Do you know the 5 fundamentals of corporate storytelling?

Corporate stories are no different than any other story.

They simply have a business purpose and a business context.

When it comes to corporate storytelling, it’s important to know and apply the basics — whether you’re writing B2B articles, interviews, content, collateral, websites or white papers.

Here are five corporate storytelling fundamentals you should know.

1. Who are the characters in your corporate story? Who is this story about? To create real characters, you have to talk to real people (don’t make it up).
2. Think about the setting of your story. Where will the action happen? What does this place look like? Include relevant details related to place.
3. What’s the plot? In other words, what happens in the beginning, middle and end of the story? Map out a logical structure.
4. Every memorable story must have a conflict. What’s the problem or trouble that must be solved before the story ends? Can you state this problem or trouble in one sentence?
5. For readers to feel satisfied with a story, there must be a resolution to the conflict. How, precisely, will the problem or trouble be resolved? Can you state the solution to this problem or trouble in one sentence?

Let’s consider a corporate storytelling piece about best practices for planning a major company move.

Here’s how the fundamentals fleshed out:

1. Characters: Chris, the highly focused, detail-oriented company president; Bill, his personal/business mentor; and Jeff, the experienced corporate moving expert/adviser
2. Setting: Chris’ company, a plumbing supply house with an office and a large warehouse full of plumbing products
3. Plot: Chris’ company was being forced to move; he had to find a new location and then plan to pack up, move and accurately relocate all the company’s plumbing products, computer technology, equipment and furnishings; speed was important so the company could start filling customers’ orders again
4. Conflict: Chris worried that his company would not be ready to serve customers so soon after moving day and that he’d lose business after the move
5. Resolution: Chris took time to create a detailed 12-month plan, work with others and then execute the plan, which enabled his company to move on a Friday and start serving customers again on Monday morning

Check yourself: Do your corporate stories include all five of these fundamentals?

Want to learn more about corporate storytelling?

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