I cruised back through my 2009 posts, flagging my personal favorites.

Here’s half the list:

1) AIG Jumps Into Fray with Its Side of the Story

This was my first time getting in touch with my inner smart-ass self:

The power of empathy championed by Oprah and her ilk is not lost on Mr. Liddy. His op-ed kicks off:

The government rescue of American International Group (AIG) and other financial firms has produced a palpable wave of anger on the part of Americans and a rising public demand for accountability from corporate and government leaders. The anger is understandable, and I share it.

Is he saying that he shares our anger or he shares an understanding that we’re angry? I’m not sure. Still, right move to jump on the anger bandwagon.

2) Conversing Like A Real Human Being

One of my soapboxes and the following perspective from Dick Costello (now COO at Twitter) absolutely nails the issue:

People like it when companies have personalities. It makes us feel like there are actual people on the other side of the communication. It’s fun to be the customer of a company with a personality. This seems totally obvious, and yet you too rarely see companies with distinct personalities really grab your attention in the marketplace. Why is this? It’s actually hard to remove personality and character from communications. So, instead of saying that companies don’t take the time to have personalities, it’s probably more accurate to state that companies don’t allow themselves to show their personalities.

3) Making Sure The Cobbler’s Kids Don’t Go Without Shoes

By applying the same storytelling principles to our own brand-building, we’ve enjoyed attention from a range of media properties, including an op-ed in BusinessWeek. I got a kick out of the following line even if the only positive feedback came from my mom (”You never liked carp. I remember when we took you to Lake Mead and …”):

If we learned anything from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) last year—never a good sign when an acronym rhymes with carp—it’s that pumping large sums of money into the banks by itself is not the answer to the credit crunch.

4) The David-Against-Goliath Story Never Goes Out Of Style

Malcom Gladwell has taken non-fiction storytelling to a new level. This post examines one of his New Yorker pieces:

He frames the story with a subplot that anyone can relate to: a youth sports team, in this case a 12-year-old girls basketball team coached by the CEO of software company TIBCO, that demonstrates effort and smarts trumping expertise. Think Bad News Bears in pigtails (although it’s tough to visualize TIBCO CEO Vivek Ranadivé playing Morris Buttermaker instead of Walter Matthau).

5) A Modern Pipeline Story Comes To Life In The Wall Street Journal

Storytelling in the business media benefits from quantification. The numbers add up to one mega project:

Last leg of the pipeline cost $6.7B

Created 10,000 jobs

Used 1.4M tons of steal

Welded 110,814 sections of 42-inch pipe

Negotiated with 6,530 landowners for rights of way

Side note: Can you imagine? I can’t even get my neighbors to trim their avocado tree hanging over our front yard.

Worked 27 million man-hours

I’ll share the remaining five tomorrow.

The movie business provides a window into how people like their stories.

The path for movies can take many forms, but they end on a positive note 99 percent of the time.

That’s the way we like it.

Shrek gets the princess (albeit, with a revised look).

Michael Oher goes on to play offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens.

Indiana Jones solves the riddle.

Even in a depressing ending like “Cool Hand Luke,” Paul Newman is there to soften the blow.

Turning to business stories, 2009 will go down as “The Year of the Downer.” The financial carnage has consumed the media in a way that makes coverage of the dot-com meltdown look like amateur hour.

Yet, the niche media property Tonic, which only covers good news like “Ingredients for Peace: The Cookbook” (you too can bake chicken like Desmond Tutu), has seen its readership significantly increase amidst the wreckage.

People still want heroes, obstacles overcome and happy endings.

With this in mind, I believe 2010 will find business media properties more open than ever to positive stories. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of reporters and bloggers don’t find satisfaction in writing for the umpteenth time about another foreclosure in Bakersfield.

Now, that doesn’t mean rev. 3.554 of a product offering or your CEO bowling to raise money for charity will end up in a national daily.

But legitimate business stories, those that build drama articulating the difference between what was and what is, use numbers, and bring anecdotes to the fore have a better chance of getting a listen next year.

The psychological component for business storytelling - now there’s a phrase in which an acronym doesn’t quite work - is what I expect to be a factor in 2010.

Quantifying this, I’ve created what I’m calling the “Cautiously Optimistic Index.” Using the Factiva U.S. database, I’ve captured the number of articles that mention the phrase “cautiously optimistic” cut by month.

Aside from a dip in September - perhaps the one-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse caused a pang of temporary heartburn - you can see an almost 3X rise since the start of the year.

This bodes well for a positive environment in 2010.

I know, I know, not exactly scientific. But if you want science, go talk to Wall Street.