"Storytelling is a form of communication that is indestructible." - Attributed to author Salman Rushdie
What we typically call "articles," "coverage" or "publicity," journalists invariably call stories. That's no accident.
From the Bible to "Make Way for Ducklings" to Paris Hilton behind bars, stories are the way we interpret the world, form our beliefs and convey information. Stories organize random facts and spotlight key ideas.
Journalists like stories as much as the rest of us, so why do PR professionals continue to "pitch" the media rather than engaging them with a story? The media's reputation for cynicism is well-earned, and with news space shrinking, they're especially happy to spike your idea if you seem to be selling something. "Learn how to engage an audience, not manipulate it," advises former CBS newsman Robbie Vorhaus, now in public relations.
The mere fact that you have a new product, for example, is typically not compelling enough unless it's a miracle drug or the iPhone. Even then the world needs stories to appreciate its value. Stories are absolutely crucial for public relations results.
The basic recipe
So what makes a story a story versus an item you want covered? At its most elemental level, every story has a character, problem, struggle and resolution. You generally take them up in that order.
Example I:
Character – God.
Problem – Nothingness.
Struggle – Constructing a universe.
Resolution – "And there was light."
Example II:
Character – Spoiled debutante.
Problem – Probation violation.
Struggle – Drafty 12-foot-by-8-foot cell.
Resolution – Ex-con. Lesson learned?
In B2B PR, our stories are rarely as momentous as creation or as sensational as Paris Hilton, but anything worth covering can be elevated from a scattering of data points to a story.
"Essentially," says Vorhaus, "storytelling, and that includes PR, is having a point of view or theme, focusing on one person or thing (the hero) and taking your audience on that hero's journey through trials and tribulations to arrive at some new point, but now changed."
So how do we do this in B2B high-tech PR? Let's look at a new product launch.
Character – Who exactly is this new product for? Set the scene with personal, customer-centered insight.
Problem – What keeps this person awake at night? Describe the problem your "solution" will actually solve.
Struggle – How miserable is it? Presumably, users are working inefficiently, quality is suffering, and costs are soaring, to cite a few of the many potential pain points. Paint the "before" picture.
Resolution – Now they can work faster/better/more profitably. Paint the "after."
Now take another step back and ask yourself if you should present this to the media as a "new product launch." Will a story of how a real customer conquered daunting obstacles stimulate more interest from a jaded media?
Stories at work
For a videoconferencing client, we didn't sell the gadgetry, we told the story: Aboriginal Australians and native Americans in Canada, neither of whom had seen a television, were suddenly getting to know one another via videoconference.
For a 3D CAD client, the story focused on global matters of the highest import, not on the product: The CEO was on his way to Rwanda to help launch a new Rwanda-owned business aimed at revitalizing the impoverished, post-genocide country. He was donating software, training and desperately needed business expertise.
In either case, we could have simply talked up the product we wanted covered, but it would have been out of context for the reporters and editors we were dealing with. They want stories.
One caveat: In offering a story, take care not to condescend. Don't package your story too tightly. Media representatives see themselves as the experts on stories and their audience. Let them help you assemble it.
The story of your company
Your company has its own story. Characters came together, identified a business problem and struggled to develop a solution. Resolution is still unfolding.
There's no limit to the stories you can tell. "[S]tories define a business organization," says John Sobol, senior consultant at 76design, an interactive agency in Canada. "The stories that are told by employees to each other about their company, that are told by customers to each other, told by management to staff, told by marketers to the public, told by executives at conferences, told by the media – a company's reputation, its business objectives, its brand, its products and services, its recruiting and much much more – are all deeply bound up in this matrix of living stories that are told by and about a company." In fact, he adds, "Every organization needs a Chief Storytelling Officer who considers how stories work their way through an organization's ecosystem (internal and external, top to bottom) and ensures that their impact is as positive as possible."
Yikes. Where to start? Setbacks, turnarounds, innovation, redemption – told through the eyes of real people – all make good business stories.
I'd also suggest:
- Write these four words on a sticky note: character, problem, struggle and resolution.
- Stick it on your monitor.
- Next time you write or call an editor, see if you're using the four elements.
- Ask yourself, are you selling your product or engaging the editor?
- Are you spinning or telling a story?
- Now start forming the story of your company.
Good luck, and may your story have a happy ending.
- Steve McGrath, Senior Technology Writer
