News & Information

Public relations emphasizes clarity and succinct explanation. But, without a story to connect to, content and outreach can become rote and dull, or over-reliant on the kind of internal language that can be difficult for anyone outside the organization to understand. As individuals, groups, and even organizations, we sometimes struggle to be understood, and to understand one another. One of the most effective ways to accomplish that goal is through the tools of storytelling.

My public relations career began at a small arts and culture firm whose founder was a former anthropologist. While results-oriented, Paula Webster (shout out to Paula!) had a unique framework through which she constructed all of her client outreach: translation. 

It was from her and through working at her agency that I came to understand the fundamental idea of finding the shared language between an organization and its audiences to create true communication. 

I came to see that public relations, like good journalism and fiction, could drop the reader or viewer into another world by employing the use of relatable themes, experiences and ideas; hooks that could entice an audience to go to an unfamiliar place. This is achievable with a commitment to good storytelling.

The National Storytelling Network defines storytelling as the “interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener’s imagination.” Part of the magic of narrative is how it can go where technical terminology, academic discussion, and pure sales can’t, bridging different knowledge bases and experiences to draw someone in. 

Ideally, storytelling helps create a picture in the mind of your audience because they can follow the action to a meaningful conclusion. Relatable structures, such as a journey or lesson learned, and devices such as metaphors and analogies, can also help make a formal business subject more like the stories people normally consume via entertainment, reading for fun, and in conversations with friends and family.

For media interviews, of course, it's important to have strategic, key messages that create a strong picture of your company’s value, mission, and product or service offerings. But key messages are only part of the picture, and can seem dry or, worse, meaningless if not contextualized through adept storytelling.

(I often think of a former colleague, who, when I mentioned the ubiquitous high-tech PR phrase of “highly scalable, end-to-end, elegant best-of-breed solution”, was silent for a few beats before asking, “Elegant? Is the solution wearing pearls?” Every word in that sentence has real meaning, but has become deeply overused in some circles while having no relatability in others.)

Strong stories for media interviews should help with that issue of translation by taking the listener on an engaging journey. Ideally, you will speak to the journalist in their own “language,” whether that is technical, consumer, or anywhere else along the beat landscape. The story can be personal, such as how a new partnership came to be and reflects your organization’s values; illustrative, such as a funny comparison a customer made that brings a dull service to life with humor and metaphor; or taken from the broader news landscape. For example, an earthquake recently hit the city where I live, and the client I spoke to later that same day excitedly – and effectively – explained to me how his company’s technology could track and parse social media responses to that event in real time. 

When creating your story, whether well in advance or on the fly, you’ll want to adhere to general advice about speaking to media contacts – be succinct, and don’t give in to the impulse to fill a silence with more words. Stories connect best when they have a clear beginning or set-up, a middle that builds interest and even suspense, and an ending that delivers a payoff and illuminates the main point. As with all media training, you can workshop a story with colleagues or friends to make sure it is both clear and interesting, and doesn’t meander too far from the message you want to convey. 

One of the best things about the storytelling form is it is familiar and personal. It can create a unique space within an interview to build conversation, connection and trust. Given its pervasiveness across all cultures, it is worthwhile to develop storytelling as a communications skill that improves organizational and individual authenticity.

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