Can a chatbot also be a charismatic storyteller? In my featured presentation at the "Engage:NYC Digital Storytelling Conference 2017" I discuss characteristics of successful chatbots and what to keep in mind when developing one.

1. ENGAGE:NYC July 2017
THE RISE OF STORYTELLER BOTS
Speaker: Hakarl Bee, GCD RAPP NYC

2. BOT HIGHLIGHTS AND CHALLENGES
7 minutes
Time it takes to launch
a full-feature chatbot
without a line of code
on chatfuel.com
70% failure rate*
Forrester reports “most
bots aren’t ready to
handle the complexities
of conversation”
* On Facebook Messenger
12% of users
have asked a Facebook
bot to tell a joke or say
something funny
5 years ago
Apple introduced the
most famous bot to
date: Siri

3. STORYTELLER BOTS GAIN TRACTION
Deeper engagement
Users are required to use
their imagination and
intellect to engage with
characters
First person
Conversing with fictional
characters is today’s
predominant use of
narrative bots
Thoughtful timing
Response time can
becomes part of the
message. A more real-
feeling experience
fosters emotional
engagement and
empathy.
Playfulness
Character bots are seen
as entertainment, so
users are more likely to
engage in distractions
aimed to get a
conversation back
on script

4. MEET MR MILES

6. For 10 days in November 2016 contestants engaged with
Mr Miles through a variety of quizzes, games and challenges on
Facebook Messenger to compete for the grand prize.
105,000
participants
13 million
exchanged
messenges
11 minutes
spend per
participant
THE RESULT
4,325,000 miles won
or the equivalent of 9 trips around the world

7. TOP 3 THINGS WE’VE LEARNED
FROM MR MILES

8. #1 DON’T CUT CORNERS
Develop the character first
Before writing the script define your character’s background,
goals, mannerism and style. Consider a presence outside the
bot.
Mr Miles’ Facebook profile got 3MM views over the
10 day engagement.
Find ways to bond with your audience
Revealing a story over time implies a maturing relationship
and fosters a stronger bond.
Mr Miles took 3 days to reveal the reason for his upcoming
break: he’s getting married!

9. #2 KEEP SWITCHING IT UP
Make sure every exchange is one-of-a-kind
Develop a comprehensive library of phrases and keywords
to keep the user from encounting the same flow twice.
Mr Miles features 15,000 conversational themes.

10. #3 DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF
Be ready to handle unstructured data
From pictures to animated GIFs and videos, users like to use
a range of message types to communicate.
Mr Miles used AI to recognize objects and respond to users.

11. QUESTIONS?

12. Speaker:
Hakarl Bee, GCD RAPP NYC
www.hakarlbee.com