think that like in that story, just showing her leadership and her accolades was, is good. Let the audience.
create what she looks like. And you don't even have to say the last name. I was making this story up on the fly just for the example. But at least we have a character. And now we know she's pissed. OK? And so then you heard inner thoughts. You heard me go, I knew she was upset. I'm sure the salesperson said that she would get the best service. And I know exactly when we dropped the ball.
Alright? Those were inner thoughts. Those were where my character is responding with empathy to the upset client and the stakes are we're gonna lose this account or we're gonna save it. So there are stakes in this account. Okay? So we've covered character relationship objective and where right there. Now I went on to show how we solve the problem.

that we had already had a plan, that we were gonna go from one customer success manager to four, and that we were going to collaborate with her so that we could show that we listen and then we work with the client to make sure that we are creating the best solution for them. That's basically what the story tells. That's the why you tell this story. That yeah, we messed up, but we learned from it and we came out on the other side even better. Alright? That's...
creating a mind movie. And that is a legitimate legitimate story that someone could use. Obviously we'd want it based in truth for your company, but think about it. Think about some of those stories that your company has had to endure and come through to the other side and develop them and develop them very clearly. Have characters that have relationships show us that they were upset, you know, or maybe they start off really thrilled and then they get upset.
It's okay, it happens all the time in business, right? So we're not perfect as human beings, but how we rise to the top is how we respond to a situation versus reacting. And that's again, what storytelling can show. It can show you and it can show your organization as a listening, heart-led organization. And your story library is really important for that, okay? So that's C.R.O.W.
And we'll get into this more and more and more in these episodes, but I wanted to just introduce that to you. Characters, relationships, objective, and where. Include all of those and then add sensory details. And you got some strong mind movie making happening. Okay? So we're gonna get into all of that a little bit more each time. So thanks for listening.

Thank you for showing up too. Thank you for looking within yourself saying, how can I raise my game? You know, I feel like when I leave a meeting that was flat. Probably was. In fact, we know it was. If you feel that way, then it probably had some elements to it. Now, some of us are a little too hard on ourselves. So you always want to have an accountability buddy that's going to let you know where you probably shined and you're not giving yourself credit for. That can happen. So we want to give ourselves grace.

But we also want to be honest. Like, am I needing to be less bland? Alright? So let's just focus on characters, relationship, objective, and where. Go in and look at your own stories that you are telling as an organization, as a salesperson, as a founder. Are they captivating? Can you see it, hear it, Smell It, Taste It, Touch It? Then let's figure that out. And remember, with Story Fruition, you can come to us and we will help you create your story libraries. We'll work with your whole company and we can work with programs. But we also use Missy AI, which is essentially, I've cloned myself into a digital twin and Missy is trained on my book and she's also trained in my voice and she speaks 10 languages. Because the goal is that we can bridge better storytelling, presenting and public speaking skills to millions across the planet. That's the mission for Story Fruition
And that's the mission for the Storytellers Mind Movie Makers Show, is the more that we can share this, the better our presentations and our audiences will feel. Alright? So I'll see you at the next episode. Please comment. Let us know what you think. If you have any questions, reach out, share, and download. Like get these episodes and listen to them on your way to work. That's a perfect place. By the time you get to the office,
you're going to have a whole new way of thinking about how you're going to be presenting. So our next episode, we're going to talk a little bit about the heart behind the chart and data storytelling. That is key in business. So thank you, and it's great to have you join us in our show. And we'll talk to you soon.