Presented by Amy Lynn Smith on March 12, 2015 at the fifth Center for Health Literacy Conference: Plain Talk in Complex Times.

1. Giving High-Tech
Communications
High-Touch Impact
Amy Lynn Smith – Writer + Strategist
alswrite.com
@alswrite

2. Introduction

3. What’s my story?
 I use storytelling to engage and
educate
◦ Health literacy
◦ Issue advocacy
◦ Constituent and consumer
communications
 25+ years of experience beginning
with custom publishing
 Print to digital — the spectrum of
media

4. What will we learn today?
 Why storytelling works, especially to
improve health literacy
 The basics of good storytelling
 Storytelling in various mediums:
◦ Digital and social media
◦ Print
◦ Video
◦ One-on-one conversations (for clinicians)
 Tips for storytellers

5. Why storytelling?
It works.

6. How does storytelling improve
health literacy?
 It helps explain complex topics in
terms people can relate to
 It makes dry topics more interesting
and memorable
 It engages readers and gives them a
hero/heroine to identify with
 It motivates action and persuades —
readers can see themselves in the
hero/heroine

7. Why storytelling works: It makes
complex topics simpler and facts more
compelling
Complex facts:
The progression of
essential
hypertension begins
with prehypertension
and then advances
to early
hypertension,
established
hypertension and
finally to complicated
hypertension.
Simpler, more
compelling:
Sara had signs of
high blood pressure
starting in high
school. It only got
worse as she aged.
By the time her own
kids were in high
school, she was
taking two kinds of
medicine to control
her blood pressure.

8. Why storytelling works: It grabs
readers and gives them someone to identify
with
 Stories create “stakes” and engage
emotions
Even though Sara’s doctors told her losing
weight and exercising more could lower
her blood pressure, she couldn’t find the
time or energy. But then her doctor told her
if she kept going the way she was, she
might not see her kids graduate from
college. That’s when she knew she
needed to make a change.

9. Why storytelling works: It motivates
action when readers see themselves in a
story
 Success stories are especially
powerful
Sara started walking for 30 minutes on
her lunch break and saved time by
bringing heart-healthy lunches to work.
She lost 25 pounds, went off one of her
medications — and had the energy she
needed to help her son move into his
college dorm.

10. Why storytelling works: It helps
readers retain facts
 Context improves memory
People who read Sara’s story will
remember that she was able to be there
for her kids by exercising and losing
weight to manage her high blood
pressure.

11. Does storytelling persuade?
 YES: This is the testimonial of a woman who was
opposed to the Affordable Care Act until she read
stories about how it was helping others

12. Does storytelling persuade?
 YES: There’s even science behind it
Credit: OneSpot.com

13. What is
good storytelling?

14. The basics of good
storytelling
 Example: ‘The Little Engine That
Could’
◦ Most of us heard this story as kids. And
although we may not remember the
details, we remember the message: I
think I can, said the train — and he did.

15. The basics of good
storytelling
 Example: ‘The West Wing’
◦ It taught lessons about government and
politics through a dramatic narrative and
the stories of characters we care about.

16. The basics of good
storytelling
 Example: ‘The West Wing’
◦ It’s stellar “take your medicine”
storytelling: a spoonful of sugar (narrative)
makes complex concepts easier to digest.
◦ It also inspired a generation (or more) of
young people to go into politics.

17. The basics of good
storytelling
 Example: ‘Serial’
◦ Getting listeners to pay attention to the
dry details of cell phone tower technology
was much easier when it was wrapped in
the story of how Adnan’s attorney tried the
case.

18. The basics of good
storytelling
 Example: Humans of New York
◦ A photo with a caption can say it all.

19. How do you use
storytelling in
healthcare?

20. Elements of good healthcare
stories*
 Establish your hero/heroine (choose a
protagonist who is relatable and likeable)
 Make sure there are stakes for the
protagonist — a compelling storyline
 Keep it simple
 Wrap the facts in the story
 Have a beginning, middle and end
(include a call to action in the end)
*Or just about any story, really.

21. Creating your story: The
protagonist
 Use a real person or create a
character
 Include details that let your audience
get to know the protagonist
 Make your protagonist relatable and
sympathetic — someone we care
about
 Give your protagonist somewhere to
go on the journey of growth, discovery,
etc.

22. Creating your story: The
stakes
 Every story needs stakes: What does
the protagonist stand to gain or lose
 Make the stakes matter: Health stories
have the built-in element of life or
death
 Include others in the stakes — family,
friends, etc., to give your audience
more than one person to connect with
in the story

23. Creating your story: Keep it
simple
 Don’t try to do too much in one story
— especially online; stay focused
 Use straightforward language; use
details and emotion, but don’t get
flowery
 Always remember your
communications objective, whether it’s
education, persuasion, marketing, etc.
— that needs to be at the center of the
narrative

24. Creating your story: Let it carry
facts
 Avoid isolating the facts from the
narrative; make them part of the
natural narrative whenever possible
 If you must share a set of facts,
consider a sidebar or other way to
make them “at-a-glance” items that
don’t break the narrative flow

25. Creating your story: Let it carry
facts
 Let your protagonist share facts as
part of a personal story
After walking at lunch every day for a
month, Sara started to see results.
“My blood pressure was much lower,
sometimes even below 120/80,” she says.
“That was a big deal for me. It made me
want to keep going.”

26. Creating your story: Give it
structure
 Every story needs a beginning, a
middle and an end
◦ The beginning is where the problem or
scenario is established
◦ The middle is where the solution happens
◦ The end is where results are shown
(usually good ones)

27. Creating your story: The call to action
 “Take your medicine” storytelling needs a
moral to the story — what’s the action
you want your audience to take
 A call to action can be woven into the
narrative or broken out as an element
◦ “I can’t believe it took me so long to get my
health on track,” Sara says, “but I’ll never go
back to my old habits now. I love how great I
feel.”
◦ Most drugstores offer free blood pressure
testing. Check yours next time you’re out.

28. Intermission:
Questions so far?

29. Storytelling
tips and tricks

30. What mediums work for
storytelling?
 Storytelling can be used in every
medium
 Use the medium to guide the
message:
◦ Shorter posts, graphics and video work
best online; longer stories can work in
blog posts if you keep them compelling
◦ Print is a good place for longer stories;
many people will spend more time with a
magazine
◦ Include printable elements online, such as
PDFs, to provide more detail

31. Stories as part of a larger
campaign
 Stories can be one element of a
broader communications plan
◦ Consumer Reports’ online hub on
caregiving included:
 A fact-based report on medical issues and
advice for caregivers
 A guide to palliative and hospice care
 The video “A Beautiful Death” telling one man’s
story of his own end-of-life decisions

32. Stories as part of a larger
campaign
 Consumer Reports complemented fact-based
reports with Paul’s personal video story
 Using Paul’s story made a topic most people don’t
want to talk about less intimidating

33. Storytelling on social media
 Vast reach that feels personal: the
social aspect
 Think of it as the new broadcast
journalism
 Good mass communications principles
still apply

34. Tailor social media to the
platform
 Facebook: photos, videos, stories with
longer shelf lives, more ongoing
interaction
 Twitter: timely, attention-getting tweets
and conversations; photos
 LinkedIn: best for B2B and
professional communications
 Instagram: perfect for visual
storytelling
 Tumblr: ideal for short blog posts and
images

35. Platforms are not
interchangeable
 A tweet is not a Facebook post is not a
blog post
 Even if the story is the same,
customize the share line and tone;
post at different times
 Use them in tandem, not in parallel
 Let one build off the other

36. Integrate your social media
 Tell a story across multiple platforms
◦ Share a blog post with photo on Facebook
and encourage engagement
◦ Tweet link to that post with a timely
comment
◦ Share the photo on Instagram; customize
◦ Cross-post on Tumblr, Google+ and more
with customized share lines
 Bonus: build audience across platforms
 Example – frank (see handout)

37. Photos are worth 1,000 words
 On social media, photos make your
content more visible and can boost
views
 Choose the right image for your
content and vice versa
 Swap out photos to give older content
new life

38. Videos are valuable, too
 Short videos work well on social
media; they bring stories to life
 Keep length to about 3 minutes
 Videos can be simple talk-to-camera
with a few cutaways — easy to
produce at a low cost
 Longer videos must be especially
compelling to hold the viewer and
need higher production values

39. Keep the story alive on social
media
 Social media promotes engagement,
interaction
 Respond to comments and create a
conversation
 Comments boost Facebook visibility;
retweet shares or @ replies on Twitter
 You may even find new stories
 Moderation is essential

40. Consider promoted posts
 Small investment, big return
 Choose the right audience to target; tailor
content and visuals

41. Storytelling for clinicians
 Storytelling puts information in context
for patients
 Use anecdotes — real or invented
◦ ‘The Lady and the Ice Cream’
◦ Use analogies: the birds and the bees;
plumbing repairs
◦ Motivate healthy actions through success
stories
 When providing hand-outs, use a
short story to encourage patients to
read them

42. Recap:
Storytelling works

43. Storytelling improves health
literacy
 It makes complex topics simpler and
facts more compelling
 It grabs readers and gives them
someone to identify with
 It motivates action when readers see
themselves in a story — a role model
 It helps readers retain facts: context
improves memory
 Works in every medium

44. Remember good storytelling
basics
 Establish your hero/heroine (choose a
protagonist who is relatable and
likeable)
 Make sure there are stakes for the
protagonist — a compelling storyline
 Keep it simple
 Wrap the facts in the story
 Have a beginning, middle and end
(include a call to action in the end)

45. Q & A

46. Giving High-Tech
Communications
High-Touch Impact
Amy Lynn Smith – Writer + Strategist
alswrite.com
@alswrite