The Rural Voice, 2019-04, Page 44By Bob Reid
If you don’t have a story to tell
you don’t have a business. That
was the message brought to those
attending the 36th annual
Southwestern Ontario Dairy
Symposium by guest speaker Terry
O’Reilly, host of the CBC Radio
program Under the Influence.
The program explores how culture
is changed by marketing and
promotion through advertising.
Podcasts for the program have been
downloaded 25 million times making
it the most popular podcast in the
country by far.
It’s quite a remarkable feat
considering the negative attitude of
most consumers to advertising as
demonstrated by the number of PVRs
purchased to avoid watching
television commercials.
“It (the podcast) is a show about
advertising,” said O’Reilly in an
overly-tired tone of voice for
emphasis then adding “On a radio
station that doesn’t have any
advertising,” his head dropping down
on his chest feigning exhaustion.
Yet the show attracts a large
audience. Why?
“We are hard wired for
storytelling,” explained O’Reilly. If a
business or an industry wants to
attract interest in a product there
needs to be a story associated with
the product.
“Tell me your story,” challenged
O’Reilly to a packed auditorium of
250-plus dairy farmers.
The power of storytelling is
something he became aware of quite
early in his career when a publisher
had approached him about writing a
book. It seemed like a dream
opportunity, recalled O’Reilly.
On meeting the publisher, he
listed all of his qualifications and
references and whatever bits of
information he thought would secure
the opportunity. The publisher was
not impressed.
“I realized I had broken my
number one rule that you had to have
a story,” said O’Reilly.
On asking for and being granted a
second interview he came prepared
with three stories – stories evoking
emotion with a connection to
marketing and research while not
about marketing and research. He
was immediately commissioned to
write a book.
“Eighty per cent of our decisions
are made with the heart and 20 per
cent with our head,” said O’Reilly.
A story with emotion can pierce
your heart in two seconds and remain
in your consciousness for ever, he
added.
If that story shines a good light on
a business, the rewards can be
immense.
O’Reilly then told the story of a
grandfather who was trying to book a
flight from Los Angeles to Denver,-
Colorado to see his three-year-old
grandson for the last time. The child
had been in a medically-induced
coma for some time and the decision
had been made to take him off life
support. Heading to the airport he
was caught up in the snarled traffic
the Los Angeles Freeway is famous
for. Finally arriving at the busy LAX
he then waited in an unusually long
line to buy his ticket. Finally arriving
at the ticket counter he explained his
situation, with the person at the
counter processing him through as
quickly as possible.
Hurrying as fast as he could go
from the ticket counter to his
departure gate the grandfather
realized he would get there at the
same time his flight was scheduled to
lift off, yet he pressed on.
On arriving at his departure gate
not only was the plane still there the
40 The Rural Voice
People
Sell your story says Terry O’Reilly
It’s easier to sell to someone if you can make them smile
People are wired for story telling
Terry O’Reilly, host of the CBC
program Under the Influence, told
farmers at the Southwestern Ontario
Dairy Symposium. ~Headshot by
Sidney O’Reilly.