Telling our PR story

Public relations is a form of classic business storytelling. "It is pure non-fiction. It is truth told in the precise same context as any other story form — movies, advertising and journalism," says PR consultant Robbie Vorhaus. He emphasizes the fact that storytelling is essentially having a point of view or a central idea that focuses on a persona or object. We call the person, for the purpose of discussion, the "champ," and the object, the "champ’s magical rock."

Effective storytelling takes our audience on the champ’s journey as he goes through acid tests and distressing states to arrive at some new position. It doesn’t matter if we’re promoting a country, company, product, political candidate or cause. If we tell the story using a consistent recipe, project ingredients, prototypes and a trail of differentiating stories, our key messages will be heard and acted on.

In business, whoever tells the most compelling story rules. To tell an engaging story, open with fire (a peep at the champ’s commonplace but believable world). Then move on and add a strong middle (the champ’s journey into some unusual world) and end with a tail that bites the head (the champ’s return to his ordinary world, but transformed or morphed). A vital component of an effective story is a compelling point of view or an umbrella theme, such as "There is no substitute for persistence," "Great performance brings great result" or "It’s all in the presentation."
"In fictional storytelling, we can benchmark on the Titanic, Ghost, Romeo and Juliet, and West Side Story," Vorhaus relates. These movie hits carry a uniform premise — "True love never dies." In business storytelling, we can latch on classroom marketing cases. He cites the story of Domino’s Pizza: A young man who grows up in an orphanage, joins the Marines, returns and buys a small pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan, thinking he can make more money delivering pizza than waiting for customers to come to him. He opens other stores, buys out his brother for the price of a Volkswagen car, and builds the company into a $3.3 billion global enterprise. He sells it for $1.1 billion and is quoted as saying, "I want to give all my money away and die broke." "There is no substitute for persistence" is his overarching theme.

Friends and colleagues in news organizations tell me that one just has to pick up from hundreds of faxed, e-mailed or personally delivered press releases and see the state of story telling in the country. Most likely we will get stunned at the poor grammar, spelling errors and complete lack of any apparent writing skills. There is a huge disconnect between journalists and public relations practitioners because of the lack of writing skills and storytelling ability.

"To be an effective storyteller, we must stop trying to sell," Vorhaus theorizes, as he underscores that we must learn instead the art and science of connecting with our audience, not manipulating it. Reading some books on non-fiction writing and journalism can provide superb help. Excellent titles recommended for reading include Richard Dowis’ The Lost Art of the Great Speech, William Zinsser’s On Writing Well, Don Hewitt’s Tell Me A Story, Lilian Ross’ Reporting Back, and Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style.

When we have mastered the theories, move on to practice, practice, and more practice. Find someone who has no vested interest in our story, then tell it, and tell it well. Be prepared for feedback as we bring our story to a defined public. The stimulus-response (S-R) communications principle teaches us that people respond based on a stimulus. In comedy, the take is, "If the audience doesn’t laugh, it’s not funny." In a stage performance, "If the audience doesn’t clap, it’s not." In PR, the same thing holds. "If the public doesn’t get it, the public won’t support it."

Company CEOs who understand the importance of telling their corporate or brand story to a number of audiences — customers, media, employees, investment analysts, the trade, government and even competitors — find such approach a match with corporate objectives. For example, URC, the company that started C2, the country’s most favorite refreshment; Jollibee, the number one fast food chain; and National Bookstore, founded by Nanay Coring Ramos, the leading bookstore brand in the Philippines, all have glorious stories that deserve to be told well.

Storytelling can have many platforms — staff meetings, project presentations, company events, industry conferences, community gatherings, training sessions. The list is as endless as our imagination. We need not be great storytellers to effectively use our stories. However, we can heighten success by preparing how we will communicate our stories and taking into account some guidelines when we’re actually sharing them.

Lori Silverman of IABC says, "We all tell stories in casual conversations. They often spill out without any pre-planning. While spontaneity is the norm in these settings, selecting the best stories to use in more formal venues requires forethought." Silverman lists some criteria for selecting stories:

• Who will watch, hear or read your story?

Make sure that the story and the words and language used are appropriate for our audience. The last thing we want is to inadvertently offend someone. Stay away from painful or embarrassing stories or those that speak to life or death challenges until we’ve established rapport and credibility.

• What objective are we trying to achieve?

This doesn’t mean the story needs to strictly fit the topic. A metaphorical or symbolic story can be just as powerful.

• Where will we physically tell the story?

If the story is meant only for a certain audience, learn about the location where you’ll be delivering it. Not all building walls are soundproof. Stories like to travel!

• When will we tell a story, in relation to other information that we’ll share?

Here are some rules of thumb: If we know people will be tired or distracted, open with a story to capture their attention. If we suspect they may resist what we have to share, relay a story beforehand that helps them understand its importance. If we’re unsure that they’ll comprehend the data we have to communicate, tell a story afterwards that brings meaning to it — or tell one early on that leads into the need for the findings. If we’re skeptical that they’ll do what’s been asked of them, end with a story that speaks to the need to take action.

Telling our stories right will enhance our messages. They will connect more closely with those whom we want to hear them, and without a doubt, increase our chance of success. Let’s take time to prepare what needs to be prepared and think through the impact our story will create.

Tell our audience our stories from our heads and hearts, and their hearts and heads will likewise open.

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E-mail bongo@vasia.com or bong_osorio@abs-cbn.com for comments, questions and suggestions. Thank you for communicating.