Marketing and Education

Marketing works by telling a story. I was watching Seth Godin speak to Google employees (probably their marketing team) and he said that unless you are selling them (consumers) food or shelter, what makes a person buy something is the story. Man I thought education was as important as food or shelter. And it is. But maybe my "clientele" don't think so.

So, what is the key to delivering good education? Maybe it's the story behind why kids need to learn "XYZ" (whatever you are teaching). If you can find the story, and if you can deliver the story with feeling, and if the student can see themselves in the leading role in this story, then they will commit themselves fully to learning.

Anyone who believes they are "too old to pretend" should analyze why they bought and continue to buy a favourite brand of cologne or perfume. Or jeans. Or swear by a car manufacturer. Or a brand of cat food - I mean come on, cats don't buy the food - you do! We all are buying the story.

On Wednesday, and on every day that follows I will tell a story where I get my students to picture themselves using kind of thinking and skills I am teaching. The story will have characters, a plot, themselves as the hero, and they triumph because they have learned how to ...(you fill in the blank here). And I have to deliver it all in about 2 minutes or I will lose my audience.

Maybe being a vivid storyteller able to deliver a story in a short amount of time will define what makes an impactful teacher in the future. Maybe it always has.

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