This document provides tips for startups on using storytelling and lists several writing resources that can help with storytelling. It recommends being aware of your audience when storytelling and provides a list of 7 books and guides that cover topics like rules for writers, style, and strategies that can help improve writing skills and storytelling abilities. The document was written by L.A. Lorek and shared on their website Silicon Hills News.
15. Writing Resources
• Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules for Writers
• AP Stylebook
• On Writing Well by William Zinsser
• The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
• Writing Tools: 50 Strategies for Every Writer by
Roy Peter Clark
• The Book on Writing by Paula LaRocque
• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
16. Thank you!
By L.A. Lorek
@lalorek
@SiliconHillsNew
www.siliconhillsnews.com
Hinweis der Redaktion
The goal of Storytelling? Connecting with the Audience, Conveying information, Call to Action
Tips: Do - Tackle the unexpected, Authenticity & Truth, Great Content
Don’t: Bore, Deceive or Pander to the Audience
Get the CREATIVE Juices flowing – Ways to ignite your creativity through: Story boarding, listening to music, going to an art museum
Visiting a park, Improv Exercise, Exercising, Taking a walk in nature
Going to Google Images and plugging in words you’re trying to illustrate
Carrying a journal and making lists
Taking a trip – even a day trip – to see something with fresh eyes
Writing every day
Revising
Cutting words
Great story telling sites
Medium
This American Life
The Moth Radio Hour
TED and TEDx
Biographies
Great writers
Books on Tape
NPR
Youtube
Local tech companies/organizations that do a good job of telling
Stories: Dell, Rackspace, HomeAway, RetailMeNot, Sparefoot, WPEngine, Capital Factory, Geekdom, BuildASign, Indeed, Techstars, University of Texas at Austin, Burpy
Spot on Sciences, TeVido Biodevices
Formulas for storytelling for businesses
Gack! Don’t do it.
Stories have to be true and come from the heart
Manufactured stories seem manufactured.
Although sometimes they work – eBay and the Pez
Dispenser
Here’s some tips on story telling for startups:
1.JOURNALING OR BLOGGING- Create a journal or a blog for your company and start writing down milestones and stories as they unfold. You can also profile key employees. Talk about deals and partnerships. Discuss different stages of product development and funding.
2. BE UNIQUE: The story should have a beginning, middle and end. Write tight and bright. Craft several drafts of your story. Cut useless words and phrases. Refine it. Share it with others. Also, remember what Benjamin Franklin said “If I had more time I would have written a shorter letter.” Be mindful of your readers and their time. Get to the point quickly. Keep the action moving. Also, you can reporter like a journalists using the 5 Ws and H: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
3. BE HUMAN: Make sure your story has plenty of characters in it. People like to read about people and their lives and their experiences. People who create the products are the innovators. Think about Steve Jobs. If people just talked about his products and not the person behind the ideas, then Apple wouldn’t have nearly as great a cult-like following.
4. BE AWARE OF YOUR AUDIENCE: Whole Foods’ social media director says Pinterest drives more traffic to its website than Twitter. That’s because Whole Foods crafts stories with compelling visuals especially for Pinterest. It doesn’t tell the same stories on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. The company understands the different audiences. Just because your company created a special story doesn’t mean you should blast the same story on different social media channels.
5. BE HELPFUL: Help tell other people’s stories. Dell is really good at this. The computer company tells its story through its customers and partners. This creates new narratives that keeps the stories fresh and interesting.
Alternative storytelling sites: sometimes when I’m at a loss for words, I turn to my alternative storytelling sites. They include Storify, Slideshare, Instagram, Infographics and Youtube.