Three Communications Lessons from SHE Summit

Last week I attended the SHE Summit at the 92nd Street Y. SHE Summit is a global women's leadership and lifestyle event, bringing together 60+ remarkable thought leaders, partners igniting change and thousands of influential women to celebrate and discuss female potential and possibility. The conference had an amazing roster of speakers, from activist and actress Marlo Thomas to U.S. ambassador to the UN Samantha Power. Amidst all the great conversations going on during this two day period, here are three of the communications lessons I learned at SHE Summit that can be applied to CSR or nonprofit marketing:

1.    Get Real: The Summit kicked off with a panel featuring Norma Kamali, Mariane Pearl and Kelly Rutherford, who talked about the power and importance of telling our own unique stories. They advised telling the more difficult story. If personal, the one that's wearing down your self-esteem. If telling the story of a nonprofit or a corporation, the story that inspired the idea that led to the creation of your company – the stories of failure, the horror stories, the ones that led to where you are today. Take them, harness them, get them out and in doing so you'll ignite a conversation. It's important to be genuine as we craft and create and retell our stories. Our brands and causes know this, but even on a personal note, it's a good reminder that we need to own the narrative because if we don't other people will tell our stories for us.

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