Basic steps of creating stories for PR

1. Building Story Ideas
John Couper
Fall, 2017

2. 1. We have many ways to get a strong story:
a) intuition
b) followup or “borrow” another story
c) wait for a strong story to come your way
d) discussion with colleagues or reader exemplar
2. We can also “build” one in a more methodical way
this takes longer time at first,
but will quickly become natural and soon save a lot of time as you
write better stories
My example: Safeway and gravity
3. Of course, follow the desires of the editor, publication, and kind
of story as much as possible.
4. Never be clever or creative only because you can or because it’s fun

3. Creativity
• Why be creative?
– To be more memorable and persuasive
– To stand out from competing stories
– To make the reader want to read you again
– To enjoy the writing process
• What is creativity?
– “connecting two familiar things in an unfamilar
way”

4. Engage the Audience
• Decide what readers…
– know on the topic
– Want to know about it
• Get concrete:
– Imagine how it would look
– This improves language and angle

5. Five Steps to Better Stories
1. Decide on
a) the topic and main aspects of the story so far,
and
b) the audience, including its main interests
2. Identify secondary connections from
a) sources
b) angles: the aspect to focus on
c) observation, experience, “what if..?”
d) what is missing

6. Five Steps b)
3. Decide an impact you want on the audience:
surprise,
knowledge,
laughter,
understanding,
action, etc.
This will help you decide on the right tone
(direct and serious, playful, demanding, etc.)

7. Five Steps c)
4. Decide on the central connection
Use this for the...
lead,
open and close: attractive/informative/both
structure
Review sample story, connection,
development

8. Five Steps d)
5. Decide on the final “take-home” idea:
topic, angle/focus, tone.
* create a thread of information and ideas
to take the reader to the end
* be ready to sometimes break the thread
* edit out whatever does not strengthen
this idea and thread.