The beauty about stories is that they are like metaphors. I once saw a study that said that metaphors appeal to both the left and the right side of the brain.

I am not a Buddhist, yet am extremely fond of Zen Koans.

The way I try and do it is to research before every group facilitation stories, anecdotes, metaphors and humor that I can have in the “wings” based on the diversity of the group.

That way I may have options available to “unlock the potential” of someone.

Just like a builder uses solid construction practices, we need to design or build our training based on proven ways that the brain works. We know a lot about adult learning principles and how the brain works. The “best practice”of using metaphors and analogies takes advantage of at least two key facts:

–  The brain works by building connections and associations.

–  The brain remembers more easily things that are novel or unusual.

The right analogy or metaphor can be quite novel, build connections to the material you are teaching and often create the “aha” experience the learners need to effectively learn the new information.

Let me use an example. If I am working with a group of executives about the organization’s reputation, I will tell them that they have to be careful how they communicate, how they behave as it will impact on the way stakeholders perceive them. That is a linear and left brain approach.

But for some this story will have more impact.

SPOKEN  WORDS  CAN’ T  BE  RETRIEVED

A farmer slandered his neighbor. Realizing his mistake, he went to the preacher to ask for forgiveness. The preacher told him to take a bag of feathers and drop them in the centre of  town. The farmer did as he was told . Then the preacher asked him to go and collect the feathers and put them back in the bag. The farmer tried but couldn’t as the feathers had all blown away.

When he returned with the empty bag, the  preacher said, “The same thing is true about  your words. You  dropped them rather easily but you cannot retrieve them, so be very careful in choosing your words.”

Which one has more impact for you?

It depends on your style of learning and brain dominance preference. In today’s society this message extends to social media updates.

The post Why I Love Using Stories To Teach The Importance Of Reputation appeared first on Deon Binneman.

The increased usage of technology and growth of Social Media has really changed the landscape for the Reputation Manager. Reputation Managers now have to place more importance on E- Reputation or so-called Digital or Online Reputation Management.

What is E- reputation? If we merge the definition of Public Relations with the rise in new technologies, then we can define Public Relations as the management, through (Electronic) communication, of perceptions and strategic relationships between an organisation and its internal and external stakeholders. (Although reputation is far more holistic than PR – let us stick with this)

No longer are knowledge of just e-mail and internet search and the use of Microsoft products minimum requirements. Now days a competent Reputation Manager needs to know not only the above, but also how to protect his or her organisation from cyber risks and electronic onslaughts to damage their reputation.

This onslaught can take many forms. They range from copyright issues to viruses to wrongful statements on Twitter. Somewhere an employee can be traced accessing pornography or somewhere else an employee can make a genuine mistake and attach a sensitive file to the wrong e-mail creating unwanted publicity. Or even worse, your own child can be held responsible for downloading music from the Net!

The rising use of Social Media and technologies obviously raises a challenge for the Reputation Manager. At the same time the Reputation Manager has to find ways to use technology to maximise the Reputation of the organisation.

This means going on a steep learning curve. It means learning about new technologies such as Snapchat and other Social Networks, augmented reality, latest SEO techniques, mobile web site design, and the impact this has on reputation(and vice versa).

For instance I don’t have “expert” web design and html skills, but having an understanding of the medium and knowing the terminology/basics has been critical for my job. Also adapting my reputation judgment to the type of media and expediency of the delivery is important.

Reputation Managers will need to learn the importance of digital liaison and community groups, they will need to learn how to write for these new types of media and how to use these technologies to engage their stakeholders..

They will also need to understand the risks that these new technologies bring to the table. For instance how do you control* the flow of messages and content, since the Internet allows communication in many new ways such as using Slack or WeChat to name just a few. Reputation managers should be prepared to understand how these tools work, how to maximize their success with them, and what the limitations are of each.

Really good search skills will be needed so they can easily acquire information, skills needed to monitor online news and information and discussions as close to real time as possible.

Footnote; I am currently upgrading my own skills and doing a Social Media Marketing Certification course through the Silicon Valley Social Media Marketing Institute. There is also certification courses available through Hootsuite and the Hubspot, one of my preferred sources of social media information.

Here is a link to a good resource Google Reputation Recovery Repair Kit in one simple infographic https://reputationrefinery.com/google-reputation-repair-kit

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