story

IABC World Presentation : Transmedia storytelling for internal communication

In the era of the remix and mashup culture, I am really excited to be presenting a session on two topics that need to meet: transmedia storytelling and organisational communication. The IABC World Conference in June has me presenting the following session:

The end of the story: Corporate narrative in a transmedia universe

 Traditional approaches to corporate narrative are being disrupted by the multiple forces of technology, social change, trust and a shift in the role of the corporation. In this environment the role of the communicator is shaping, telling and retelling the story of the company is shifting. Employees are co-creators, subject matter experts are curators and traditional business models become opportunities for collaboration. This session will explore:

  • The death of the corporate story
  • Sense making through social media
  • Co-creation as a model for true engagement
  • Empowering employees to own the narrative
  • How IC is the original transmedia communication strategy

As the conference approaches, I will add some pre reading here on the blog.

http://wc.iabc.com/sessions/the-end-of-the-story-corporate-narrative-in-a-transmedia-universe/

What do we mean by story?

As trends become fads and specialist practices become hot new things, definitions become increasingly important. I’ve written before on how the term ‘engagement’ has been stretched across the fields of human resources, marketing, digital, and employee communication to the point of near-meaninglessness.

‘Story’ is another of those terms. As I look at my various social feeds, RSS alerts, newsletters and journals, ‘story’ and ‘storytelling’ are everywhere.  But the idea of what a story is varies according to the context. This post, Story: A Definition, from the blog of Eager Eyes is a good example, describing the how data storytelling isn’t always telling the story of the data.

“The strength of visualization is not just to give you a story, but also give you a world. If you don’t agree with the story, or if you want to explore further, you can. Take the visualization and the data and explore for yourself.” Robert Kosara.

Not all stories are equal

[View the story “What’s the (corporate) story?” on Storify]

Forum highlights power of sharing stories authentically

I had a blast on Thursday chairing the Melcrum Strategic Communication Management Summit in Sydney.  

Across two days of presentations and activities, there were some common themes that stood out for me as representative of the things that are helping communicators navigate the ‘new landscape’ (post/mid GFC, social media, changing industries, post-spin). They are not new themes, but regardless of what changes occur in the corporate or public sector landscape, these themes hold true.

1. It’s about stories. For most communicators reading this, I am preaching to the choir. Stories are how we make sense of the world. We can transmit information in a lot of different ways, but the context, the character, and the connections are brought to life through story.

2. Authenticity is the secret ingredient. One compelling theme was the genuine change, engagement and commitment that comes with authentic communication. There were great examples: the CEO of an organisation in crisis, speaking openly to employees in very plain terms about not only what was happening, but how it was affecting the workforce, customers, and him (in that order); the power of simply saying ‘sorry’ (and meaning it); the companies tapping into those parts of their workforce who are already communicating openly and authentically in the social media sphere. There was great authenticity too from those communication professionals and allied disciplines including change and leadership who generously shared all aspects of their stories – the good, the bad and the ugly.  

3. Involve/Get involved. It’s not up to communicators to do it alone. We have to partner with the right collaborators – inside and outside organisations. Although Social networking and web 2.0 tools can help us connect, share information, get feedback, value and rate, it’s not about the technology. It is about the mindset to reach out and involve. The types of scarcity thinking that drives silo mentality in organisations will not support the new social economy. We need to enable and entrust people to participate in the organisational dialogue.

I can’t do justice to the stories that people shared in a few short blog paragraphs. But I can say ‘thank you’ to the communicators who demonstrated these ideas so evocatively.

And a big thanks to Melcrum for asking me to be a part.