Outspoken Media’s Director of Client Services Pearl Higgins knows the ins and outs of creating compelling content. With a background in Children’s literature that’s not surprising. Only Pearl doesn’t just craft content; she tells stories, which is what she showed the audience at DFWSEM’s April 2017 event exactly how to do. She took the stage by storm and used her presentation to provide examples of great content and amazing storytelling. This presentation covers all the bases of becoming a meaningful storyteller — from using the right imagery, to constructing sentences, to honing in on exactly the right kind of message. All these pieces work together to create a story like no other — one only you can tell.

1. Presented byPresented by
Powerful Storytelling
April 12, 2017 | @Pearl_Higgins | #DFWSEM
Done right.

2. @Pearl_Higgins 2

3. My favorite book was about a
widower sailor with a lying
daughter, who tricked her only
friend into almost dying on a
jetty during a hurricane.
3@Pearl_Higgins

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5. I never grew out
of picture books.
5@Pearl_Higgins

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8. Why story now?
8@Pearl_Higgins

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13. In 2017, your audience is
enveloped in a perfect storm
of inattention.
13@Pearl_Higgins

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Source: nytimes.com
8.5 hours a day
spent on screens
61 minutes of
TV ads

15. @Pearl_Higgins
8-second
attention span
down from 12
seconds in
2000
15Source: nytimes.com

16. So how do you get
remembered?
16@Pearl_Higgins

17. @Pearl_Higgins
Make people angry. Impress them.
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18. When they’re angry, story is
not a replacement for that
lost good reputation.
18@Pearl_Higgins

19. @Pearl_Higgins
92% of
consumers trust
earned media,
such as word of
mouth, above all
other forms of
advertising
19Source: nielsen.com

20. 70% of
consumers
turn to online
consumer
reviews as the
second
most-trusted
source.
20
Source: Nielsen | Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages April 2012
@Pearl_Higgins

21. “Which means, successful brands
and marketers will need to find
ways to better connect with
consumers by creating the kind of
good-will that leads to positive
consumer feedback.”
21
Source: nielsen.com
@Pearl_Higgins

22. Are your audiences feeling
that good will?
22@Pearl_Higgins

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24. No one wants to hear your story:
•If you over-charged them.
•If they’re angry about your billing practices.
•If they never received their product.
•If the product broke.
•If your customer service is subpar.
•If your terms and conditions were not clear.
•If you made a social media snafu that you never really
fixed.
24@Pearl_Higgins

25. No one wants to hear your
story if you are not meeting
or exceeding their
expectations.
25@Pearl_Higgins

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27. And what if you are?
27@Pearl_Higgins

28. TOMS Giving in
the U.S.: Helping
American
Children In Need
28
youtube.com/watch?v=W83bQGclUP4
@Pearl_Higgins

29. Engaged
and happy
audiences
29@Pearl_Higgins

30. How?
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31. Audience
Deliver
y
Plot
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33. We need to be
digging deeper.
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40. Let’s find joy in the delivery.
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43. This works for brands, too.
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53. Audiences respond when
you intrigue them or make
them feel something without
lecturing.
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54. 54

55. high drama
55
high lecture
low drama
low lecture
@Pearl_Higgins

56. high drama
56
high lecture
low drama
low lecture
@Pearl_Higgins

57. What do we need to
make a story?
57@Pearl_Higgins

58. Christina Jackson
Modernist Fairytale Prints
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“Much information is stored, indexed,
and retrieved in the form of stories.
People relate to each other in terms of
stories- and brands often play central
and peripheral roles in their stories.”
Source: When Consumers & Brands Talk: Storytelling Theory and Research in Psychology and Marketing
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

63. Think about the brands your
mother used.
@Pearl_Higgins 63

64. Archetypes
64

65. There are only two stories:
65@Pearl_Higgins

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A man goes on a journey or a
stranger comes to town.

67. Or more?
67@Pearl_Higgins

68. The Seven Basic Plots
Christopher Booker’s Jungian analysis of story
68@Pearl_Higgins

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Overcoming
the
monster:
Beowulf
Harry Potter
Rags to
Riches:
Aladdin
Cinderella
Jane Eyre
The Quest:
The Iliad
Watership
Down
Harold & Kumar
go to White
Castle
Voyage &
Return:
The Odyssey
Alice in
Wonderland
Labyrinth
@Pearl_Higgins

70. 70
Comedy:
Twelfth Night
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Tragedy:
Macbeth
Hamlet
Breaking Bad
Rebirth:
Beauty & The Beast
How the Grinch
Stole Christmas
@Pearl_Higgins

71. The archetypes you know
are tools at your disposal.
71@Pearl_Higgins

72. What other tools are
at your disposal?
72
Language Imagery CTA UX
@Pearl_Higgins

73. Story in the language
73@Pearl_Higgins

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75. In the mission or tagline
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78. In the small CTAs
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81. In the large CTAs
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83. Source: http://madebyshape.co.uk/about 83@Pearl_Higgins

84. Story in the image
84@Pearl_Higgins

85. Molly Bang & picture books
85
Sometimes it’s all in what you
hint at, allude to, or use to
grab your audience’s
attention.
You don’t have a lot of time;
visuals can carry the weight
for you.
@Pearl_Higgins

86. Size, location & movement
86@Pearl_Higgins

87. The wolf
87@Pearl_Higgins

88. The tension
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89. The final story
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90. Visual storytelling in action
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99. Story in the CTA
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104. Utilizing story in UX
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110. Don’t forget that
UX doesn’t end with
the goal completion.
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114. A few tools of the trade:
114@Pearl_Higgins

115. Social Media Storytelling
•Facebook Canvas
•Stellar Stories
•Twitter Moments
•Animoto
•Adobe Spark Video
•Ripl
@untypicalman for more social
storytelling tips
@Pearl_Higgins 115

116. Let’s bring a little joy back
into what we do.
116@Pearl_Higgins

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118. Thank you!Thank you!