4 Key Ingredients To Turn A Case Study Into A Compelling Story: Stephen Semple (Transcript)

Read the full transcript of Stephen Semple’s talk titled “4 Key Ingredients To Turn A Case Study Into A Compelling Story” at TEDxWarrenton 2024 conference.

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TRANSCRIPT:

The Power of Storytelling

STEPHEN SEMPLE: Win the heart and the mind will follow. Win the heart and the mind will make up all the stuff it’s got to make up to do the things that the heart wants. And nothing, nothing wins the heart more completely, more quickly, more profoundly than a really compelling and powerful story.

So October, 2009, I’m at the Toronto convention center with a thousand other people. I’m there to see Tony Robbins speak. I’m there because frankly, my life is a mess. I’m divorced. I’m depressed. I’ve got a short fuse. I’m reactionary. And I’m not being the father that I want to be for my kids. I take a look at the agenda.

Nine hours. Tony Robbins is going to be presenting for nine straight hours, no breaks. I just about leave. But then I think to myself, you know, I paid for the event. I booked a hotel. I’ve driven. I’m there. What the heck? I’ll give it a couple of hours.

A Life-Changing Experience

Nine hours later, I emerge with my life changed and changed for the better. Tony took me on this incredible ride. He told story after compelling story. He raised me up, he broke me down, and he changed the most important story of all, the story I was telling myself.

It’s incredible going to a Tony Robbins presentation. People hang on every word. They literally run to the washroom because they don’t want to miss a single word. People who’ve been there before, it’s like they’re arriving for a picnic. They come with coolers full of food and drinks. They take themselves through this nine-hour adventure. It’s a remarkable thing to be part of. And my life was changed and changed very much for the better.

A year later, I got this card from my youngest daughter, Jenny. She wanted to show me the things that she appreciated about me. And one of the things was calm. I had been able to become that calm person that I wanted to be, that father that I wanted to be for her.

The Power of Story in Business

The next week, I’m back at work and I’m meeting with my business partner, Gary, and I’m sitting down and I’m sharing with him over lunch the adventure that we had gone on and the power of Tony’s presentation and the change that happened with me. And he said, “Dude, I can see it and I’m happy for you.” Then he asked me this one question, this really powerful question. “What if, what if we could create advertisements as powerful as that for our customers?”

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What if? This sent me on a journey. And first of all, what I wanted to do was study business books for their storytelling. Books like “Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath or “Story Selling” by Nick Nanton and JW Dicks.

And the power of story is not in dispute. I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world, had the opportunity to speak at places like Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, places like the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce. Everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve had this opportunity to speak with business leaders. No one disputes the power of story.

The Underutilization of Storytelling in Advertising

They all agree there’s a power in story. So why are they not using it? It’s simply not being used. When you drive home from this event today, turn on the radio, how many ads are you going to hear that have got a great, powerful, compelling, entertaining story?

How about television, websites? It’s simply not being used. As I started to peel back the layers of the onion on this question, what I suddenly realized was most of the advice being given is to follow a storyline called the hero’s journey story. As outlined by Joseph Campbell in his book, “Hero with a Thousand Faces.”

And it’s a great story. I get why. It’s got a hero, which is your customer. It’s you as a mentor. You get to share your expertise, transform their life. It’s remarkable. It’s amazing. It’s powerful.

The Limitations of the Hero’s Journey

And when it’s used, man, it works. But what about a 30-second ad or a 60-second ad or a postcard? It simply requires long copy. Or what about a restaurant or a plumber or an accountant? Really important businesses, but businesses that do not really transform their customers in a really big, remarkable, and powerful way. What about them? Can you really create a great hero’s journey story where the hero wakes up in the morning and the house is hot because the A.C. is broken?

And suddenly at the end of the day, they’re cool because the A.C. has been fixed, and the only action that they have to take is pick up the phone and call someone. It’s not a very interesting story, is it? I believe stories are not being used in business today because they struggle to find their story. They struggle to tell their story. And often when they do tell their story, it’s a series of boring and dull facts.

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The Essence of a Compelling Story

A story is more than just something that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It’s October 2015, and I’m at the Wizard Academy taking a course there that’s being taught by Roy Williams, the New York Times best-selling author of the Wizard of Ads trilogy. And I’m like you, sitting in the front row, hoping to learn something. Today, Roy’s my business partner, but back then I was just a student and hoping, again, where’s that magic to try to find?

And this ad plays.

“I was a 10-year-old boy holding the flashlight for my dad while he worked on an air conditioner for a customer. His name was Duncan Goodrich. He didn’t talk much.”

The Power of a Shared Experience

“There’s a certain kind of magic that happens when a son holds a flashlight for his father. I held it steady and quiet, and Dad talked to me while he worked. He said, ‘When a person needs help, you respond right away, not when it’s convenient for you.’ He said, ‘Always do the right thing.'”

“Always do what’s right. And he said, ‘The Goettl Iron Horse is a magnificent machine. Nothing else even comes close.’ That was the first night I held the flashlight for my dad, but it wouldn’t be the last.”

“At Dad’s funeral, I realized that every time he handed me that flashlight, he was passing the torch. And my dad believed in Goettl Air Conditioners, so I bought the company, Goettl, G-O-E-T-T-L. It’ll keep you cool, but it’s hard to spell. Now you can count on us to respond right away and do the right thing, always.”

“No one knows air conditioning like Goettl, G-O-E-T-T-L.” No features, no benefits, no hero’s journey, yet we’re still compelled to love Ken and Goettl Air Conditioning. A story built on the back of a boy, his dad, and a flashlight, a shared experience. When this ad was created by Roy for Goettl, Goettl was circling the drain.

The Impact of Storytelling on Business Success

They were in financial distress. Less than seven years later, they were sold for one half a billion dollars. Yes, billion with a B, in big part due to a story about a dad, a flashlight, and a shared experience. Now if that had been written as a testimonial, it would probably read something like this.

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“Goettl Iron Horse is a remarkable machine.” – Duncan Goodrich, AC repairman. So how did Roy take this testimonial and turn it into this remarkable, compelling story? Well, what he did is he added four ingredients: time, place, character, and emotion.

Time and place, first line in the ad. I was a young boy, years ago, holding a flashlight at night. Character, or what I like to call characteristics, wasn’t dad, his name was Duncan Goodrich, and he didn’t say much, silent type. He suddenly becomes real.

The Four Key Ingredients of a Compelling Story

And the last thing is emotion. Later at my father’s funeral, I realized he was passing the torch. Did the hair stand up on the back of your neck? Time, place, characters, emotion, you can use that to turn testimonials and case studies into interesting and compelling stories.

Tony Robbins is the greatest presenter I’ve ever seen. He’s able to hold the audience for nine straight hours. Stephen Semple, master storyteller, or it’s October 2009, Toronto Convention Center, time and place, characteristics, my life is a mess, emotion, the note from Jenny. When you take these four ingredients, time, place, character, and emotion, you can turn any case study, any testimonial, into a compelling and powerful story.

Remember, stories win the heart. And when you win the heart, the mind will follow. When you win the heart, weeks from now, when somebody needs the product or service that you are selling, you will be the one that they think of first and they like the most. It’s time to win the heart.

I look forward to hearing your story. Thank you.