It’s been a while since our last interview, but we are back with a great new discussion about stories, specifically, storytelling and its weight in our personal and professional lives. Telling stories is not necessarily something we are all good at but we are surrounded by them every day. Nevena Tomovic is one of those people who love producing the stories we want to hear on a daily basis. Today, she tells us why storytelling is good for marketing and how having empathy for people can help you succeed.
By the way, before getting to know Nevena, check our latest (and first) mirror interview, a new type of interview we experimented with at the end of the last year, featuring Jenny Beaumont and Petya Raykovska. Read it here!
Nevena is a people person, which can be noticed when you interact with her for the very first time. She likes socializing, sharing thoughts with WordPress fellows, and writing about them. This is one of the reasons why she’s organizing WordCamp Europe 2018, as part of the content team.
After recently joining the Human Made team in a business development position, she’s also independently running a storytelling workshop where she teaches her students the art of communicating in a catchy, appealing way.
When she’s not organizing the event, she occasionally speaks at various WordCamps, offering interactive and engaging talks to the audience. You simply can’t get bored listening to her presentations.
On a daily basis, she’s a digital marketer with a passion for storytelling, which she has inherited during the bedtime stories when she was little. She thinks that it’s important to be able to tell stories if you want to succeed in marketing because it is about empathy and about making people understand your message better.
And she has a point when she says that we, people, love stories. No matter the form (movies, books, inspirational advice, news), we are addicted to them and we consume them all the time. Nevena knows it and always tries to be a good storyteller herself.
Nevena Tomovic interview
When and how did you start working with WordPress? Is there an interesting story here?
In Serbia, there aren’t that many career opportunities for a linguist, but we have a strong tech industry. With my 4 languages I was able to apply at ManageWP for a marketing position. That’s how it all started. I never thought I would have my big breakthrough by going back home, I was looking for that in London. Now, I work for Human Made, and couldn’t be happier.
You are a member of the WCEU organizing team for the second time. What’s so great about this job that made you want to repeat the experience?
You just ran your first storytelling workshop. Can you briefly share your best takeaways with us? Is there something that you learned in particular?
Best takeaways:
- Make sure you are adding value throughout the workshop. Each section should be there for a good reason.
- Once you have added examples everywhere, add some more. Really unless people can see how something looks in practise, they won’t grasp the concept you are teaching.
- Don’t cram content. A good friend of mine taught me, you can only teach up to 3 main points (sections) per session. Otherwise, it gets too much for your audience.
I am actually working on a new workshop series at the moment, my A-Z handbook of content marketing, so you can keep an eye out on that. You can follow all of my updates, on my blog (nevena.blog).
You often make connections between storytelling and marketing. Does one need storytelling skills to be a good marketer (and the vice-versa)?
Being a good marketer is about appealing to people, that’s the basis of marketing in whatever form. By using storytelling you are more likely to communicate your message in a way that is understood by a majority. Storytelling is also about empathy, and we need more empathy in the world today.
What’s your technique for staying productive throughout the day?
I think from a young age I played competitive sports, which always encouraged me to be efficient with school work, later at university and today at work. My secret is the gym, or aerial gymnastics, which my new hobby.
Break up your day with physical activity and get some fresh air. This is so important to do, especially when you don’t feel like it.
How do you define “being successful”?
I hear you read a lot. What was the book that you enjoyed/inspired you the most?
What are the topics that you love to write most about?
What do you wish more people knew about WordPress?
Who’s doing things that are just cutting-edge and incredible in the WordPress space right now?
Describe the WordPress community in one word.
The bubble.
What’s the one thing you’d like to change about WordPress?
What’s the main threat to WordPress these days?
What is your advice for future WCEU organizers?
That sums up our Nevena Tomovic interview. If you have any questions for her, please leave them in the comments section. Also, if you have any suggestions for who we should talk to next, feel free to give us some names as well!
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