A good story can captivate your audience, spark their imagination and prompt loyalty. It can strengthen your presence and help you to stand out from the competition.
There is no doubt telling a great story is an art. But what makes a great story?
There are six key elements that can help you to write a corporate narrative that will influence, inspire and drive change. They are:
Drama
Stories need emotion and drama. They need to reflect real life and be rooted in honesty. You can’t just focus on the good bits - censoring the ‘bad bits’ damages trust.
Purpose
Stories are more persuasive when readers can find out their meaning themselves. To achieve that they need to connect to a higher purpose – a north star.
Familiarity
A story packs more punch when it feels familiar to the reader. Familiarity can come from many things, but the most powerful, by far, is a story that clearly demonstrates an understanding of the target audience. A story that shows it understands where their audience is coming from, what makes them tick and what they need will hit the mark more than one that doesn’t.
Trust
Our feelings about the storyteller influences how we react to their story. Stories need to be authentic and real, if they are not people will see through it immediately and it will be more challenging to capture their attention again.
Simplicity
The most memorable stories are simple stories. You don’t need to write an epic to have impact and for it to be contagious. Take out everything that doesn’t serve the narrative and keep your audience focused on what matters most.
Relatability
People need to be able to identify with and relate to your story. You are more likely to capture their imaginations and persuade them. Many stories today, particularly in the corporate world enable the reader to write themselves into your story, giving them an overt and real way to connect and relate to the content and journey.
If you need help telling your story, get in touch at hello@unitedcultureco.com.
Stay tuned for part two of our series of storytelling where we dive into the importance of a good storyteller.
