Storytelling

Human interest for all topics

It seems so reasonable to tell human-interest stories to illustrate the need for bone-marrow transplants, the sad results of texting while driving — even solutions for childhood obesity.… Read the full article

Three steps for putting your information in order

So you’ve chosen your organizing scheme. Here are some tips for pulling your story together.

1. Put your info in buckets.

… Read the full article

6 reasons analogy is more persuasive than literal language

Metaphor is more persuasive than literal language: It’s been proven in the lab.

Make that 41 labs over more than 50 years.… Read the full article

Turn policies and procedures into people

Human interest helps fight the 7 dreary P’s

Call them the seven dreary P’s: programs, plans, policies, procedures, protocols, positions and products.

Bring these mind-numbing topics to life by turning them into an eighth P: people.… Read the full article

Why have people fallen in love with this podcast?

It’s been compared to The Sopranos. Before its debut, it ranked No. 1 on iTunes. When its first season was over, fans couldn’t remember what people do who aren’t listening to it.… Read the full article

How small is small?

Mini narratives can be as brief as a paragraph

In The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee shares this tiny tale:

“In 2005, a man diagnosed with multiple myeloma asked me if he would be alive to watch his daughter graduate from high school in a few months.… Read the full article

Bring strategy stories down to earth

Make them more concrete, creative

It’s one thing to make a bio or profile creative. Breathing life into high-level strategy stories — like the company’s mission, vision, business objectives and annual goals — that’s another thing.… Read the full article

Use ‘narrative shorthand’

Squeeze a big life into a small space

How do you pack a large life into a tight space?

Try a “pocket profile.” That’s the technique Anjelica Huston used to describe her great-great-great grandfather in her new memoir, A Story Lately Told:

“… a prospector, John Gore, who started up several newspapers from Kansas to New York.… Read the full article

Draw readers in

Start intranet articles with storytelling

When Karen Hand saw the “Dilbert” cartoon that pictured employees hanging from the walls by Velcro, she laughed. Then she thought: “Hmmm … wonder if that would work?”

Hand and the rest of the Facilities team have tried just about everything else to find space for the growing number of associates at Sprint Spectrum.… Read the full article