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A Compelling Story Has These 5 Critical Components

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For every message, you should develop at least two of each type of support, which will allow you to articulate the main themes of your messages in every answer without ever sounding repetitive.

Compelling stories typically have five components:

  1. Introduction: Set the stage for the story by providing an appropriate introduction. This is often a good time to tie the story into the business topic to which it relates.
  2. Main characters: People often relate to stories because they are able to relate to the individuals in them.
  3. Structure: All stories should have a sequence of events -- A beginning, middle and end.
  4. Key facts: In order to resonate, stories should have key facts that can be easily absorbed by the audience.
  5. Purpose: Every story needs to have a purpose. So make sure you tell us what that purpose is. 

Daniel Cherrin

DANIEL CHERRIN |served the City of Detroit as its Communications Director and the Press Secretary to Detroit Mayor, Ken Cockrel, Jr. He is a public relations + affairs specialist who just happens to be a lawyer, with 20 years of experience providing senior public relations and government relations’ counsel to organizations on state and federal regulatory and legislative matters, as well as issues affecting corporate and individual reputation, crisis management and the media. Daniel is the founder of NORTH COAST STRATEGIES (Est. 2005) an independent public relations consultancy that combines the best of a big agency with hands-on executive-level experience and support. As a signatory company to the United Nations Global Compact, we are dedicated to addressing issues around human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption. We are also focused on redefining your brand and changing the conversation to create an impact.