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...Journalists are in the business of stories. Always have been – and despite the 24/7 streams of info-snacks and feeds forced through ever-congested virtual pipes, they always will be. So it should come as no surprise that a recent global study of journalists found that journalists don’t want “pre-packaged” news such as press releases, and instead are “looking for variety in the kinds of stories brands talk about and the way they are told. And they expect brands to be properly engaged with the relevant social networks – not a box-ticking exercise driven by the PR department, but a genuine engagement at all levels of the business.” In other words, stop with the “content.” Even the word “content” is cold, distant. Content is artificial intelligence. Content fills the feed but leaves you hungry.... [Gary Goldhammer offers some great media relations advice - JD]
This July 4th post is a bit of fun for PR pros, craft bloggers, storytellers and any other writer who is a passionate word lover. A great way to enjoy a little downtime on this Independence Day or any other holiday. Two cautions. You may become infatuated and even addicted to this smack resource. And it’s not always office cromulant. I’m talking of course about the Urban Dictionary. With more than 45,000 words, it’s an indispensable tool and a wonderfully quirky source of inspiration though sometimes profane, arcane and inane. Perfect for whiling away a coffee break and impressing friends with your new, urban vocab....
The Art Of Storytelling In Business Communications And Public Relations... It’s hard to beat the TED Conferences when it comes to oral storytelling. It turns out the speakers – or the folks helping the speakers behind the scenes – craft the titles of their talks with the same quest for attention. Ten of my favorites...
Drawing by Numbers is a resource on data visualization for activists, created by Tactical Tech. It features visualization tools, infographic ideas, as well as advice on working with data and information in campaigning and independent journalism. ...The possibilities outlined above open up a wide range of ways to represent ideas, designs and information about an issue. To simplify this, the most useful starting point in deciding how to use visualisation is to think about what it is you are trying to help audiences do. You can help audiences to:
1. Get the idea - which is about exposing the issue, and being exposed to it
2. Get the story - which is about understanding an issue
3. Get the details - which is about exploring the issue Using a wide variety of different examples we'll walk through these three approaches and give helpful hints about the key challenges and creative tactics involved in their successful use.... [Great tips to help you tell better stories by using better visuals - JD]
David Holmes: "A computer that can write like a human is a neat trick. But Moxie Awards finalist Narrative Science is taking the role of the robot journalist to the next level"... Of all the new technology companies disrupting the field of journalism, none hits home quite like Narrative Science. As Co.Exist reported back in November, the Chicago-based company, which is up for a Moxie Award this week, has developed an algorithm that can mimic human writing so effectively that… well just have a look at these two Forbes.com leads and see if you can tell which was written by a robot...
Via The Digital Rocking Chair
Being fresh and telling the story no one else has told are two ways you can recapture your audience's attention. John shows you how. By now you already know how powerful storytelling can be for your nonprofit. Storytelling enables you to connect the dots in your constituent’s hearts so that they take action on their terms, and share that story with their friends. But even the best stories get old if they’re simply repeated over and over again. They begin to lose their ability to touch people on an emotional level. And it really becomes a problem when you aren’t feeling it anymore....
When it comes to successful content marketing, we all know by now that content that pushes people's buttons and makes them... “feel” (as cheesy as that may sound) is the kind of content that gets shared. The problem is, sometimes we as bloggers just don’t have a clue on what to write about! Writer’s block happens even to the best of us, and it’s nice to help break through this “stalling” of our creativity with a good list of content types that people crave. I’ve put together a list of 10 content types that people just love to read, in hopes that one might serve as inspiration for you to create some “Wow!” content in your own niche.... [Excellent tips for bloggers, PR, curators, content marketing pros and storytellers - JD]
...Let’s be clear, for the sake of argument, about some definitions here. I’m not in this instance talking about taking someone else’s content and repurposing it in some manner on another site. So this isn’t about a story that first appeared on the New York Times’ site and rewording a couple sentences before posting essentially the same story on another site. The “curation” I’m talking about is taking links to stories, posts, photos and other material and linking to it from a platform like Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr. And that’s something that doesn’t need to be controversial since it’s simply all about telling a story.
I’ve been pondering Matthew Ingram’s post about blowing up the concept of the news article for several days and how it relates not just to journalism but also corporate publishing programs. Specifically I’ve been focusing on where he makes the point that increasingly the model that works best is “small pieces, loosely joined.” That’s where the idea of curation comes in since it’s those smaller pieces that curation fills in....
[Excellent read for all curators and wanna-be curators - JD]
Let me be clear, we do not want you to sell us, nor talk about what your business can offer us, not to mention the classic “how to be the best alternative.” Do you want to scare your audience? Name some of these words: sales, target, loyalty o data base. However, these words are essential. Whether you want to accept it or not, the game has changed. If you intend to carry out any of the actions listed above – I hope you will or you will be damn lost – this is the new vocabulary: connect, align, guide, equip, create resonance and consolidate. It’s not about the technology, but about people and what happens among them. Talk about… emotions, feelings, self-effacement, failures, examples, commitment, people, love, passion and eagerness. Tell a story - the story of you and your business - how you started, the hard moments you've had to face, how you've gotten here. Stay human, always.... [Passionate about storytelling and why it matters to business - JD]
My love affair with narrative nonfiction was in its early stages when I first read Robert Kurson’s “Into the Light,” in the June 2005 edition of Esquire. I was mostly clueless about the art of plotting as a way to transport and transform the reader, but when Kurson’s story pulled my emotions in opposite directions, I began to understand the particular power of building tension by changing course. Reading “Into the Light” is like having a deep and tormenting debate with a friend over drinks about the meaning of life and the cost of change.... [Storytelling so good! JD]
Do you have a favorite writer? Are you looking for another one? Visit our Writers page to discover Most Read, Featured, and Up & Coming Writers. Or visit your favorite authors’ own pages, where our editors have hand-picked the very best stories for you to enjoy. Read on for notable stories from our favorite authors.... [Awesome reading, story suggestions from Byliner. Just in time for the long weekend - JD]
Jonathan Gottschall, author of The Storytelling Animal, says science backs up the long-held belief that story is the most powerful means of communicating a message. In business, storytelling is all the rage. Without a compelling story, we are told, our product, idea, or personal brand, is dead on arrival. In his book, Tell to Win, Peter Guber joins writers like Annette Simmons and Stephen Denning in evangelizing for the power of story in human affairs generally, and business in particular. Guber argues that humans simply aren’t moved to action by “data dumps,” dense PowerPoint slides, or spreadsheets packed with figures. People are moved by emotion. The best way to emotionally connect other people to our agenda begins with “Once upon a time…”
“Start every story as if no cares,” says Dotson. “Then structure the story to make them care.”
At the Broadcast Education Association Convention in Las Vegas, he built on that concept and shared his four elements of great stories....
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You will have seen from my various previous posts that I am passionate about how brands tell their stories. [e.g. here] And I keep searching for more answers on how to do that better. Key question to solve, today, is: how to cross all media with one single story in a seamless, media-complementary way. And by doing so, making the story (and thus, the brand) more appealing for the audience (i.e. your consumers). Seems easy to do, but proves very difficult to execute. How many brands really achieve that? It’s so easy to tailor your story to a certain medium, instead of looking at the overall picture and using each medium in itself as “part of” the story. And how do you organise for that to happen? Transmedia is the new way! See further in this note my 5 tips on how to get into transmedia the right way. First of all, let’s recap why brands have to tell stories… [Excellent read for storytellers, content marketing and PR pros - JD]
Andrea Phillips first encountered transmedia storytelling back in 2001 when a friend told her about a baffling website by the Anti-Robot Militia, a group opposed to the advance of cybernetic humans. On further investigation, she found other online clues that expanded the mystery, and she even participated in real-world events related to the story, such as an Anti-Robot Militia rally in New York. Phillips later discovered these elements were part of an elaborate marketing campaign -- later known as "The Beast" -- created by a team at Microsoft to promote Steven Spielberg's forthcoming film, A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Knowledge@Wharton recently sat down with Phillips in New York City to discuss the evolution of transmedia storytelling and how these narrative techniques are being used to engage consumers and find new ways to market everything from movies to consumer products.... [Now that's content marketing and storytelling - JD]
You’ve finally convinced your boss that content marketing is critical to your marketing strategy. You’ve found an editor that understands your industry. ...When we think of content, we often think of a compilation of words, words that tell a story relevant to our buyer and connect to our brand. The problem is that our prospects have less time to read these words, even when they tell a well-crafted story that can be useful in their jobs. Why? We’re in a state of information overflow, and many are looking for a way to dig out. Simultaneously, we have learned to digest information faster – sometimes even at a glance. This quick consumption of data lets us know the big message and allows us to decide whether or not we need to keep reading. The headline of an article is commonly used to make this decision, but how can we rely on more than a headline to get our point across? The answer is visual content marketing. Visual content marketing is the utilization of images to engage your prospects through the buying cycle. This can include infographics, images, charts and graphs, memes, comics, photos, videos, and even visual notetaking. What’s critical is that they help tell a story related to your brand. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean a sales pitch. Rather, visual content is created with the goal of appealing to your prospects and is meant to offer them a solution for a pain they may have....
Tech startups are a dime a dozen, so how do you make yours stand out - to the media and to the public? You need a “hook” to attract jaded reporters, busy bloggers and seen-it-all journalists. In short, you need a “startup legend” - which might or might not be 100% rooted in fact. As a journalist who weeds through hundreds of startup pitch emails a week, here are my tips on the elements of an effective startup legend and how you can develop one. And I’ll even address the possible ethical issues involved in crafting your own legend....
Content has always been king, but the recent Penguin algorithm update further reinforces this notion. Keyword and link frequency are no longer the dominant factors in securing a high search rank. Instead, it largely depends on the website’s content and user experience. Content should be unique, entertaining, and cater to the needs and desires of the target audience – so that it urges visitors to share information with others and also return to the website on a regular basis. Much of what determines a website’s rank in the search results is what happens off of the site. Readers will likely share links to online material that they find worthy, essentially rewarding websites for creating compelling content. Shared links let the search engine know that users are finding value in the specific site. This established credibility and popularity will allow the site to secure a top spot in the search results for relevant queries. So, how can your organization’s online content catch people’s attention and gain additional exposure? This week’s Six@Six offers tips for adding creativity to your current content marketing campaign....
The best thing about lifelong learning is, well, learning new things throughout one's life. Unlike most readers who seem to gravitate towards popular fiction or how-to books, I'm addicted to non-fiction, history and biographies. ...Take "1491", for example. Written by Charles C. Mann, and subtitled, 'New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus', the book is a veritable treasure trove of fascinating findings that turned my world view upside down....
Story telling is at the core of all marketing. Internet marketing, direct marketing, they all include some kind of story. People want to know why, why should I focus my attention on this cause? Why should I donate to this organization? Most of the time, this question is not being asked consciously. It is our humanity that evaluates the question why and then makes a decision to either say yes or turn away. The power to capturing attention and loyalty is in the messages being sent. The power is in the story.... [Christina Kelley talks about the value of storytelling for nonprofits - JD]
Use this seven-step process to develop and tell a business anecdote that will you help close the deal. There are few sales tools more powerful than stories, if they're appropriate and well-told. Because they are always about people and events that changed people's lives in some way, anecdotes create emotion and interest. They teach without preaching. They paint mental pictures that are worth a thousand buzzwords. [Image credit: BigStock Photo] [Great storytelling tips - JD]
We view social media now as an essential form of communication – a new way to stay in touch with people, to share and discover information and to interact with brands and to consume increasingly large amounts of content in concise, compacted ways. But there is another side to social media that we don’t often consider, but that is becoming more and more prevalent: its role in the evolution of storytelling.
Throughout nearly every society and stage in history, storytelling has had a crucial role to play. It has been the way in which disparate communities can connect with each other, in which traditions are maintained and how we entertain ourselves. Social media is now at the stage in which we are all becoming expert storytellers, often without knowing it, and developing the skills to tell those stories effectively....
If you’ve gotten past the title of this article (and many don’t) you’re obviously intrigued. How could anyone expect to sell anything this way? Telling someone you’re terrific is so, well…crass, obnoxious, and Neanderthal, anything but effective. Right?
Curious, I created an experiment. I set out to see how people would actually react to someone saying “Hey there! I am terrific!“, not in written words, but in a real face-to-face interaction. So, taking life into my own hands, I stood out on a street corner to see how passersby might react....
In March 2011, Lisa M. Hamilton, a writer and photographer, began a series of road trips around rural California. She had a grant from the Creative Work Fund—a San Francisco-based foundation that supports collaboration between artists and nonprofits—to tell stories that would help bridge the cultural divide between the rural and urban parts of the state. Initially she wanted to address issues relating to the health of rural communities in the state. But as Hamilton started logging miles (nearly 10,000 total by the time she finished in December) and searching for the stories that would illuminate those issues in different ways, she began to understand that she needed to back up and tell a much more fundamental story....
Social startup Storify is capturing the imagination of journalists and brands... With the presidential elections underway and the Olympics coming up, this is a big year for event-driven journalism—and for social publishing tool Storify.
Storify built its name on enabling reporters, bloggers or anyone to aggregate status updates, tweets, links and YouTube videos and embed them into a blog-style, continuous-stream article treatment that can then live on a site of one’s choosing. The concept is fairly simple: capture as much content as possible on a particular topic from numerous voices across the Web in an easy-to-consume format....
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