2. Today
• Why story
• What is story
• Brain and story
• Classic stories
• Character
• Action
• Brands and story
• Making story
3. Why do we talk about story?
We are social animals
Practice interaction, learn codes &
customs, how to be human
As children we play at story by instinct
How we extract meaning from
experience
We tell stories to ‘continue’ ourselves
It’s what we do already, all the time
4. Why do we talk about story?
During our lifetimes we spend more
time in stories than anywhere else
• 65% of speaking time is on social
topics
• 46% of our waking hours spent
daydreaming*
• We dream in stories every night
5. Why do we talk about story?
Story as distillation
Story helps us understand
• Our client
• Our client’s business
• Our client’s problem
• Our client’s clients
• Our project objectives
• Ourselves …
6. Three parts and the whole
Story =
Audience
Content
Structure
= Experience
10. What is ‘story’
More than a list of facts
Causally linked events which unfold
over time
Interaction of ‘intentional agents’ with
minds and motivations
Engage audience through recognisable
emotions & believable interactions
12. Elements of story
Character
Objective or desire
Obstacles to achieving it
Action & behaviour
Beginning – middle – end
Who What Where When Why How
End = satisfying resolution to problem
15. Story = interactive
Relies on audience’s cognitive &
emotional responses to make
connections
Story makes you part of it as you
anticipate actions, feelings, outcome
Every experience of story is unique,
relies on the audience’s own prior
experience, associations & character
24. Thinking, fast and slow
System 1 = fast, unconscious,
intuitive, automatic
Relies on emotion, accumulated
experience
System 2 = slow, conscious, logical,
effortful
Relies on attention, choice, willed
action
38. Ask questions, such as …
who is this man?
what is he doing and why?
what is he thinking, feeling; his hopes,
fears, plans?
what’s the context, and the mood of
the moment?
what happens next?
43. More story elements
• ‘Character is conflict’
• Premise: a proposition leading to a
conclusion
• Set up = expectation
• Payoff = result
• Anticipation = forward drive
44. Character // Audience …
Stories are about and for people, all
overcoming obstacles in pursuit of a
goal
Every story needs an audience
Business needs customers
Site needs users
47. Goldhawk Rd pub
• What do you do?
• Why?
• What do your actions say about you?
48. Brands use story
• Business or brand idea
• Customer value proposition
– Customer needs, product benefits,
competitive difference
• Brand tagline
• Advertising and campaigns
• Tone of voice
49.
50. The client’s story
• Creation myths
• Heroism
• Purpose
• Brand story
• Unique benefits and solutions
53. Brand, strategy and story
• Find the real problem and state it
interestingly
• Find a deep human insight – hit a nerve
• Find what’s truly unique and motivating
about the brand/product/problem/
opportunity
• Link the insight and b/p/p/o ‘truth’ to a
simple strategy statement
• Flip the perspective on b/p/p/o to find
core strategic idea
• Get others to contribute
54. A reminder …
Storytelling = audience, content and
structure, to produce experience
Audience = who, first principles
Content = what, gives focus
Structure = how, provides framework
Experience = attainment of goals
57. Finding things out
• Formal interviews, direct questions
but also conversation
• Observe using ‘soft eyes’: put
assumptions aside
• Framing: not ‘what is it?’ but ‘what
do you like most about it, and why?’
58. A conversation with yourself
• Ask: ‘what single detail would make
me care more about this situation /
person?
• Ask: ‘what single factor would
provide a compelling circumstance?’
• Ask: if I were in their shoes, what
would I think / feel / want?’
61. Making story
Making story is messy
Research is crucial
Believability: actual vs. symbolic truth
Big picture AND drama in the detail: about
solving problems
Even though you THINK you know where a
story is going, you don’t until you’re in it
Stories have an internal logic. Won’t always
get it right first time so be open to the
process
62. A web epic
• Ordinary world
• ‘I need …’
• What? Where? How?
• User journey of discovery
• Apply information, tool, options
• Fulfil goals
• Change, satisfaction, return
