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Storyteller's Greatest Secret Tom White Analysis

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When getting into design, one of the things I brought with me was the knowledge that I would need to learn how to “sell” my work, in more of a figurative sense than literal (though that being the ultimate point). The talk from last week “The Storyteller’s Greatest Secret”, as lectured by Tom White, was a staunch reminder that this is as important a skill as being a broad thinker or adept at the tools of design. As an artist, it was something I was not interested in doing and was never wholly comfortable with. I would leave the gallery every week with my pieces in tow, selling ever so few…probably because I didn’t want to talk to anyone about my art. The thought of having to wax poetic about my thoughts and processes seemed not only a distasteful …show more content…

White made several points covered by other speakers about how to approach the sale pitch, but drove through it by a different path. By approaching it from the point of telling a story, he was able to reframe the situation into a manageable narrative from which just about anybody could find a starting point. Beginning with the structure he mentioned, using Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Story”, and laying out how this is used in popular media, it became clear that this was a proven process for storytelling. In showing real-time examples of how this plays out in a commercial, Tom was able to basically hand the class a blueprint from which any one of us could put together a sales …show more content…

Although that wasn’t possible, there were a few areas he covered in his talk that I am going to find invaluable in the future. The concept of “product descriptions don’t sell, you have to engage your audience on an emotional level”, is probably the strongest point I felt. When I do have to explain my projects at work, I find myself reciting blunt facts…and not really thinking about how this new product will affect the buyer. I have always thought that I understand the needs of our clients, and how they might feel when viewing something they’ve bought from us, but that might also just be how I feel about the design. Either way, I don’t feel like I translate the emotional part awfully well, and will be spending a lot of time over the years here at CSULB seeking to craft and hone that

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