A pocket-sized story
Facts tell. Stories sell.
I remember when music players were sold by the megabyte.
Every brand seemed to have one, big names and small. They were decent. Mostly, they were Walkmans or CD players that had been shrunk in the wash.
The pitch usually sounded like a spec sheet: storage capacity, transfer speed, battery life.
Useful information. Very little to dream about.
Then, in October 2001, a lean man in jeans and a black turtleneck walked onto a stage in Cupertino and pulled a small white device from his pocket. It looked almost too simple.
He didn't lead with the spec sheet.
Instead, he gave us a five-word story: “1,000 songs in your pocket.”
A number, yes. But not one that asked you to understand a technical specification. One that invited you to imagine something.
Your favourite albums on a long journey. Every song you loved, ready for a walk in the park. A world of music without carrying a stack of CDs.
In one short line, Steve Jobs translated a technical capability into a human possibility. And we did the rest of the storytelling ourselves.
I think about this whenever I see businesses leading with features, credentials and lists of deliverables.
Those facts matter. But on their own, they leave the audience doing all the heavy imaginative work.
Don't just explain what you do. Help people picture what it could make possible.
Facts tell. Stories sell.
Whimsically yours,
Monojoy
Storyteller, Oddly Obvious
Because good stories like good company:
