Every organization has a story to tell and yet, far too often, we bury it in technical language and jargon. Storytelling techniques transform boring documents by: focusing on the people, building in action and suspense, painting vivid descriptions.

1. Storytelling delight your readers with heroes, action, and emotion by Penny McKinlay

2. Penny McKinlay Communication, Research, Analysis Saskatoon, SK, Canada penny@axonsoft.com http://www.pennymckinlay.axonsoft.com www.wanderlustandwords.blogspot.com

3. Fantasy, adventure, romance, pain People love stories – from a James Bond movie full of action and adventure to the latest neighbourhood gossip.

4. You have a story to tell Every organization has a story to tell. And yet, far too often, we bury it in technical language and jargon.

5. “What we yearn for is to listen to an intelligent and evocative – perhaps at times even provocative – human being

6. “who teaches us, or inspires us, or who stimulates us with knowledge plus meaning, context, and emotion in a way that is memorable.

7. “Information plus emotion and visualization wrapped in unforgettable anecdotes are the stuff that stories are made of.”1

8. Bring your story to life Storytelling techniques transform boring documents by: Focusing on the people Building in action and suspense Painting vivid descriptions

9. People: your main ingredient Characters are at the heart of every good story.

10. “A kindly older neighbor, Fats Johnson was known for loading donuts onto a long pole, and giving them away to kids as they rode by on their bicycles. His dog Tupper was a constant companion, and always by his side.” Fats Johnson Pinot Noir Ganton and Larsen Prospect Winery2

11. Let the customer speak Axon Development Corporation3sells trucking software. Rather than describing the software, they publish interviews where the customers talk about their Axon experience.

13. Action and adventure “The structure and significance of stories transforms information from static and flat to dynamic and alive.”4

14. Good guys and bad guys In 2008, the Victoria Police Department created an online, interactive annual report.5 Real people tell real stories, and we watch the action unfold as the police uncover clues or make an arrest.

15. “The case began in December 2007, when local police arrested a Nanaimo man for drug trafficking and seized his 2002 Hummer in the process. While searching the vehicle, Constables Brent Keleher and Andre Almeida located a man’s shoulder bag. Inside was picture ID that featured the same man in both photos, but two different names….”

16. Choose your destination Stories need a purpose or a destination. The good guys triumph over the bad guys; star-crossed lovers live happily ever after.

17. Champagne moment Choose a simple, concrete goal so that it will be clear to everyone when you are successful.6

18. “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”7

19. Paint a vivid picture Lively Verbs Descriptive Phrases Humour Surprise Emotion

20. “Why do people approach business with such grim seriousness? Perhaps people take themselves a little too seriously because they are afraid that others won’t.

21. “Or perhaps some companies think they need to speak in a certain stiff way to appear credible….

22. ‘I’d worry less about shocking customers than I would about boring them,’….”8

23. Colourful language The colloquial language on this wine label captures the Prohibition era, and the adjectives bring the women’s personalities to life.

24. “The Misfits represent the adventures of three ritzy bearcat dolls dancing their way to Tin Pan Alley. Not knowing nothin’ from nothin’ but having fun in every juice joint and speakeasy along the way, they always make sure they aren’t left holding the bag.

25. “All dressed up in their glad rags, each doll has her own high hat personality: Semillon, a blonde, is fresh, sassy and slender; Chenin Blanc, a redhead, is juicy, fun and voluptuous; and Chardonnay, a brunette, is luscious, complex and elegant.”9

26. A dash of humour Phillips Brewing Company10

27. Unexpected Is there really a piece of duct tape on the cover?

28. Numbers tell a story “The right numbers have an important story to tell. They have to rely on you to give them a clear and convincing voice.”11

29. “Today we’re announcing the first 12GB memory card for cell phones. It has fifty billion transistors. Think of each transistor as an ant: if you were to put fifty billion end to end, they would circle the globe twice. SanDisk ‘s flash memory card with 12GB of storage

30. “What does this mean to you? Enough memory to store six hours of movies. Enough memory to listen to music while traveling to the moon . . . and back!”12

31. Emotion “We are wired to feel things for people, not for abstractions.”13 Tyler Stableford, Wide Horizons for Children, Ethiopia

32. “It turns out that donors are moved not by staggering statistics or photos of mass suffering, but by an image of a single human being. People feel helpless when confronted with the enormity of Africa’s need (and for good reason) — yet when presented with the story and portrait of one individual whose life can be directly improved, checks are signed….”14

33. Writing Checklist Delight your reader by keeping the following storytelling techniques in mind when you are writing:

34. Place people at the centre of your story.

35. Give customers a voice.

36. Add action and adventure.

37. Choose your destination.

38. Employ colourful language.

39. Add a dash of humour or the unexpected.

40. Bring numbers to life.

41. Show you care.

42. References Chip Heath, author of Made to Stick, as quoted in Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds http://www.axonsoftware.com http://www.prospectwinery.com/ Nancy Duarte, resonate: Present visual stories that transform audiences http://www.vicpd.ca/annualreport2008/root.html Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Switch: How to change things when change is hard President John F. Kennedy, May 1961 Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman, Content Rules Misconduct Winery

43. References Phillips Brewing Company Stephen Few, Show Me the Numbers: Designing tables and graphs to enlighten Carmine Gallo, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Made to Stick Scott Kelby’s Photoshop Insider Images on slides 2, 9, 11, 17 are from iStockphoto Images on slides 1, 3 are by Penny McKinlay