- Begin each storytelling project by defining a clear objective. Identify what you want the story to communicate, which values the story should support, and what you’d like your employees or customers to gain from it.
- Gather the stories via workshops or interviews. To collect customer stories, consider the various ways you can receive direct feedback from your customers, whether it be through customer comment cards, satisfaction surveys, or dialogue generated via social media marketing strategies. Explore how your company could establish a forum for enabling employees to share their stories.
- Choose stories of depth, relevance, specificity and accuracy that are in alignment with your project objectives, and consistent with your brand values and attributes.
- Utilize the three elements of narrative—character, conflict and change—to ensure that your story is well crafted, clear and compelling.
- Remember that the best stories "speak in images" and that numbers, facts and statistics need to be placed into a context for maximum impact.
- Give the story a format for which it can best be communicated to your desired audience. Does the story meet your objectives when it’s told in an e-blast? Or would it be more effective on a sign?
- Implement a strategy that will properly introduce the story, and make it visible and relevant to the people you want it to reach.
- Ensure that stories are told continuously, and in the relevant contexts. Storytelling is an art form that is constantly evolving.