Eight in 10 U.S. adults now get news on a mobile device. We need a new storytelling tool kit to better serve our audience on mobile. On a small screen, what’s the best way to tell a particular story: digest, explainer, bulleted live updates or what-we-know lists, photo, video, graphic, audio, games, curation, or some combination? And which tools can make that happen as efficiently as possible? How is writing for mobile scanners different? These slides, presented by Fernando Hurtado at Fresno NewsTrain, are accompanied by a handout: (Relatively) easy tools for mobile storytelling. Hurtado is manager of digital video for the NBC-Owned TV Stations' Digital Innovation Team. For more information about the News Leaders Association's NewsTrain, please see https://www.newsleaders.org/newstrain.

1. STORYTELLING
ON SMALL
SCREENS:
MAKING SMARTER
CHOICES
FOR MOBILE
AUDIENCES

2. FERNANDO
HURTADO
MANAGER, DIGITAL VIDEO
DIGITAL INNOVATION TEAM
NBCUNIVERSAL LOCAL

3. How much time does
the average American
spend on their mobile
device daily?
a) 2 hours, 30
minutes
b) 6 hours, 11 minutes
c) 3 hours, 5 minutes
d) 4 hours, 12 minutes

5. hich medium
is mobile
competing
with for time?
W

7. W obile news producers
are competing, not with
other news outlets for
attention…

8. W obile news producers are
competing, not with other
news outlets for attention…
but with TV in general,
as well as online
shopping, movies,
banking apps on top of
other news outlets.

9. 1) Take 5 minutes to
look at your outlet’s
homepage.
1) What’s one thing you
think it’s doing well?
1) How could it be
improved?

10. ELEMENTS NEWS CAN
BORROW FROM TV FOR
SMARTER DIGITAL
STORYTELLING
7

11. These tips will help you:
● improve user experience
● increase retention
● drive more traffic
● walk away with new ideas
for how to present stories

12. JUST LIKE TV EMPLOYS
TRAILERS…
1

13. JUST LIKE TV EMPLOYS
TRAILERS…
DIGITAL NEWS
CAN USE
SUMMARIES
1

14. SUMMARIES
1

15. JUST LIKE YOUR
FAVORITE TV SERIES
HAS MUSICAL
INTERLUDES…
2

16. JUST LIKE YOUR
FAVORITE TV SERIES
HAS MUSICAL
INTERLUDES…
YOUR STORIES
SHOULD ALSO
HAVE BREAKS
2

17. BREAKS
2

18. BREAKS
2
Breaks give the
reader a break
from text blocks,
a chance to
breathe
They also allow
you to feature
mixed media in
stories

19. BREAKS
2
Breaks can be:
● subheads
● bullet points
● social media
post embeds
● maps
● pictures

20. JUST LIKE MOVIE
PLOTS ESTABLISH
QUESTIONS THEY
WANT TO ANSWER…
3

21. JUST LIKE MOVIE
PLOTS ESTABLISH
QUESTIONS THEY
WANT TO ANSWER…
YOUR STORIES
SHOULD, TOO
3

22. Q&As
3
Q&A formats are great
because:
● They’re a familiar format
to audiences (FAQs)
● They help with SEO
because they mirror how
people are searching for
those answers
● They act as a to-do list for
the journalist

23. JUST LIKE MOVIES
RELY ON VISUALS…
YOUR STORIES
SHOULD INCLUDE
IMAGES WHENEVER
POSSIBLE
4

24. IMAGES
4
If you have enough
compelling images,
switch to photo-
essay mode for a bit.
Don’t force it. Better
to have no images
than unrelated,
disorienting images.

25. IMAGES
4
Great opp
for SEO in
the captions
and alt-text.

26. OW,
LET’S PLAY
A GAME.
N

27. 1
2
Find a link to largely text-only story your
outlet worked on.
Identify three elements that you could
add to make for a better user experience.
3
Who was able to add one of these?
● Q&As
● Bullet points
● Subheads
● Images
● Photo essay
● Summary

28. JUST LIKE TV GIVES
YOU MULTIPLE
VANTAGE POINTS…
YOUR STORYTELLING
SHOULD, TOO
5

29. 360º
5
ThingLink.com
lets you make a
lot of cool
widgets.
360º photo tours
are some of my
favorites.

30. 360º
5
These 360º photos are
time-consuming, so
consider making some
evergreen ones you can
recirculate.

31. GAME SHOWS ARE
ONE OF THE MOST
SUCCESSFUL TV
GENRES…
AND WE CAN LEARN A
LOT FROM THEM
6

32. GAMIFY
6

33. GAMIFY
6
Web browser-based
tools like Twine let you
make quizzes you can
embed in stories.
These are also recirc-
able!

34. GAMIFY
6

35. GAMIFY
6
With Genius’ browser-
based annotator, you
can annotate any piece
of text.
Great for speeches!

36. GAMIFY
6
You can annotate
images with ThingLink
as well.
Great for food lifestyle,
crime, real estate
coverage, etc.

37. GAMIFY
6
You don’t have to get
too fancy.

38. GAMIFY
6
You can also gamify on
social.
Canva.com is a great
tool for this.

39. SOME SHOWS YOU WATCH
ON A 60” TV, OTHERS ON
YOUR LAPTOP.
YOUR STORIES CAN INVITE
DIFFERENT WAYS OF
INTERACTING WITH THEM
7

40. SWIPE-SHIFTERS
7
Most stories on mobile
are consumed by
scrolling top to bottom.
But it doesn’t have to be
that way the entire way
down.

41. SWIPE-SHIFTERS
7
Can be:
- Interactive maps
(pinch to zoom)

42. Knight Lab Story Lab
SWIPE-SHIFTERS
7

43. SWIPE-SHIFTERS
7
Juxtapose JS

44. SWIPE-SHIFTERS
7

45. ET’S PLAY
ANOTHER GAME!
L

46. 1
2
Form groups of two.
Using a 11x17 paper, storyboard how you
would tell one of these stories on mobile:
- Annual county fair
- Breaking news: Apartment complex fire
- Mayor’s State of the City address
- Mayoral election
3 Share your storyboard.

47. SLIDES AND HANDOUTS
bit.ly/fresnonewstrain

48. WHAT DO YOU WANT
TO TRY FIRST?
HOW CAN I HELP?
Fernando Hurtado
@fhurtado