Storytelling on LinkedIn w/ Tania Bhattacharyya
It’s more important than ever to showcase your personality.
Sharing stories—whether personal or professional—is a perfect way to do that! And LinkedIn is a perfect platform.
Ever thought about sharing more stories on LinkedIn? I know—it can sound almost counterintuitive to think of bringing personality to a platform that’s thought of as “boring,” “professional,” even “stuffy.” Newsflash! LinkedIn isn’t just a place recruiters go to post open jobs.
Tania Bhattacharyya is here to spill storytelling best practices for LinkedIn! In this episode, you’ll hear what drew her to the platform in the first place, how storytelling on LinkedIn transformed her business, & the most doable first step in the history of ever you can take to begin to share more stories.
Topics covered in this podcast episode:
Why it’s beneficial for entrepreneurs to consume stories
Why Tania was initially drawn to LinkedIn as a platform
The best types of stories to share on LinkedIn
What you’ll notice as you share more stories on LI
The similarities between LinkedIn and Threads
Best practices to share impactful social proof on LinkedIn
How storytelling leads to more sales
Loads of fiction and nonfiction book recommendations
How storytelling can be… spiritual?
The inspiring story behind Tania’s business name
A doable first step to start sharing more stories on LI
Meet: Tania Bhattacharyya
Tania Bhattacharyya is the founder of Lumos Marketing, a thought leadership consultancy for social impact entrepreneurs ready to stand out as they stand up for their mission. She offers personal brand messaging, storytelling, and community-building strategy for LinkedIn along with coaching to dismantle imposter thoughts. She also hosts the podcast The Campfire Circle which explores the idea of replacing the ‘boardroom table’ as the ultimate space of leadership with a campfire circle: a place to share our stories, build inclusive community, and spark visionary ideas.
Links & Mentioned Resources:
Books
ACOTAR (series)
Throne of Glass (series)
Related Episodes:
Meet Romantasy Author, Penn Cole
Stories that Stick Book Review
Connect w/ Tania:
Connect w/ Brittany:
This episode of The Basic B podcast is brought to you in partnership w/ Leah Bryant Co.! Help me reach more service providers like you by following the show & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify!
The unedited podcast transcript for this episode of The Basic B podcast follows
Welcome back to the Basic Bee podcast. I am thrilled to have you and I'm even more thrilled a little bit to have my friend Tania on with me today. We're going to be talking all about storytelling on LinkedIn, which can sound kind of like, counterintuitive because you think it's a place that boring people go to just like, post their job and that's it. But newsflash, it's not. So before I bring Tania on, let me introduce you to her. Tania Bhattacharya is the founder of LUMOS Marketing, a thought leadership consultancy for social impact entrepreneurs ready to stand out as they stand up for their mission. She offers personal brand messaging, storytelling, and community building strategy for LinkedIn, along with coaching to dismantle imposter thoughts. She also hosts the podcast the Campfire Circle, which explores the idea of replacing the boardroom table as the ultimate space of leadership with a campfire circle. A place to share our stories, build inclusive community, and spark visionary ideas. And I got to tell you, it's a really amazing podcast. So there's for sure going to be a link down below somewhere, wherever you are, so make sure to check that out. But Tania, I'm so excited to have you here.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:01:09]: Thank you so much for having me. This is like such a long time coming. I. You know how much I love our random chats. You know, I think you're one of those people where we'll have like a imessage going, an Instagram chat going, a LinkedIn chat going. We have so many different points of intersection and it makes me so happy. So here's another one. Thank you for having me.
Brittany Herzberg [00:01:27]: Yeah, of course. Thank you for being here. Yeah, I'm one of those people that you can just talk to me anywhere and for the most part, I can keep up. But if anything urgent needs to happen, it has to go in the email inbox. Otherwise I'm like, I'll get to it.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:01:41]: Well, you know what it is? It's you and I are Voxer friends. So I feel like all of the zany thoughts go in there and you always just like, get it and have something equally zany to share with me. So I really appreciate that.
Brittany Herzberg [00:01:51]: I appreciate you for that. Oh, my gosh. All right, well, so to kick us off, I ask everyone the same question, and as a reminder, there are no wrong answers.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:02:00]: I love questions. You're ready with no wrong answers? Yes, I'm ready.
Brittany Herzberg [00:02:04]: I do, too. Okay, which do you believe is the most important for sales, SEO, storytelling, or social proof?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:02:12]: Those are like the big three, you know what I mean? And those all go together. And as a Pisces, I can never, like, make a decision, like, always, all of them. I have to say storytelling, although I think that goes into the other two. Like, I think in your SEO, I think you can still share stories. I think in your social proof, I think that is a story in and of itself. So I'm just gonna say stories and have that be my answer, my final answer.
Brittany Herzberg [00:02:35]: You're like, I'm done. I'm not gonna keep talking about it. I promise.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:02:38]: This is it.
Brittany Herzberg [00:02:39]: No, I love it.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:02:40]: I could also argue for the other two.
Brittany Herzberg [00:02:42]: I know, right? So you mentioned Pisces. I'm a Libra rising, so a lot of that is, like, the balance. And, like, I can see all sides of all the stories. So, yeah, I'm like, well, this one, but also this one, but also this one.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:02:53]: You get it? Like, my best friend's a Libra. I love my Libras. You just get it. I know you get me.
Brittany Herzberg [00:02:59]: I see you, my friends. So one of the things that we were joking about before we hit recorded, just in general that we joke about is talking about the Romantasy books that we read and just like any books that we're reading. So I want to ask you this at the beginning of our conversation. Which stories are you enjoying these days?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:03:19]: Oh, I. Oh, that's a great question. I'm such an avid reader. I did have to take a little tiny break from Romantasy because I felt like it was just all encompassing and all consuming. It does.
Brittany Herzberg [00:03:31]: Yeah, it does.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:03:31]: What do you mean? I have to work. I'm just gonna fly all day. What do you mean? What is this email? I was totally gone, so I had to go back to reality and read a couple, like, nonfiction. But I love Acotar. We were just talking about how I need to get into Throne of Glass, but it's a little slow. Slow going in the beginning. You know what I just started watching last night actually, is Chaos on Netflix. And it's a retelling of sort of Greek mythology, but, like, Jeff Goldblum is Zeus. So it's really kind of zany, really wacky, really fun, really creative. But, yeah, actually. So Greek mythology is kind of a big one. I recently read Circe. I recently read A Thousand Ships, which both of those are a retelling of Greek mythology through women's points of view, which so much were kind of thrown by the wayside and really weren't focused on in, like, the classics. And so instead of focusing on, like, Odysseus, it focuses on Cersei instead of focusing on what's his name, like, the big warrior in the Trojan War. I'm like, I can't forget. I can't remember.
Brittany Herzberg [00:04:32]: Oh, my gosh, why can't I think of the dude's name?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:04:34]: I know. I can't. I can't remember.
Brittany Herzberg [00:04:36]: So that guy.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:04:37]: That guy. It focuses on, like, the women who were around him. Right. And so I just. I loved that. I love any story or retelling of stories. I think that centers on those who historically were not in the front of the story.
Brittany Herzberg [00:04:51]: I love that. And I was going to recommend Circe, in case you hadn't read it, but I haven't heard of the ships one.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:04:56]: Yeah. A thousand ships. So the author of Circe wrote, like, the foreword for it. They're very, like, spiritually connected. It was great to go from one to the other because I wanted more after reading Circe.
Brittany Herzberg [00:05:06]: Yeah, I was in a kick of that for a while where I just, like. I don't know if it was Apollo, that was another one that was written, but there was another, like, Greek mythology, like, more modern retelling of it that was really neat. So, yeah, that's really cool. You reminded me that I like that stuff, and I need to go back and read it because I have been stuck in the Romantasy. I'm like, I am just having fun, whatever. Like, I will be over here.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:05:29]: And. Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes you just need a little breath of fresh air.
Brittany Herzberg [00:05:33]: You do. Meanwhile, I'm just on my second reread of Throne of Glass.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:05:37]: I fully support you.
Brittany Herzberg [00:05:38]: Thank you. I appreciate it. So, switching gears a smidge, you're claiming that it's possible to tell fun stories on LinkedIn.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:05:47]: Yes. That's a hill I'm willing to die on. And. And, you know, you don't have to go too far to see them. I think, you know, five years ago, 10 years ago, you really didn't see that much of that at all. There's, like, this website where you can go and look at snapshots of the Internet. It, like, preserves it. You might have heard of it, but, like, you can see what websites looked like back in the day. And LinkedIn, when it started, was very sterile. It was very much what a lot of people think it still is. But it has changed in the 22 years that it has existed. And, yes, it came out before MySpace. It came out 2002, I want to say is when it came out. So when anything's Been around that long, it's going to evolve, you know? So, yes, you can share fun stories on LinkedIn. I will say it is helpful to connect those stories back to your mission in some way, to your business mission, to your personal mission, to your nonprofit's mission. And I think it can be really easy to do that when we identify that, like, we're not just doing this work to make a buck, we're not just doing this work to have something to do. Like, there's usually some deeper why behind our work. And I think really rooting into that can help the stories just begin to emerge.
Brittany Herzberg [00:06:55]: Yeah, it really can. Like, as you're talking, I'm just getting, like, stories or points of connection, and I've seen you do that so beautifully, and I want to do that on LinkedIn. I think sometimes I kind of hit on it or, like, I'm close to it. Almost, like with archery, I may not be hitting the bullseye, but I'm like a circle outside of it. But for anyone else who may feel like that, how hard is it to end up hitting the bullseye with storytelling on LinkedIn?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:07:20]: Um, that's a good question. I think it takes practice. And just like you asked me a question earlier that there's no right or wrong answer to, I think about this in the same way. Like, I do think that if you're showing up with heart, I think if you're showing up with a intention to reach other people in a way that's, like, helpful and valuable, I think if you're showing up in a way that's, like, curious and celebratory of your own experience, I don't think you can get it wrong. Like, I don't. Like, I think sometimes, yeah, like, you might not have, like, a killer hook or whatever, but I do believe that as you begin to show up and, like, share your experiences with folks in a way that's very giving, the right people will begin to emerge. I think people will see your heart. And I'd say that because when I first started sharing my stories on LinkedIn, it was before I was a consultant. I was working for a nonprofit, and we were a small organization. But I was like, there's so much cool stuff happening here all the time. And we did tell stories through, you know, our annual report and stuff like that, but those were kind of like the big, glossy, polished stories. And I was like, there's cool stuff happening here everywhere I look. And so I was like, what if I just shared some of these things on LinkedIn? Like, you know, the story of the board member getting re involved 30 years after they graduated from our program as like a young person or you know, just stuff everywhere. Of course, with permission, I'm not gonna share these stories without their involvement and you know, that kind of stuff. And then personally too, like my work at the organization and sharing vulnerable things, I. I shared about my imposter syndrome. I shared about what it was like to be a young woman of color leader at the time in a very sort of like geographic area and field that was very like white dominant. I shared about all kinds of things that were just real. And sharing them on LinkedIn for me was much easier actually than sharing them sometimes in person, in a group, because I was just like, I'm just gonna write this story and put it out into the world. And I knew like in my mind that other people were gonna see it and connect with it. But in the beginning that felt more safe to me than actually just like sharing this willy nilly out in the world. So, you know, in the beginning it kind of felt like I was just talking into the void. But that was okay because a big part of it for me was about like self expression, self actualization. And then over time, you know, people did begin to take notice. And I discovered that not because of any like going viral experience or my follower count didn't explode or anything like that, but people would come up to me when they saw me and start a conversation with me based on something that I said on LinkedIn. And that was what really showed me like, oh, people are paying attention, people are listening. Even if they never respond or say anything on the platform, they are taking notice and they are building trust and connection with me kind of at scale. You know, people felt like they knew me and would act accordingly. We were able to like recruit additional resources for the organization I worked for. Just as a result of them knowing, liking and trusting me through my stories on LinkedIn.
Brittany Herzberg [00:10:16]: That is really cool. I'm wondering if it was that LinkedIn did feel like a smaller, less active container versus like Facebook or Instagram or something like that. But what was it about LinkedIn?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:10:28]: You know, I think a lot of it was like on Instagram it was very visual forward, right? Whereas on LinkedIn, like, yeah, you can share pictures and stuff, but you don't have to share a picture for every post. You can just share like a simple canva graphic. It's not a big deal. Like it was less visual heavy. I didn't have to create videos. You know, this is a video podcast. My podcast is not a video podcast. Like, I don't love being on video, so I feel like it just LinkedIn appealed to my strengths, needs, abilities, and preferences of, like, I love to write. I love to kind of be able to see what other people are doing. Another part of it, too, I will say, is as a previous fundraiser, LinkedIn allowed me to, like, find really important information on people that I was kind of prospecting and looking into. It had the added benefit of serving as, like, a networking tool in a really powerful way versus something like Instagram. Like, if I could go and check out a potential donor or potential partner, but I couldn't really find out much about them professionally with LinkedIn, I was actually using it to, like, build relationships that could lead to donations and sponsorships and partnerships at work. So it's kind of that, like, double whammy. It was like, yes, I get to be creative and write and share my experiences, but I also get to use it to further my work.
Brittany Herzberg [00:11:42]: Everything that you're saying about, like, writing and sharing your stories over there, I'm finding that I'm doing it a lot on threads. For me, that's, like, where I'm pulled, at least right now. But I have started every once in a while playing around with, like. I may gravitate toward threads first, but then I'll share something very, very similar, if not the same thing on LinkedIn.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:12:01]: Yeah.
Brittany Herzberg [00:12:01]: So what do you think about that strategy? That's not really a strategy, but might kind of sort of be a strategy.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:12:07]: Yeah, I love it. I think it's whatever works. I love threads too. You know, I was, like, really all about it when it first started, and I've kind of fallen off. But I do, like, peruse there every now and then. And what I really like about it is it's a no pressure environment. It's just a place where you can add your thoughts, Everybody's supportive. And there's a couple of elements about threads that I also see on LinkedIn, I think, namely in the culture of it being so supportive. Like, on threads, I don't think I've seen any trolls or any hate or any, like, negativity. No, like, people are just there to cheer each other on. And I do feel like LinkedIn is actually the same way with a slight slant on, like, more professional sharing. So it's nice because I think on other platforms like Twitter, Slash x or even YouTube, you can share something or Reddit and people will just say the weirdest, meanest, like, random things. And it really makes you not want to Share any stories at all when you get that right, especially if this is kind of a new thing in general for you. But on LinkedIn, it's very rare that I'll see negativity. Not that it doesn't happen, but for the most part, I think everybody is supportive, especially because over time you build an audience of people who have a similar mission or way of seeing the issue that you work on. And so it's just about, like, supporting each other and lifting each other up. There's so many instances where I've gotten referrals from people that I've never met or didn't really even know, but they just, like, followed by LinkedIn content. Like, somebody will book a discovery call with me and I'll ask them how they met and they'll tell me, and I don't know that person, but I go and see that they have been following me since May of 2021, and I'm like, oh, my gosh. Like, it's these little hidden moments of realizing that your stories are having a difference, whereas I think on other platforms it's just different. I'm kind of rambling a little bit. I don't know.
Brittany Herzberg [00:13:54]: No, I love it. You're making sense. I'm following. I'm nodding along over here in case you're listening to the audio version of this. But because I've seen that, and I agree with you that Threads does feel like a very, like, cheerleader, rah, rah, we're here supporting you. Very similar to, for the most part, what I've experienced on LinkedIn. Every once in a while, I'll see something where someone was maybe misunderstood and that's just gonna happen.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:14:15]: Yeah.
Brittany Herzberg [00:14:15]: Especially when I think those were posts where it was meant to be a little bit divisive. Like they were pushing the boundary a bit. And I can't even think of an example right now. I just remember seeing that kind of stuff. But I totally follow what you're saying. So kind of closely related to storytelling is social proof. And at the beginning of the conversation, we were talking about how, yeah, social proof can be a form of storytelling. So I don't know, what do you see working on LinkedIn as far as sharing your social proof and any, like, best practices around that?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:14:44]: Yeah, two things come up for me right away, and one is the recommendation section. And one message I have for LinkedIn is that I think they should move the recommendation section up on the page, please. Like, it's a very bottom thing. And I'm like, what the heck? This is where we get to share our social proof and like you're going to put it at the last thing, so they need to move it up. That being said, I still think it can be really powerful because it's not something that you can add to your own profile. You have to get recommendations from other people. So. And there's a level of trust in that. Like, I don't think anybody's making up their testimonials. That's not it. But it's just when you know that someone else took the time to share their thoughts, that's important. That being said, it is the very bottom thing on a profile, which still it's like, that's like a soapbox issue for me.
Brittany Herzberg [00:15:25]: But I'm with you, I support you.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:15:28]: Like, why? But another way I think of doing social proof that I really used when I was launching my LinkedIn content sprints, which I don't do them anymore. So what I would do is I would ask my clients if they wanted to participate and I'd have them fill out like a little mini airtable survey, just getting some information about what their experience was like, what life is like now as a result of being able to like just have a reservoir of LinkedIn content to share, et cetera, et cetera. And I would just put together some simple kind of case study testimonials with their picture, with a quote and just like a little blurb about them. And, and my intention was not to have it be all about like the Sprint. I really wanted to use this also as a win win opportunity to really showcase their work in the world because I have built up an audience of social impact professionals. I want the nonprofit leaders, the entrepreneurs, the consultants that I work with to also gain an audience from me sharing about them. And so every Sunday it was a play on Sunday Scaries because it was like instead of having Sunday Scaries learn about this incredible person who's doing really good work in the world and I have this like thing about them and it was about them and their work in the world. But there was always a quote or two about their time in the Sprint. And I think more than any other type of quote unquote marketing that I did, I think that continuously brought in new people because by sharing their work and tagging them, their audiences began to see more about the Sprint and following me, if they didn't already. And it also created this really strong sense of trust, I think, because it's like I can talk about any program I have until I'm blue in the face. But if it's somebody else talking about the program and they have like any level of similarity, people are just going to trust that person much more than they're going to trust me. And that's okay. That's how humans work. I'm sure you've read the book influence. It's by Dr. Robert Cialdini. He's a professor at ASU and it's a really great book, psychology book, really. I first read it in school about building influence and the psychology of building influence. And there's a whole chapter in there. He has like different levers and one of them is social proof. And he talks about how his son was like three at the time and he really wanted his son to learn how to swim. And so he hired a swimming teacher and like little three year old boy was not having it. He's like, he like wasn't down to try, he wasn't getting in the pool. And then they were all by the pool one day and the kid just like jumps in and starts swimming. And the author, Dr. Cialini is like, what happened? Like you didn't want to swim at all when I hired this like swimming guy, like, how are you swimming now? And the son was like, yeah, well little Tommy over there swimming, so of course I'm going to swim. And it was just like a show of like we always are going to do what the person around us who is similar to us, who is in the same boat as us is doing. He has many, many, many examples including like science and research around social proof. But once I read that early on, and I know my answer was storytelling earlier, but I do think that social proof is like such a powerful way to go about it. And so I think those two things, recommendations on LinkedIn and creating almost like a serialized post where you showcase social proof. Especially if you're getting ready to launch something I think that's such a powerful way to do it just in your content.
Brittany Herzberg [00:18:39]: Yeah, you've given me a great idea. So when I write case studies for people, I also have like a marketing map. And in the marketing map I include all of the quotes that I pulled from the video or audio interview. And I also pull in like, here's some different ideas for how you can use it in emails or how you can use it on your podcast. But now I have a perfect example of how you can actually feature it in your LinkedIn profile. And I love the idea of serializing it and just almost putting it on like autopilot. Like I do a great job of getting in the habit of saving the social proof, but then using it. Even me, it's like what the cobbler's kids.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:19:14]: I get it.
Brittany Herzberg [00:19:15]: My own SEO, my own case studies. But it's a good reminder because that is really the thing that's going to allow other people, whether they're strangers or they've been in your world for a minute, to connect with you. And the way I see it with case studies, and I'm sure like your idea is pretty similar too, the person or the company or whatever that's being featured in the case study, whoever's reading it or consuming it in whatever way you want them to identify with that person and connect with that person and feel like they're in their shoes. And then you or whoever is the guide is like guiding them. And it's the perfect guide for them because you see it working for someone else. So I think that's a beautiful way to do it and very, very smart and yes, definitely wise to do before. And as you're launching, yes, it was.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:19:57]: Such an instrumental part of it. And I would always ask when people would join, you know, how did you hear about the program? And so often they're like, well, I'm friends with X, Y and Z and I saw them share about it like a couple months and sometimes they shared it, you know, it was for that launch, but often it was like three launches ago that they first saw their friend promo that way. And it just took them that long to kind of see more case studies and learn more about it or just simply be ready. So, yeah, I think continuously sharing them, even if you don't get new ones for every launch, sharing the old ones in your new launch period is good.
Brittany Herzberg [00:20:30]: Yeah, I agree. And even with the case studies that I write, or if you've been in my world and you've written your own case studies, you can continue to use those. Yeah, that's part of the beauty of that is that it's got longevity to it. And especially the way that I write them, which is how I even came up with that question I ask people, which do you think is the most important for sales, SEO, storytelling or social proof? Well, guess what? The case studies, the way I write them have all three. And that's why, because they're such a magical, you know, mashup of things and they so support each other. It's like a triangle.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:20:58]: Yes.
Brittany Herzberg [00:20:58]: Everybody is supporting everybody else in that trio. So it's really, really cool. Have you ever read Stories that Stick by Kendra Hall?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:21:06]: I have.
Brittany Herzberg [00:21:07]: That's another good Example. And I'll link the episode, too, for anyone listening or watching, because I did a whole review on that book because I think it does such a good job of. I can talk about case studies, but here's another supplemental piece that talks about case studies and storytelling just in a little bit of a different way. So we're all going to get little nuggets from everything that we consume?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:21:26]: Yes, 100%. Another good one is this one. Oh, my God.
Brittany Herzberg [00:21:33]: You had. You had a bookshelf.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:21:35]: It's not there anymore. No, the bookshelf's there, but the little. You know, what's the thing you put at the end?
Brittany Herzberg [00:21:41]: Oh, the bookend.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:21:42]: Yeah, the book end. That fell. Okay. Oh, gosh.
Brittany Herzberg [00:21:48]: I'm getting bright red because I'm not breathing. This is hilarious.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:21:52]: I hope you leave all of this in. I. I really don't want you to edit it out.
Brittany Herzberg [00:21:55]: Leah, we just have to keep it.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:21:58]: We have to keep it.
Brittany Herzberg [00:21:59]: So what's the book that caused all the drama, all the ruckus?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:22:03]: So this is a really great book. It's the Science of Storytelling, why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better. And it's by Will Storr. And I really like it because it kind of goes into the, like, almost a philosophical, like, I would venture to say, spiritual side of storytelling and that, like, human connection piece, but then also, like, the nitty gritty science of why stories actually, like, light up our brain. And so I think this is probably. I mean, it's hard to say. At least one of the best books about storytelling that I've ever read.
Brittany Herzberg [00:22:32]: That's really cool. I love anything that ties in, like, the spiritual and the scientific point of view. I'm here for that. I will make sure everything is linked below. This is so cool, though. I love all the connections and thinking of how to tie things together. And there's one thing I would love for you to talk about, and I've been trying to think of how to actually bring it up. So let me try to bring it up in this way. I know that there's certain book series that you talk about. I think it's on your website. And you and I have talked about this before, but people have seen that book series or your nod to it, and that's inspired connections, and then that's led to other things. Are you catching what.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:23:05]: I'm catching your drift. So I grew up reading Harry Potter. Like, I would go to Barnes and Nobles at midnight dressed in my robes. Like, it was such a very, very instrumental in My whole world. And so when it became time to think about, like, okay, like, what is my work really about? I kept thinking about light and like, how this work of storytelling and getting your story out there in a way that ties back to your mission is all about, like, illuminating something that otherwise is just invisible. It's dark. And then when I went into the wiki to look up the spell lumos, what I also saw in the wiki was that it's used to illuminate unseen entrances. And I was like, this is perfect. This is perfect. So Harry Potter and the spell Lumos, it's like in my messaging and such. And you know what's really interesting about that too is I have had discovery calls with people where I'm like, oh, my God, this person's like, so important. Like, this person runs like a multi millions of dollar foundation. Like, this person has been interviewed by Obama. Like, I'm so nervous. And then the first thing they say to me is like, oh, I'm a Gryffindor because they've read my website. And I'm just like, this is such a great example of how stories, not just your story, but just like rooting into a collective story can create connection. So, yeah. And not to say I do also feel like it's important to bring up that the author herself is quite problematic. And I've thought a lot about, like, okay, but that doesn't take away from the story itself and how just like, transformative it can be.
Brittany Herzberg [00:24:38]: Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. I think I talked with you, like, right after that phone call because I remember that exact scenario. And you're like, I cannot. I think that was one of our crazy Voxer messages. And I was like, that is so cool. And it just shows you that another point that you've been making is that people are always paying attention. They're always listening, they're always seeing, even if they're not interacting. So if you're ever feeling like, oh my gosh, what I'm doing is for naught. It's really not. You just haven't seen the fruits of it just yet. And it'll show up right when you need it.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:25:04]: Yeah, that's such a great point. The other thing that comes up for me too is that like, and it circles back to what you were sharing earlier is that like, life is just not that serious. Like, yeah, Harry Potter is a children's book, you know, yet it created like that beautiful point of connection. And so I think a lot of times people are worried about showing up Wherever it is LinkedIn on their website, in a professional meeting, at a conference, in a discovery call. And they're worried about showing up, like, in a certain way, like, very, quote, unquote professional, very, I don't know, serious, like, whatever that is for you. And it's just not that serious. Like, we're all just humans at the end of the day, even if you're talking to someone representing this, like, really big important organization or company, we're just humans. Let's just be humans.
Brittany Herzberg [00:25:46]: Right? It's just a person talking to another person.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:25:48]: Yeah, I love it.
Brittany Herzberg [00:25:50]: For anyone listening, like, let's say that they're brand new to the idea of storytelling on LinkedIn or anywhere, really. But what would be a great first step for someone that they could take and put a story on LinkedIn?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:26:00]: I've been thinking about this a lot lately, so I would say just work on getting 1% more uncomfortable with each action. And so what that might look like is not necessarily like, sharing something on LinkedIn right away, but, like, creating the habits to get into a place where that starts to feel more easy. And so, like, I went to Jamaica this summer with a good girlfriend of mine. And every night before we'd go to bed, like, after we'd wash off the insect repellent and the SPF and everything, and right before we fell asleep, we would recap all the stories that happened to us that day because it was just like, I don't know what happened on that trip. Like, it was like we were in a sitcom or something. Silliest things were happening to us. I regret not writing them down, but we at least recap the stories and laughed about them. And essentially what we were doing was just, like, taking a moment to pause and notice and remember and, like, kind of honor what had happened. And I would say that that's a really good first step because so often we're moving so fast that we don't even slow down long enough to find the stories, to identify that we are living through so many stories on a daily basis. And so, like, think about that. Maybe start to write them down in your journal. Just write them down. And then over time, as you begin to accumulate these, I think the patterns and the confidence and the, like, storytelling muscle will emerge to the point where you're like, I think I'm ready to share one of these on LinkedIn. So my answer would just be to, like, slow down and notice the stories first.
Brittany Herzberg [00:27:23]: I think that's really, really wise. And even as you're saying that I'm like, oh, I kind of do that in my Instagram stories. I'm either saying, like, here's what I have going on today, and then I'll kind of take people along with what happened and oh, I didn't actually get this done, or, oh, this turned out even better, or like, I don't know, my car battery died yesterday. And like, here's how that spiraled into an SEO story, which I'm gonna post and I'll make sure I link it to. But there are so many things that happen throughout the day and like, you're saying just bringing awareness to what did actually transpire. And I really like you even taking it a step further of, like, what are the themes that you're seeing play out time and time again? When you can see the theme and you can see that it keeps happening, it gives you the confidence to go, oh, yeah, I do know what I'm talking about with this. I can share this. And this is how it ties into what I do and how I can help or whatever.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:28:09]: Yeah, exactly. That's such a good point. And as you see it over and over and over again, you begin to notice, like, oh, yeah, this is the thing that I. I am a guide in. This is the thing that I am immersed in. So, yeah, listener, as you listen to this, I hope you try this on if you're not doing it already.
Brittany Herzberg [00:28:25]: Yeah. And then take us along in the journey. Come find us. Yeah, so speaking of that, where can they find you?
Tania Bhattacharya [00:28:31]: Oh, well, definitely LinkedIn is the best place to find me and hang out with me. Send me a connection request. I would love to connect with you. Let me know that you listen to this podcast so we can just like, giggle about the hilarity together. If you're listening to the audio version, you can't see me just like, I'm just like smiling and giggling over here. Cause I'm still thinking about the bookend thing.
Brittany Herzberg [00:28:50]: I was. That was happening in my head too. I've got to. Happily, I'll leave that in. That was so great.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:28:57]: So definitely, definitely LinkedIn. Connect with me there. It's just my name and I'm sure you'll probably put the link in the show notes. And then the other place would be to come and hang out with me on the Campfire Circle podcast. It's all about brave storytelling and thought leadership. So I would say those two places would be perfect.
Brittany Herzberg [00:29:12]: Yay. I love it. Yeah, definitely. Go find her. Say hi. Send the connection request. Tell her you heard the bookend falling. Oh, gosh. This was so fun. I can't thank you enough for coming on here and really going deep with me with one of the topics that I care about a lot, storytelling.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:29:29]: It was such a blast. I wish we could do it for another, like, 30 hours. Maybe some other time we could.
Brittany Herzberg [00:29:34]: We can make this an audiobook that Sarah J. Maas would be proud of.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:29:37]: We can do that.
Brittany Herzberg [00:29:39]: Oh, gosh. All right. Well, stay tuned for that one, everyone.
Tania Bhattacharya [00:29:43]: More to be revealed.
