Bite Size Comms

The recent ITV drama ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ is a good example of how storytelling can add an emotional connection to a news item that makes the topic more meaningful to the audience. Storytelling is also something that our PR profession proclaims as a skill and an asset. But what exactly is storytelling, and how can we use it?

Humans are natural storytellers. We’ve been telling stories for centuries to inform and entertain. Organisations can use the technique to create narratives that captivate their audience, enhance the organisation’s reputation and communicate something authentically and effectively. I call it simply, telling a compelling story. Believe it or not, Microsoft have a Chief Storyteller (what a wonderful job title!).

I try to give my CIPR qualification students and PR apprentices some of the theories of storytelling that originate from studies of great novels and the world of film. I expect they laugh when I do Star Trek with many sound effects to illustrate the theories!

Let’s start with Propp, who developed a theory that there were seven character archetypes in most folk or modern stories. These are:
🌼The hero: the main character
🌼The villain: the evil counterpart
🌼The donor: gives the hero something of importance
🌼The helper: follows the hero
🌼The princess: goal the hero seeks to attain
🌼The false hero: tries to upstage the hero
🌼The dispatcher: sends the hero on the quest.

Apply that to the Horizon scandal. I’m sure you can name the characters against their archetypes; just don’t get hung up on Propp’s gender bias.

Next, I like Todorov’s theory of equilibrium. According to this theory, storytelling narratives are structured in five stages:
🌕It starts with a state of equilibrium
🌗There is a disruption to the equilibrium
🌘Then, a recognition of the disruption
🌓Followed by an attempt to repair the disruption
🌕And finally, reinstatement of the equilibrium.

One could construct a PR narrative around a hero’s journey in which the protagonist faces a challenge, overcomes it and achieves success. A simple and compelling story.

Food for thought.

[Image: Unsplash]