You aligned with the Storyteller profile! Storytellers are truth-tellers through anecdotes and stories. They see the entire picture from all angles.
Some common traits:
Superpowers:
Kryptonite / Blind Spots:
Your Secret Sauce: Making your pattern work for you.
Use Stories to Connect and Influence
Use stories everywhere you communicate: 1:1, status calls, presentations, etc. Stories stimulate us emotionally and intellectually. Stories can cut through the raw data and clutter, get the message across, and inspire people.
Plan Presentations as a Conversation
Prepare your presentations as a conversation, and open with a story versus sticking to the script. You have the power to move an audience with your storytelling abilities so leverage that to understand your story, not just your data.
Tell Human “Stories that Matter”
Everyone likes a good story about stepping in dog poop. That said, some stories matter more than others. Refine your listening and observation skills to connect to human adversity and triumph. Tell stories about hope and imagination!
Share Something Personal
Storytelling gives you the power to inspire and motivate others, but only if you are authentic and vulnerable. Share your humbling, painful, and embarrassing stories - everyone has them, but most don’t share. You can.
Practice Practice Practice!
Cultivate your storytelling skills to accelerate your career growth. Volunteer to lead teams, take public speaking assignments, make regular presentations to different audiences.
The Bigger Plot
Don't assume that all people know the beginning, middle and ending to the story you are involved in, because most of the times, they don't. Whether it be engaging on an important initiative, business or relationship, use that foresight to lead others to help them understand the bigger plot. Storytelling is not just about regurgitating past events. It's also about understanding current and future events and how they build and shape into a story.
You're aligned with the Engager profile! Engagers explore insights through dialog, collaboration, and personal connections.
Kryptonite/Blind Spots
Engage with People who Inspire and Interest You
Engagement is how you learn and develop. Akin to picking a major in college or even a great book, seek out people who possess a skillset, position or demeanor for which you aspire to attain.
Plan Presentations around Engagement
Given engagement is where you shine, don’t present monologues. Plan presenting content and ideas that require your audience to interact. If you're concerned about giving a keynote by yourself, don't do it. Bring a fellow person or group on stage with you and perform your Engagement Magic!
Influence The Key Few
It’s really hard to engage large groups of people at the same time. Therefore, our simple advice in a New Jersey accent is this: "don’t do it eh". Instead, leverage personal relationships via one on one meetings or small groups to interact and maximize your reach and influence
Find a Thought Partner
You may be gifted at engaging and maturing someone else’s original thought. Therefore, seek to find partners that are prolific in unique ideas but might need help in developing it and getting the word out. Here's my card, call me.
You aligned with the Performer profile! Performers entertain others through song, characters, and other means of personal expression.
Superpowers
Kryptonite / Blind Spots
Seek out Opportunities to Perform
You’re great at performing, so use your natural abilities to influence others and advance your career. Many people don’t like getting in front of audiences, but this is where you shine. Lean into this and leverage it for success.
Less Cerebral, More Physical
As much as you can, bring learnings and communications into the physical world for maximum understanding and impact. For example, instead of typing in your speech on a keyboard, physically write it down. The more your body can connect with the material, the more impactful you will be.
Influence the Many
You have the ability to reach large audiences simultaneously, so go for it. Plan to extend your reach to the masses. Your natural connection is one through emotion which translates broadly. That said, have a plan (and maybe even a partner) for influencing the critical few.
You are likely better at performing than coming up with original ideas. Therefore, seek to find partners who are prolific in creating and maturing unique ideas, but who need help in getting the word out (think Writers versus Performers on Saturday Night Live).
Plan Presentations around Performance
Given performance is where you shine, remember this golden rule "don’t let the boring people present". Use your unique gifts to capture an audience’s attention. Present content and ideas to an engaged audience for maximum impact.
You aligned with the Writer profile! Writers love expressing themselves and their insights with detail and structure.
Recruit Ambassadors
Partner with a Performer or Storyteller to help promote your ideas. This will help you get recognition for your talent and creativity. Build relationships with people who can be ambassadors for your work. Unfortunately, people don't always find great content organically. Just look at this sentence!
Create a Routine
Schedule regular time to read, write or create. Start a journal, draw, paint, doodle on your whiteboard, write letters to your high school girlfriends, just kidding, make it pre-school. This battery-recharging activity should be scheduled, like going to the gym. Try writing for 20 minutes a day instead of watching the next episode of Tiger King (yeah, right!).
Play the Long Game
You see the structure for the effort. Don’t get discouraged when more vocal and animated colleagues take over in the short term. Soon, they’ll run out of “start up” steam and be open to Writers who can lay down the path forward in a logical and cohesive way (aka, not "Squirrel!").
Use your “Outside Voice”
While others see you as quiet and disengaged, you’re actually processing things internally. Call yourself out by identifying the silence and explaining what you’re doing - “Give me a second, I’m thinking this through" and "by the way, you gonna eat those fries?" This will put people at ease and help you build trust.
Go Public!
Find ways to showcase your work. For example, create a blog that requires regular updates. You’ll never know how good you are until you put your work out there.
Comediology: Your Natural Style to Prepare, Present, Partner and Engage.
Everyone has a sweet spot, an area where we naturally shine. We can't be all things to all people. However, we can uncover our own strengths to help us be better preparers, presenters and teammates.
You are different. You have natural and unique gifts. And by recognizing and leveraging them, you will shine.
The real question then is, what are those abilities? And, once known, how do you leverage them for success?
The Comediology framework is a system that brings a data-driven approach to observing and understanding differences in presentation and engagement styles.