Google were looking at how to improve the regular briefings made by a group of their senior analysts. Following consultation with the business, City Academy tailored a Communication Skills Training workshop to take the team out of their comfort zones whilst developing the skills they already had.
Google’s advertising team are responsible for communicating a diverse product mix to clients. With a range of top quality products the team are adept at presenting facts and rationale to build a case.
As the company’s focus was shifting from a performance driven approach to a brand approach there was an increasing requirement to use narrative to make a lasting impact. The advertising team needed to learn practical storytelling skills that could be applied to their roles. Each team member regularly presented to a variety of audiences, from 10 to 100 people. The team were looking for an enjoyable and interactive session that had direct relevance to their roles.
The Google team’s two key objectives were:
A) Learn practical narrative techniques to communicate with confidence and clarity.
B) Bring the team together to share a fun, creative experience
Storytelling for Business
Technology
10
Sadler's Wells, EC1R, London
4 hours
Google and City Academy both felt that the training would be best delivered outside of the regular work environment.
As such, we worked with our venue partner of 10 years, Sadler’s Wells, to deliver a creative session in a dance studio.
Here we ran a fun, practical and individually tailored session on Storytelling Technique for the Google analysts. The group had first-hand experience of the power of storytelling and the practical skills to apply this in their roles.
The best way to learn the art of Storytelling is for participants to be given multiple opportunities to tell stories. Humans are innate storytellers. It’s in our DNA. All too often socialising from young age and moving into the corporate environment can stifle our creativity and confidence for telling stories. The good news is that it doesn’t take long for us to discover effective and authentic ways to tell stories that not only suit the content but leave a lasting impact on those around us.
Our experiential approach helped the analysts find their own connections between the workshop content and the office. As with most of our clients Google were keen to ensure that the skills were easily transferred back in the workplace.
Through a series of enjoyable exercises the group explored how to use narrative technique confidently to give shape and colour to dry content and convey complex information in a succinct and powerful way. The team also enjoyed the experience of working together imaginatively – an important outcome to foster creative and innovative thinking as a team.