styles of storytelling: cultivating compelling long-form content

Cultivating Compelling Long-form Content

@designAVA #storytelling

STYLES OFSTORYTELLING

Presented by Lisa Drobek, Sr. UX Designer, Forum One @ldrobek

of what theysee

80%of what they

read

20%hear

10%

PEOPLE RETAIN:

of what they

65% OF PEOPLE AREVISUAL LEARNERS

VISUAL CONTENT:Visual content is forty times more likely to be shared on social media.

Content with visuals get ninety-four more total views.

Ninety percent of information sent to the brain is visual.

Visuals are processed more six hundred thousand times faster than text.

94%CONTENT WITH VISUALS GET

MORE TOTAL VIEWS

40xVISUALS CONTENT IS

MORE LIKELY TO BESHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA

600,000xVISUALS ARE PROCESSED

FASTER THAN TEXT

VISUAL CONTENT:

90% OF INFORMATION SENTTO THE BRAIN IS VISUAL

Let’s Talk About

STORYTELLING ONLINE ASLONG-FORM CONTENTSimilar to its predecessor in print

● Interactive Reports

● Investigative Reports

● In-depth Reports

The First

Value

Source: Shutterstock

● Thought leadership

● Increased audience engagement

STYLES OF STORYTELLING

Classic StorytellingMoral statement behind message

Public NarrativePersuasive, drives action

Creative NonfictionVivid descriptions of factual information

CLASSIC STORYTELLINGMoral Statement behind Message

MessageMoral

statement is central theme

ConflictDriving

force of a good story

CharactersHero,

supporters, and adversary

PlotThe flow and how events

progress

4 Elements of Storytelling

8 Shapes of Stories

Source: Designed by Maya Eilam, www.mayaeilam.com with input from A Man without a Country and Palm Sunday by Kurt Vonnegut

Shapes of Stories by Kurt Vonnegut

Snow Fall

Man in a Hole

From Bad to Worse

CUPS

Man in a Hole

World Concern

Man in a Hole

New Testament

PUBLIC NARRATIVEPersuasive, drives action

Story of Now

Strategy & action

Story of UsShared values,

shared experience

Story of SelfCall of

leadership

Story of ...

Story of Self Story of Us Story of Now

Gates Foundation

Farm to School

CREATIVE NONFICTIONVivid descriptions of factual material

Creative Nonfiction

NarrativeWritten with literary style

and technique

Factually Accurate

Rooted in facts

8 Purposes

InstructResponds to the question,

“How?”

Profile/ Characteriz

eDepth in writing,

3-5 pages

NarrateThe beginning,

middle, and end

Argue/PersuadePersuade an audience to change their

opinion

ExplainDescribe an

object, process, phenomenon,

or event

ImmerseDetails draw a

reader in to the scene

DemystifyMake a topic

understandable to others

Ruminate/Engage

Engage quickly and leave

contemplating

8 Purposes

The Opportunity Agenda

Argue/Persuade

Nudges people to read the full report.

Communicating Data for Impact

Narrate

Demystify

Immerse

Nudges people to read the full report.

Pew ResearchCenter

Demystify

Explain

Nudges people to read the full publication.

STORYTELLING ONLINE ASLONG-FORM CONTENTMore than just text and images

● Long-form is a great platform for telling stories.

Benefits of Storytelling

“Do.. or do not... there is no try.”

SEO Benefits

● Higher rank in Google (SEO)

● Higher rank for long-tail keywords

● Attracts backlinks and sharing on social media 50x

LONG-FORM CONTENT WITH VIDEO

MORE LIKELY TO SHOWON THE FIRST PAGE OF GOOGLE

THE AVERAGE WEB PAGE THAT RANKSON THE FIRST PAGE OF GOOGLE HAS OVER

2,000 WORDS

12%INFOGRAPHICS CANIMPROVE TRAFFIC BY

TAKE AWAYS3 Styles of Storytelling 1. Classic Storytelling

2. Public Narrative

3. Creative Nonfiction

Which is best for reaching your audience?

TAKE AWAYSLong-form Content

● Long-form is a great platform for storytelling.

● The more senses that are engaged, the more memorable the experience will be to your audience.

THANK YOU@ldrobek

ldrobek@forumone.com

Lisa Drobek