This lesson from director Ron Howard’s producing partner can help you influence people

I’ve long been intrigued with the partnership between Ron Howard, movie director, and Brian Glazer, movie producer. It turns out they met early, each wanting to do something different but complementary. They have been together for decades.

Glazer has a book out called “Face to Face” (2019, Simon & Schuster). It’s a quick read. He makes a point that I knew but needed to hear again.

Glazer tells of pitching the idea for the movie “Splash” 40 times (yes, 40 times). He was turned down each time. “Who wants to watch a movie about a mermaid?” he was told. Old fashioned. Fairy tale. Not something any adult would sit still for. You get the picture.

Then Glazer realized he could take an experience from his own life and reframe the movie pitch. Apparently, he’d had his share of relationships that just didn’t work, sometimes because the woman was unavailable, too different or not ready when he was ready. In other words, finding love, especially elusive love, is a problem he and others had faced.

And that’s what the movie was really about — a man who falls in love with a woman who is rather hard to access, since she’s a mermaid. They try, but it just doesn’t work.

So Glazer reframed his pitch to be one about a universal theme — how to find love when it’s difficult to access.

His lesson: Whenever he makes a movie pitch or tries to convince someone of an idea, he thinks about how to put it into a “universal story” pitch. How to achieve what seems like an impossible goal. How to overcome obstacles in a difficult journey (literally, or in a career or relationship). How to persuade people to do a dangerous mission.

His pitches draw upon stories we’ve grown up with and love. And that has allowed Glazer to connect with people, authentically. By finding a way to connect to another person, Glazer has built a career and life that matters for more than himself.

How do you use the power of storytelling to build connections?

Nancy Napier is a Boise State University distinguished professor. nnapier@boisestate.edu