The art of storytelling: Key for Corporate Communications

Even before we had a sense of ‘language’, we became storytellers. Our ancestors used pigment to hand paint on the walls to create stories. Storytelling, is in fact, universal to human experience. Today, of course, stories can be told orally, in printed or handwritten text, and via social media and Virtual Reality (VR), which have made visual storytelling far easier. Regardless of the media, we are all consumers of stories and always have been.

Traditional Storytelling is how history was created and how it is still developed. In this new generation of technology, we are taking bigger steps into the modern world and are creating a social aspect of storytelling. In some ways with the advent of Augmented and Virtual Reality in the modern era, we have circled back to visual storytelling as organizations strive to find their own voice and narrative.

Why are people drawn to stories?

One reason could be that it helps us make sense of things. Stories help us organize moments and events in a way that we are able to find order in an otherwise random world. The voice of narration also gives us insight into the storyteller’s perspective. Stories allow us to share events in a memorable way and communicate our purpose with clarity.

How can you master the art of storytelling to build a compelling communication strategy?

1. Know Your Listener

Even before beginning your story, spend time identifying and knowing your audience. Who do you want to read this story to? What is the emotion you want to elicit once they’ve read your story? What do they care about? Through which medium are they more likely to read/ listen to your story? These are very pertinent questions that will enable you to set the right tone and ensure that your target audience emotionally, intellectually, or aesthetically, gets interested in your story.

2. Create an Immersive Experience

By engaging all the senses of your audience — in many cases by leveraging technology — and by setting the right context, you will be able to engage your audience better. Technology can help you define how the message, or the story is told and how the audience will interact with it, experience it, and finally derive value from it. The idea is to evoke emotions and imagination of the audience, by bridging the gap between the in-person and on-screen experience and showing the audience the human side of the brand.

3. No Action, No Reward

A ‘call to action’ is what really defines the purpose of your communication campaign. While the ‘art of storytelling’ is what will govern its success, but it is the ‘call to action’ that gives your story a finishing touch and determines whether your story evoked the emotion from your audience it aimed from the start. It could be something as simple as a ‘click here’ button, or something more nuanced as evoking a particular emotion that leads to your audience think or feel in a certain way.

After all, they’ll remember a story – if told right.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com