Behind any big venture is a story…actually, a whole BUNCH of stories.

As a fan of music, particularly anything done either with natural instruments or the human voice alone, I absolutely LOVE NBC’s competition show The Sing-Off.

In case you have not heard of the show, The Sing-Off brings together acapella bands, also known as vocal bands, to compete for a recording contract and a $10,000 USD prize.

Just as fun as reveling in the music is hearing the stories.

Imagine bringing together a group of people who make music with only their voices (and occasionally other body parts). They sing the beat as well as the melody and harmonies. At times, they imitate instruments, but you’ll never hear a drum, a guitar or any other non-human method of making music.

Here’s a tweet from @TheSingOff about the remaining competitors:

thesingoff The Sing Off

#FF our 6 remaining groups! @UOOnTheRocks @backbeatsvocal @committed6 @gft_music @jel1234 @StreetCornerSym #singoff

Often, the small groups, comprised of 6 or 7 people, sound like a group at least twice that size because of their intricate arrangements of the songs. It’s exciting to hear a handful of people become a band performing complex harmonies, imitating instruments, and guiding you on a musical journey of highs and lows.

I’m going to bring together the musical and storytelling elements for you now, because this is both fun and interesting, and it will give you insight into your business.

Second Chances: Storytelling Moves People

I don’t know of a person alive who doesn’t find a story of second chances compelling. You want to believe their’s hope, and nothing conveys hope like a comeback story.

The Sing-Off has 2 notable comeback stories among the performers: one for Street Corner Symphony and one for Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town

I love the fact that The Sing-Off shares the story behind the contestants. It adds a whole new dimension to their music. You get a feeling for the lifestyles and backgrounds of each group as you watch their story.

Street Corner Symphony came together specifically to compete in (and they’ll say, of course, to WIN) The Sing-Off. One of the group is among the  many musicians with big dreams who struggled for years in the tough music industry. After nearly giving up on his dream, he got together with the group and reignited his passion for music. Watch their story and then revel in their rendition of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”

Jerry Lawson, now singing with Talk of the Town, sang years ago with The Persuasions. During the Sing-Off, Jerry and the group were dubbed the Godfathers of Acapella Music.

Classic! Lawson definitely helped create the genre, and there is a certain amount of hero worship for the judges.

There’s no doubt that every other group in the competition gets “schooled” every time these veterans perform. The big question is how they’ll proceed.

Jerry is faced with being so good at the style of music he made famous and the conundrum of how to proceed in the competition. Should he turn everything into the style he is so good at? Or should he and his group risk trying new styles and thus being the old dogs learning new tricks?

Time will tell. I’m sure Jerry will go with the heart.

Unlike any other competition program, all the groups who made it to the show are EXCELLENT. You don’t sit through hours of horrible music. Nobody gets made fun of as they would on early weeks of American Idol. Kudos to The Sing-Off for cutting to the chase. Sure, some groups rock your world, but even the ones that aren’t as good are still well worth hearing.

One of my favorite groups is Committed, and it’s because they are singing WAY outside their comfort zone and not afraid to take the risk. And in taking the risk of being authentically who they are while expanding their musical horizons, they bring a breathtaking life to their songs.

You’ll love the story behind Committed as much as their music.

I respect them for being willing to leap outside their comfort zone to bring a fresh voice to popular music, and I cannot WAIT to hear them next week!

I hope you’ve taken this journey in storytelling with me, because as you watch these stories and listen to the songs, you can understand why storytelling is human glue.

How to Share Your Story

Share from the heart, and don’t be afraid to reveal something of yourself to your audience. I’m not saying you need to spill everything, but let them connect with you.

People love to hear about second chances, comebacks and overcoming odds. You will never go wrong by sharing those types of stories.

The pattern goes like this…

• Your QUEST for something different/better lead you through a bunch of
• TESTs (a road of trials) that maybe weren’t much fun but you learned something.
• Finally, Yes! You conquered all and won!

Remember Jerry Lawson’s story? No matter what happens on the show, he has his comeback, his personal satisfaction, and a whole new generation of singers who now know who he is. Everything he did in the past comes back to life because of it.

Resource

Storytelling is one of those things that people get a little quaky about. You get in your own way sometimes because in your head you don’t think you’re a good storyteller (which is, by the way, a story).

I’ve created a package for you that includes an audio teaching and some other tools that go into the particular story formula that every human being on the planet responds to.

It’s called Find the message in Your mess and you’ll learn a lot about human nature on the page, which is at MessageInYourMess.com.

Related articles

• The Sing-Off Recap: Episode #2 Takes Me By Surprise (blogher.com)
• ‘The Sing Off’ (sfgate.com)
• The Sing-Off Returns: Handicapping Season Two (tunedin.blogs.time.com)

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