Last week wasn’t great. Felt on the back foot. Every day was a daunting mission. A piece of work didn’t hit the mark. My content wasn’t getting traction. I reached evening exhausted but feeling no sense of achievement.
On top of that, I was supposed to be two weeks into a course but hadn’t found space to watch a module, let alone do the work. The kicker? The first weeks of said course were on time management. So, I was glad to see the end of the week heave in sight.
Early Friday morning, I was interviewing an intern at a deep tech start-up incubator when my phone rang with an unknown number. Later I retrieved the message.
“Lizzie hi, It’s Kathryn here from LinkedIn. No need to ring me back. I just wanted to let you know how very much value I get from your content. You’re a bit of an inspiration.”
As I put my phone down, it buzzed again.
This time it was a text. “Your e-news today is fire!’
Those messages redeemed a drab week. And the cool thing is since I started sharing content, things like this happen regularly, along with the leads that pop into my DMs.
Gotta say, it’s really, really nice. But I’m nowt special. And there’s no mystery to it. All I do is show up and put in the hours, with a bit of a plan. And if you fancy, you can do the same thing.
We’re going to look at the two main barriers that hold people back from posting content on social media, and how you can blow those obstacles up.
The fear of putting your head above the parapet
I’ve had many conversations with smart people about creating content and two themes emerge in almost every chat.
The first thing that stops many people sharing content is fear of exposure. It feels exposing to share your thoughts and stories. What will people think? What if they don’t like what you have to say? Even worse, what if they don’t care?
Everyone feels like that to start. I felt like that. My clients felt like that. Every successful content creator I’ve ever spoken to felt like that. Heck, every time I send an e-newsletter I still do tiny terror wees.
Three ways to get through the uncomfortable beginning
1. Find a good why.
Know why you’re creating content. Almost certainly this will have a pragmatic element. I want to attract new business without having to make cold calls. But I found after a few years, leads weren’t enough. I wanted to have impact too by showing people how to tell stories that bring clarity and confidence and attract opportunity and community. Your why will be different but choose a content purpose that feeds your soul as well as your bottom line.
2. Focus on who you’re helping.
Once you’ve got a good why, be real clear on who you’re talking to. Make sure you care about helping these folks, because when you feel awkward, tired, and uninspired, you’re going to think of these people and remember that this isn’t about you … it’s about them. You’re sharing content to help them solve a problem or achieve a dream. This is a chance to give back.
3. Just accept it’s going to be uncomfortable at first.
When you start creating and sharing content you’re building a new muscle, and it’s painful when you stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone. But every time you do it, you grow.
Also, it’s scary when you start sharing something you’ve made. And the more personal your content is, the scarier it is. But push through the discomfort because the rewards far exceed that temporary pain.
Not knowing what to say
The other thing that stops people sharing content is not knowing what to say. I often get asked that perennial question, how do you come up with your ideas? The answer is planning and practice. I’ve a content strategy, so every time I’m stuck for an idea I know where to go for a prompt. Here’s a simple framework you can use to make yourself a content strategy.
But also, I write every day. And when you do that, you see potential stories everywhere. This can give writers a bad name for being opportunistic vampires sucking content out of every situation, commodifying every moment in life. But you could also see it as I’ve become more attuned to story potential … and my vocation has become capturing moments of time like pressed flowers.
Moth story slam champion Matthew Dicks has an exercise he calls Homework for Life, where he documents stories in his everyday life. He has a giant Excel spreadsheet packed with one line story ideas. It looks awful, but each is simultaneously a window into his past and the seeds of a future tale.
Matthew teaches his technique and talks of his students reporting how when they do Homework for Life, time slows, moments feel more meaningful, and they feel more connected to others. And that doesn’t surprise me, because essentially Matthew is teaching a form of mindfulness that helps you see story in your daily life.
3 simple story frameworks you can use
Here are three stories everyone can tell.
1/ Your origin story.
This is the story of how you came to do the thing you do today.
There are a couple of story frameworks you can use here.
Establish credibility and connection
Tell people what you do in one sentence. ‘I help who do what how’. Bonus points for making this sassy or humorous.
Share a story about how you first began doing the thing you do. Go back as far as you want. Cute kid stories always play well.
Of course, things have changed since that humble beginning, so prove you’ve got the chops.
Namedrop some key clients or projects.
Talk about your years of experience.
Say how many businesses you’ve helped over the years.
Include other credentials such as awards, books, articles for industry publications, or keynotes for conferences.
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing … here’s where you add the humanity and humility. Tell a couple of tiny stories that show how you learned key skills you use for your clients today the hard way. Sharing failures and painful learning experiences helps people warm to you.
Close by getting earnest. Share your mission. How do you make people’s lives better, and why does this matter to you?
Share your transformative journey
This format works well if you had a particularly rocky start, or you’ve come from an unconventional background to a field where folks like you are rare. Make your struggle your strength.
Share the challenge you started out with.
Explain how that made you feel and how it affected your life day to day.
Paint a vivid picture of your tough beginnings. Include details that bring it to life.
What happened to change the course of your life?
Was there a single catalytic moment, or did things change over time?
Did someone wise show you the way?
How is your life now?
How do you feel different?
How do you appear different?
Who are you now equipped to serve because of this transformative journey?
I help who do what how.
How do you make people’s lives better, and why does this matter to you?
2/ A client case study
Long form client case studies are always told in your client’s own words. But you can tell a shorter story about a project for social, and here’s how.
Set the scene. This is a story about a conversation with your client, so where is this conversation taking place? What’s the weather like? What are you doing?
Intro us to your hero, your client. What are they like? Paint a picture of them with words so your reader can imagine them.
Take us back to the past. Tell us about the problem your client was experiencing when they asked for your help. How did that make them feel? How did it affect their life?
Now take us on a short journey. What did you do to solve your client’s problem. Share the highlights. Bonus points for entertaining takes on the process from your client.
How is your client’s life now? How do they feel different? What tangible benefits have they seen? Here’s where you want a juicy quote about how your client feels after working with you.
Close with a learning. Here’s the big thing we / I learned from this experience. If you’re in the same situation as my client, here’s what you need to know.
3/ A learning story
A simple story format, where you share something that made you see life differently. The event can be as big or as small as you like. Tiny incidents make great stories. The only thing that’s essential is the event must have shifted your perspective.
Set the scene. Where did this story take place? Show us the place with words.
Introduce your main character. Usually this will be you, but you can also tell a learning story about someone else. What is this person like? How are they feeling? What are they thinking.
What happens next? This is the event that causes the change of heart. Help us imagine this event as clearly as possible.
How does this make your main character feel? What are they thinking now compared to before?
What have you / they learned from this event? You don’t have to spell this out in letters a mile high. If it’s obvious what you learned, leave it at that. But sometimes we go away and mull over events and the learning comes later. So, if that’s the case, mirror this with your story format.
Learning stories are always more powerful if they’re rooted in failure. We warm to a struggling protagonist more than we dig a golden winner.
Stories of learnings from wins are also cool, so long as the win is won from a tough situation. Saying life was great then something cool happened and I realised I was awesome, isn’t telling a story because it doesn’t include the essential story ingredient of change.
Back to where we began
With a shitty week redeemed by story. Well, I lie. It was a shitty week warmed by community and connection, but those treasures were brought to me by telling stories.
If you take only one thing away today, I’d love it to be this. A sense of curiosity about what might happen if you started sharing more of your stories in public. What might that feel like? And what might it feel like when people are drawn to you because of the stories you tell?
And if you’re curious enough … then go give it a try.
