我們真的了解故事的樣貌？

Do we really know what a story is?

By Steve Earl, September 4 2013, 11:57 am Be the first to comment

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I’ll begin.

你覺得坐得舒適嗎？

那，我就開始了。

We’ve always created stories in PR. Well, we called them stories: news, analysis or commentary served up to journalists in order to get a publicity hit or generate sustained media interest. Or both. But they’ve typically been short-term stories.

我們一直在建立公關方面的故事。而，我們之所以稱他們為故事：是為了得到命中宣傳或持續產生媒體的興趣以向記者提供新聞，分析或評論。或兩者兼而有之。但是，他們通常是短期的故事。

Brand narratives have long been the long-term, joined-up, strategic framework for stitching those individual pieces together to link the pages into chapters, and the chapters into books. Media change has also made many of us focus far more on brand storytelling, and think more expansively – normally with a planner front and centre – about how to make that more potent. How to not just engage the reader, but add fascination.

品牌敘事早已長期， 加入，戰略的框架拼接那些個別拼湊頁面鏈接成書的章節。媒體的變化也使我們許多人的關注遠遠超出品牌故事訴說，並認為更為寬泛 - 通常與規劃者非常重要的  - 關於如何使這些更有力。如何不僅只是讀者參與，但添加更多魅力。

But do we really understand what makes a good overall story, beyond being good at delivering the individual ‘pages’ along the way? Many of us would say we are, but in my estimation successful sustained storytelling these days is about far more than effective planning.

但是，我們真的明白是什麼成為一個很好的整體的故事，除了提供單獨的“頁面”伴隨？我們中的許多人會說，我們是，但我估計成功持續的講故事，遠遠超過了有效的規劃。

These are all thoughts that went through my mind in putting together a presentation for the annual Silicon Beach conference, which starts in Bournemouth (hey, it has a beach doesn’t it?) tomorrow.

這些都是通過我腦海裡的想法，去放在一起為明天一年一度在伯恩茅斯矽海灘會議的介紹，（嘿，它擁有一個海灘，不是嗎？）。

What I’ll be trying to cover amounts to a short story about storytelling: how stories have been told through all kinds of media since the infancy of PR, and how digital innovation has changed the scope and nature of storytelling.

我會試圖包含簡短故事的行銷故事 : 故事如何已經自公關初期通過各種媒體訴說了，數字化創新如何改變了講故事的範圍和性質。

I won’t go into all of that here, but in thinking about it, the thing that really jumped out at me is that the same rules apply to progressive PR today as do to other forms of storytelling – novels, horror tales, children’s books, whatever. These for me are the 10 classic points to consider:

我不會都去，但會再思考，用同樣的規則適用於漸進式的公關在現今的我跳出，做其他形式的講述故事 - 小說，恐怖故事，兒童讀物等等。讓我透過經典的10點方式來考慮：

1. It’s the audience that matters: sounds obvious, often overlooked

2. You won’t see the story until you get to the finish: a challenges for PRs, but how can we signpost without knowing something about the destination

3. Structure and signposting: per the above

4. Simplify, focus, and mix it up. Avoid overcomplicating: we often can do simply, but then worry about ‘mixing it up’. We should be more adventurous

5. Challenge your ‘characters’ with polar opposites: move beyond comfort zones to add intrigue and challenge preconceptions

6. When stuck, figure out what wouldn’t happen next: I love this. Thing of recent examples of when brands have done the utterly unexpected

7. Pull apart stories you like and figure out why: invaluable, yet rarely done. We typically look at parallel competitive stories, not those from other sectors

8. Give your characters opinions: it’ll be difficult to engage people otherwise

9. Give the reader a reason to root for you/them: again, understanding the audience but be empathetic and then take a stand

10. What is the story essence, or central truth?: because you’re going to need to be clear on it

1. 這是群眾事件：聽起來很明顯，但卻常被忽略。

2. 直到終點前你不會看到故事的全貌：這是公關的挑戰，但我們怎麼能不知道目標為何卻給予指引呢?

3. 結構和路標指引：按上所述

4. 簡化，突出重點，將其綜合起來。避免過於複雜：我們經常可以簡單地做，但後來卻擔心'混合'。我們應該嘗試探險。

5. 用兩極對立挑戰你的'個性'：走出舒適區 激起好奇心並挑戰先入為主的觀念。

6. 當被卡住，弄清楚下一次什麼也不會發生：我愛這個。最近的例子，當品牌已經做了完全意料不到的事情。

7. 跳開你喜歡的故事，並找出原因：這是無價的，但卻很少做。我們通常只看到平行競爭的故事，而不是其他部分。

8. 給你的人物意見：否則很難吸引別人。

9. 給讀者一個理由支持你/他們，了解觀眾，但設身處地並採取立場。

10. 什麼是故事的本質，或核心真理：因為你需要明確的提起。