PR professionals are quick to sing the virtues of storytelling, but their actions tell a different story. That’s how I kicked off my talk on visual storytelling at a PR Newswire event, scrutinizing the content generated by PR with two questions: Does the content deliver the “frame” that today’s journalists need to write a story? …more
Every company correlates the recruitment of top talent to long-term success. Yet, companies continue to churn out job descriptions like soulless widgets on an assembly line. Even in Silicon Valley where rule-breaking serves as a badge of honor, job descriptions get zero respect. I wrote last summer that 99 percent of companies borrow from the …more
If bands can do it, why not a blog? Only, I’ve defined a “greatest hit” as having “hit” the publish button in 2011 or later. With the housekeeping out of the way for these business storytelling oldies, here are seven that fit the description: My Aha Moment in Storytelling Being raised in the command-and-control era …more
The value of visual storytelling will only increase over time. You don’t need a research grant from the feds to reach this conclusion. There are only so many words a human brain can process before the overload buzzer goes off (unless you’re Stephen Hawking). Which brings us to the infographic. If a picture is worth …more
Jack and Jill. Romeo and Juliet. Shrek and Fiona. The news release and storytelling. Not exactly a stanine buster figuring out which one doesn’t fit. Don’t blame PR Newswire. Their services are merely the delivery vehicle corporations use to fling their dull announcements – OK, I’m being kind – to the masses. To combat …more
In a time of gnat-like attention spans, few publications still practice long-form journalism. Fortune is one exception, and Patricia Sellers is one exceptional storyteller. If you recognize the name, it’s likely because Sellers took Fortune’s annual feature, “The Most Powerful Women in Business,” and transformed it into franchise with its own brand cachet. The Stanford …more
Our infographic that contrasted storytelling with corporate speak seemed to resonate with the outside world. People recognize that gluing together facts and figures makes for dull information. Since publishing the infographic, we’ve seen talk – and chatter in social media channels – evangelizing the value of storytelling in business accelerate. Dare I say, storytelling has …more
I’m always interested in the science behind storytelling. What makes it such an effective part of our social being and communications? This video by Paul Zak is a good watch. It shares his study on the topic, which revealed a change in a person’s blood chemistry before and after hearing a story. The storytelling caused …more
As yet another indication that storytelling is the new black, it’s become a go-to topic for a range of publications. Fast Company provides a good Exhibit A. It’s not exactly science, but the number of mentions of “storytelling” in the publication over the past three years is still revealing: I think we can conclude that …more
