Every year, a team of our most valued accountant partners convenes for a summit chock full of workshops, classes, and relationship-building sessions. It’s the Gusto Partner Advisory Council. GPAC offers a chance for our high-level partners to connect, network, ideate, and share—and gives us at Gusto a unique opportunity to strengthen our product roadmap and connect with the people who rely on our products.
But beyond making sure our accounting partners feel heard and getting valuable feedback on how we at Gusto can improve, we look to provide real value to the partners who attend. That’s what true partnership is all about: a two-way value exchange that’s built on trust. This year, far and away one of the most magical moments was a storytelling class led by the incomparable Elliott Morin, the creative director and video mastermind behind 3Motion Creative
Elliott’s storytelling class last week was some of the most valuable content on the topic I’ve ever seen. It gave me both the structure AND the confidence to tell my story…in front of a camera! 😅 😅 😅 Elliott, you and your team are amazing! Thanks for all you do.
What does storytelling have to do with the accounting profession? Coming from a people-centric company, at Gusto we believe that people are at the heart of every business. Connecting with your clients and sharing your own human story is critical no matter what industry you’re serving. This is what helps you stand out to win new clients, and deepen the relationships with the ones you already serve.
But, since storytelling doesn’t come as naturally to everyone as it does to Elliott, he was here to guide our most valued partners through the process of telling impactful stories from start to finish.
Narrative archeology 101
Elliott believes everyone has a story to tell, and his unique storytelling method, which he calls narrative archeology, is about digging to find your own. But before you can find your story, you have to understand the elements, pieces, and artifacts you need to make a good one. Any well-told story has structure—a beginning, middle, and end—and we need to have some tension, drama, and humor along the way. These are all pieces of the narrative arc.
Seeing as the accounting profession isn’t exactly known for its tension and drama, digging for those pieces wasn’t second nature to everyone at GPAC. Luckily, Elliott was there to help identify the drama: those objectives to be completed, obstacles to be overcome, or promises to be kept. And of course, whether your hero succeeds or fails (failing can be a powerful storytelling tool as well) there needs to be a takeaway value that leaves your audience with an emotion, an enlightenment, or a call to action.
Finding and crafting your own story
With the groundwork laid, it was time for everyone to decide which type of story they wanted to tell: the origin story, the values story, or the vision story. Which type of story do you think will grow your business in the way you’re looking for? Which type will help your clients overcome those obstacles or pain points you’ve identified? Which one aligns with who you are and with your brand identity?
Many of our partners chose to share origin stories—stories of how they started their firms and why they’re passionate about accounting.
But we also saw plenty of values stories as accountants shared what mattered to them most in building their practices and connecting with and helping clients.
As stories, dramas, and tensions started to emerge, Elliott reinforced the fact that YOU are the hero of your own story. He worked to help everyone discover their natural voice, understand who they were trying to reach, and show how they could be one to solve the problem and “save the day” in a way that resonates with and motivates potential and current clients.
“This class was hands-down phenomenal. Elliott and his team did such an amazing job with the workshop and helped me get out of my own way and get back to the old me.”
Now that everyone had uncovered the unique stories they wanted to tell, it was time to zero in on the mood, the tone, and the vibe before adding hooks like metaphors, callbacks, or physical props. We sprinkled in grabbers like dramatic pauses and tension-building moments to really reel in the audience and keep their attention. Everyone was focused, engaged, and fully present. Elliott had them hooked.
Breaking out of your comfort zone
Ready (or not) it was time to practice telling those stories for the first time.
In a room full of accounting professionals who aren’t used to seeing themselves on camera, this part can feel more than a little awkward. Comfort zones were certainly stretched. We heard almost everyone say something like, “I didn’t know my voice sounded like that.” “I didn’t know I said ‘um,’ ‘like,’ or ‘totally’ so many times.” “I didn’t know I looked like that when I presented.”
“I took lots of notes and will definitely be using the framework. And thank you for pushing me to get outside my comfort zone in front of the camera 😬 —>😊”
Sitting with those feelings is a good thing. Through those uncomfortable moments, we can perfect our ability to engage with our audience, connect with the camera, and really nail that delivery.
After just a few hours leading our partners through the narrative archaeology framework, helping them to dig for and craft their own narrative arcs, and getting rocked out of their status quo, it was finally time to hit record.
And the results weren’t just incredible, they were inspirational. Each of our partners told their story through a professionally branded video they could share on their websites, LinkedIn pages…wherever! They were unique, honest, vulnerable, and impactful.
“Your storytelling class inspired me to make the stories I share more compelling and interesting so that people will actually listen.”
We brought Elliott in to GPAC because we wanted our accountant partners to be able to share their stories in a way that would resonate with their clients and get to the core of who they really are. We knew it could help them deepen relationships with existing clients while helping to grow their firms. People want to work with people they know and trust. Building a firm means building that connection. And getting vulnerable, sharing more about who you are and why you do what you do, is the most powerful way to do it.
And you know what? They nailed it. Curious to see how it turned out? Check out the full slate of partner videos here.
