Yesterday, I was a participant in a half-day messaging session led by Jo-Anne Polak, a colleague and arguably one of Canada's more experienced communicators (although I'll admit to being biased since we've worked together for nearly 10 years).

In the presentation used to set the stage for what it is we hope to accomplish, we include a quote by Ed Sabol, founder of NFL films. For those of you who, like me, had no idea, the "only other human endeavor more thoroughly captured on 16-mm film than the National Football League is World War II". And that's largely as a result of the efforts of Ed and his son Steve, who coined the quote you just read.

But that's not the quote I'm talking about.

A lot of us at H&K (including many of the bloggers that you read here) speak often and passionately about the importance and value of telling stories versus spouting soundbites.

But what I think the quote below captures better than any other I have read, is the importance of a number of key elements that, when combined, reflect the essence of successful communications - with any audience (whether it was intended as such or not). It's about sharing information that we might not have had before and positioning it in a way that could alter or shape the perspective of our audiences. It's about supporting our communications with substance, versus spin. And it's about packaging that information in a way that will resonate long after our conversation has concluded.

"Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever"
Ed Sabol, NFL Films

It's what we should all aspire to in this business, even if we can't capture it in slow motion.