Marketing Podcast with Tamsen Webster

Storytelling is how humans as a species rose to the top of the food chain. Our ability to make up stories and get large groups of people behind ideas – real or imagined – is what it means to be human.

I know, kind of deep, but that to me is why storytelling is such a powerful tool.

I recently tested emails to a group of subscribers. I split the group is half and mailed one half an email that dove right in to teaching a lesson with a call to action at the end. I sent the second half the same email but started it off with a story about a business owner who suffered a plight because they didn’t do one thing.

The second email, the one with the story, got opened by almost twice as many people and four times as many clicked on the call to action. The story was the only difference.

My guest for this week’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is Tamsen Webster. Webster does it all. She’s a speaker, author, trainer, coach consultant, idea whisperer, change strategist…the list goes on. She and I talk about a variety of things, including speaking and storytelling.

Webster combined 20 years in marketing with 13 years as a Weight Watchers leader into a simple structure for understanding, talking about, and creating lasting change. She’s the Executive Director of the oldest and one of the largest locally organized TED talk events in the world, and an in-demand consultant on finding the ideas that move people to action.

Questions I ask Tamsen Webster:

• What was your unconventional path to becoming a marketing speaker and consultant?
• What books would you recommend?
• What is The Red Thread?

What you’ll learn if you give a listen:

• Why storytelling may be the key to survival
• How to make meaning of the world
• What you need to be a successful speaker

To learn more about Tamsen Webster, click here.

This week’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast is brought to you by Office Small Business Academy, a monthly web series from Microsoft Office featuring experts with real-world advice for those would rather be the boss than work for one. Learn more at aka.ms/ducttapemarketing.