What are the steps to create a storytelling plan for your project?

The purpose and message you want to convey should be crisp and clear. This is one thing that should be constant and you should not modify it. In fact the format and content should be aligned with the purpose. It cannot be the other way round.

I mostly use this plan for my work - 1. Define your project's purpose and message. 2. Identify your target audience and their interests. 3. Develop a narrative that connects with your audience. 4. Choose the right storytelling format (e.g., podcast, video, blog post, infographic). 5. Create a storyboard or outline to organize your story. 6. Importantly add visuals and engaging elements to enhance your storytelling. 7. Review and refine your plan for impact. 8. Implement and share your story across relevant platforms to reach your audience effectively.

Know your why - without it, you risk missing the mark with your story. When you're clear on what your story should achieve, the planning process is much smoother and faster.

Based on my observation and opportunities working closely with my clients, one thing I find very important is to get the problem statement right. Especially for a project or corporation, anchor the entire story based on a solid premise/problem statement and this would get you a good start.

Stay focused and ensure that every element of your story works toward a common goal by asking yourself: What do I want my audience to think, feel, or do as a result of hearing my story? What value or benefit do I want to provide to them? How does this story align with my overall mission or objectives? For example: Raising awareness about a social issue and inspiring people to get involved. Teaching a new skill or concept in an engaging, memorable way. Promoting a product or service by showcasing its benefits and impact. Sharing a personal or organizational journey to build connection and credibility. Fostering empathy and understanding across differences or divides. A clear purpose acts as a north start throughout your process.

Creating audience personas is important. But for that you need to constantly observe and research the interests and preferences of the audience. Building the story as per the preference of the audience helps in ensuring they resonate with it.

This a part of what I call the people layer in my unique storytelling model - the sprout model. Knowing who the people are as your target of course is incredibly important. Their preferences, nuances, segmentation. However, more than that - it is also about thinking how you want to make them feel - how do you want to connect with them. Finally - don't forget that everyone is an individual - so respect that in your storytelling.

Knowing your audience doesn't mean we would have to comply to a certain way of delivery. For example, if your audience is technical, yes we could use more data, facts and examples- what I believe would work is to complement with use of emotion and analogies. For a story to work, both logic and emotion are crucial. It's just the inclination towards one that matters.

Who are you telling this story for? What are their characteristics, needs, interests, and preferences? The more specific you can be, the more effective your story will be. Demographics: What is the age, gender, location, education level, or income bracket of your audience? Psychographics: What are their values, attitudes, beliefs, lifestyle, or personality traits? What motivates and matters to them? Prior knowledge: How familiar are they with your topic or themes? Are they beginners or experts? Preferred learning: Do they tend to prefer visual, auditory, or kinesthetic content? Interactive or passive experiences? Potential barriers or objections: What might prevent them from fully engaging with or accepting your story's message?

Here it is important to understand the audience's cultural context as well and what kind of myths and cultural narratives you can draw on to make the story more relevant.

Clarity is key when it comes to crafting your message. Do not confuse your audience. Think of the one takeaway, lesson or action you want them to take, and make that the central focus of your storytelling.

To assist in story telling, start with the end in mind. What's one core message you would want others to take away? What do you want them to remember? What action do you want them to take from your story?

Your message should be closely tied to your purpose -- it's essentially the specific insight or action you want to inspire in service of your larger goal. A strong storytelling message: Cn be easily understood and summarized in a sentence or two. Avoid jargon or complex language. Provides a meaningful insight or benefit to the audience, something that improves their understanding or experience in some way. Directly supports and advances your overall storytelling goal: to educate, persuade, inspire, or entertain. Sticks in the audience's mind long after the story is over, and compels them to think, feel, or act differently as a result. How can you express your takeaways in a way that is universal and personal, simple yet profound?

Your story should be a compelling journey, not a laundry list of facts. While some can do that seemingly without effort, others have to plan. One of the best examples of story plot planning is J.K. Rowling for Harry Potter. She created a spreadsheet blueprint that allowed her to track a series of narrative arcs, eventually creating an addicting book architecture that made her one of the most successful writers of the day. 3 lessons from her outline planning: • Have a clear structure: keep your story organized and interwoven. • Balance complexity and simplicity: weave complex characters with simple, relatable themes. • Adapt and adjust: don't be afraid to change direction if it doesn't serve the message you are building.

Develop a Story Outline. Create an outline for your story. Include the following elements: 1. Introduction: Set the scene and introduce the main characters or elements. 2. Conflict: Present the problem or challenge that needs to be addressed. 3. Resolution: Show how the problem is solved or the challenge is overcome. 4. Conclusion: Wrap up the story and reinforce the core message.

Crafting a compelling narrative is indeed an art. I love the idea of playing with the traditional three-act model by introducing a hint of conflict upfront to pique the audience's curiosity. It's like pulling them into the story's gravitational pull right from the start. And drawing inspiration from various sources like mainstream media, fables, and legends can infuse freshness into the narrative, making it relatable yet unique.

Every good story has a beginning, middle, and end. Structure your story to take your audience on a journey: Beginning: Set the scene and introduce the problem or situation. Capture your audience's attention and make them care about what comes next. Middle: Delve into the challenges, conflicts, or processes. This is where you build tension and interest, leading the audience through the journey. End: Provide resolution and conclude your story. Reinforce your main message and, if appropriate, include a call to action or a key takeaway.

In a business context, here's the format I follow that I've found to be wildly successful when storytelling internally for buy-in on a project, etc. - Problem > a well defined problem/challenge - Impact > how this is affecting the way/speed of how we do business - Supporting data > key data that supports the narrative - History > what have we done about it so far/what have we explored/who have we talked to? - Recommendation > what do I believe to be the best path forward based on all of the above? - Next steps RACI > how do we take the next step and who is responsible for what? Give this one a try. It'll change the way you have business conversations internally.

Choose Your Storytelling Medium. Decide on the best medium to deliver your story. This could be a written article, video, infographic, podcast, or social media post. The medium should align with your audience’s preferences and the nature of your story.

When crafting a story, I like to work on a long-form version first - whether that's an audio podcast, video webinar, or written article. From there, that story can be cut down to short, snackable versions formatted for other platforms, like social media.

Creating a storytelling plan for your project involves key considerations. Firstly, choose a format (e.g., written, video, audio) based on your project's goals, considering your strengths and weaknesses. Next, select a delivery method that aligns with your audience's preferences and how they'll best digest your story. Visual and audio formats each come with their unique characteristics (live-action, illustrated, animated, voice-over, etc.) that should match the project's tone and message. Understanding these nuances is essential for a successful storytelling strategy.

Steps that I like to use: - Evaluate how the story can benefit the project - Evaluate project goals - Decide which structure would best adhere to the goals, the audience, and the project before writing - Make sure you include all bullet points for the goal in the story (i.e. if there are benefits to include, highlights to include, etc.) And then get writing!

Here are three steps to help you create a storytelling plan for your project: 1. Identify what the purpose of your project is and the outcomes you want to achieve. 2. Understand what channels and content types your audience engages with most. 3. Develop a completion plan with deadlines to stay on track. These are just a few steps to help you get started. There are many other things you can do throughout this process, depending on what your unique needs are.

Storyboard – Graphic representation (like a comic strip) with pictures in sequence representing each shot, illustrating what's going on in each scene, helps in visualising the story before execution. Character sketches – Total outline of attributes (written description of traits, relationships, conflict, motivation, backstory) about characters in the story. Writing these beforehand, helps us mentally form a picture. Otherwise it’ll be difficult to keep in mind, the physical descriptions, mannerisms, character arcs throughout the story. Make notes – It’s better to jot down an idea whenever it strikes. We can incorporate it in the story during revisions too. You never know, when the idea might be of use. If not for this story then some other!

Just remember that all communication is storytelling. The moment you view it through that lens you can really open yourself up to enhancing the impacts you can have every day through your life. Storytelling is not just for that big moment.... it is for the every moment.

When designing a storytelling strategy for a project, keep in mind the various stages involved. Each phase will have its own storytelling opportunities, needs & challenges. At the start, your primary objective could be to pitch it to the relevant stakeholders and investors to receive grants, permissions, money. This is where you have to tell stories about the future that you are aspiring to create. The next phase could be to bring the right team together. At this stage your storytelling need could be more directed towards finding people who are passionate about your project, its goal and mission. Your stories need to resonate with people's values, their skill sets & their ambitions. So on & so forth, every stage will need a strategic story.