Crafting and Creating Your Story

In the last issue, I talked about storytelling being at the heart of public relations. Here are some things to consider when crafting your story for marketing materials or a public relations pitch. Hint - these are also really useful for social media posts and blogs!

Understand what a story is.

Stories are not product pitches or lists. Stories are narratives about something that happened to someone, stresses business storytelling expert Paul Smith, author of “Sell with a Story,” in Fast Company. Stories have a time, a place, a main character, and tell something interesting that happened.

Make the stakes high enough.

scene is dragging, you introduce a gun. That immediately raises the stakes because someone could get killed,” says Nick Morgan in the Public Words blog. “How can you make your story about life and death?” A compelling story must be emotionally involved.

Photo by Social.Cut

Tell your own story.

Telling a story about someone else’s experience lowers the value of the story. Telling someone else’s story isn’t as powerful as telling your own, says Jay D. Krasnow, a public affairs professional, in his post “10 Essential Elements of a Successful Story” posted on govloop.

Speak the truth.

later learn that something isn’t true, you’ll lose credibility and authority.

Teach a lesson.

What is your point? If you tell a story and your listeners wonder, “What was the point?” then you’ve lost a lot of credibility. You’ve also lost the opportunity to drive home your message.

Include data.

Incorporate the five C’s.

Include circumstance, curiosity, characters, conversations, and conflict, urges John Bates, CEO of Executive Speaking Success. Circumstance provides context by setting the scene and revealing vital information. Curiosity prompts the reader or viewer to continue. Characters in conversation keep the audience interested. Conflict is the most important element of a story.

Employ proven formulas.

Rather than creating a storyline from scratch, consider archetypal plots that storytellers have used for millennia, such as a quest, rags to riches, or rebirth. Whatever the story, the chances are that its plot fits into one of these categories. Basic storylines have been used many times throughout the years in fiction, journalism, and promotional pieces. PR, corporate communications, and marketing writers only need to pick the basic plot that best meets their needs, tweak it, and adapt it to tell their specific story.

Data-driven storytelling adds credibility, improves chances for media placements, and reveals insights. It’s essential to use the right combination of data and storytelling. Data can overwhelm an audience (especially in video), and the data itself seldom is the story. Some data-based writers recommend focusing on one or two key statistics and one key chart or graph. Source: Glean.info

It’s always a good idea to come up with a few different stories and angles. Above all else, try implementing at least one of the elements above in your stories, and make sure that you’re sharing something that feels authentic to you, your brand, and, most importantly, your audience.

Anika Jackson is a mother, community volunteer, philanthropist, and brand strategist. There has never been a time when she didn’t enjoy connecting, collaborating and creating meaningful relationships between businesses and communities, and strategically helping brands apply those concepts to meet their goals. A woman gifted with the ability to draw excitement to an event, brand or concept, creating winning solutions and developing strategic press and marketing initiatives that lift up key partnerships and collaborations is the fuel that excites her.