This document is an outline for a presentation on storytelling in the digital age. It is divided into three parts that discuss attention spam, how content alone is not king, and the power of story. The outline suggests that effective digital communication relies more on creating emotion and meaning through stories, characters, and shared experiences rather than through numbers or information alone. Stories help translate information into emotions in a way that makes people care and connects them through shared meanings.

1. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk1
Storytelling
in the
Digital Age
Anthony “Tas” Tasgal

2. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk2
Aka
“What About the Humans?”

3. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk3
Pushing The Envelope Out Of
The Box

4. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk4

5. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk5

6. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk6
PART 1. “ATTENTION SPAM”
PART 2. CONTENT ISN’T KING
PART 3. THE POWER OF STORY

7. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk7
Prologue: Restoring Humanity

8. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk8

9. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk9
Behavioural Economics Shows…
• Humans are not rational information
processors
• We don’t think the way we think we think
• Surprise Cuts Through
• Telling People Doesn’t Work
• Emotion and Impression management do

10. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk10
Semavores

11. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk11
PART 1. “ATTENTION SPAM”

12. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk12
THE PROBLEM
Too much digital communication clings
to the outdated model of Meaningless
Messaging
Content that is ‘attention spam’ is the
enemy of all [in] comms
In the Attention Economy…

13. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk13
STUFF I TELL YOU THAT I
THINK YOU REALLY
SHOULD KNOW

14. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk14
NUMBERS NUMB US

15. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk15
Arithmocracy*
A system or ruling class which derives its
power not through intelligence or merit but
through their access to and command of
numbers, many of them large and largely
spurious.
* © Tas

16. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk16

17. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk17
REALLY???? YES, REALLY…..

18. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk18
PART 2. CONTENT ISN’T KING

19. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk19
SNR: SIGNAL NOISE RATIO

20. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk20

21. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk21
MASSAGING
NOT MESSAGING

22. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk22
“Conversation is king.
Content is just something
to talk about”.
Cory Doctorow

23. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk23
CREATE
EMOTIONALISATIONS

24. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk24
The Triangle of Insightment
Data
Information
Meaning
SEMAVORES

25. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk25
PART 3. THE POWER OF STORY

26. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk26
Stories Translate
Information Into Emotion

27. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk27
Story should be “gossip-worthy”
“Approximately two-thirds of human
communication is gossip about oneself or
others”
Robin Dunbar “Grooming, Gossip and The Evolution of Language”

28. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk28
StorytellingStorytelling Makes Us……?Makes Us……?StorytellingStorytelling Makes Us……?Makes Us……?

29. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk29
StorytellingStorytelling Makes UsMakes Us CareCareStorytellingStorytelling Makes UsMakes Us CareCare

30. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk30
THE BRAND IS
A TRIBE OFA TRIBE OF
SHARED MEANINGSHARED MEANING
© Tas

31. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk31
Are Character and Personality
More Powerful than Message??

32. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk32
ABC:
Archetypes, Brands and
Character

33. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk33
F. A. C. E. not Fact
• Feelin
g
• Atmos
phere
• Cultur
e
• Experi
ence
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

34. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk34
3. Be Gossip Worthy
1. Emotions trump reason: MASSAGE don’t MESSAGE
5. F.A.C.E. up to your brand
2. Make ‘Em Care: tell stories
So…
4. Create characters, heroes and conflict

35. @taswellhill (c) anthonytasgal@yahoo.co.uk35