The Backstory on This Microsite

The word “storytelling” has been trending in the communications industry for several years. Virtually every communications consultancy touts its storytelling expertise short of saying: “Hey mister, step into our tent and see how storytelling can change your life.”

There’s just one not-so-little detail that no one talks about. When it comes to business communications, storytelling by its classic definition — a narrative with a start, an end, and something going horribly astray in between — often can’t be applied.

Whether it’s content on a corporate website, a presentation or talking with a journalist, telling story after story doesn’t make for persuasive communications. Plus, inserting failure into narratives isn’t exactly a natural act for companies.

With that said, given a choice between dull or interesting, people will gravitate toward interesting every time (our informal research showed 37 out of 37 people preferred Breaking Bad over CSPAN).

That’s the genesis of this Periodic Table of Business Storytelling and this microsite.

By borrowing the same techniques found in storytelling, fiction and nonfiction alike, business communications become more interesting and thus more persuasive.

Equally important, these storytelling techniques offer a repeatable process to improving content development. You don’t have to be Ernest Hemingway to tease out an anecdote in the copy.

We’d like this microsite to serve as an industry resource. Consider this Rev 1.0. We know there’s room for improvement and welcome your input. Feel free to email us at storytelling@hoffman.com.