How to find the best stories at your organization

Where internal communications can shine in brand storytelling

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Storytelling efforts can start off strong. But often, they lose steam and fade over time due to a lack of proper infrastructure, framework, expertise and momentum.

Simona Covel, senior executive director of content and editorial at Harvard University, shared with Ragan’s Writing Virtual Conference that the key to success is to “really be true to who you are and relentlessly focused on your audience.”

Here are Covel’s recommendations for understanding the stories you want to tell and how to tell them:

Ask the right questions

A successful brand story telling campaign focuses on internal priorities over the next month, quarter or year. Covel suggests looking internally and answering the following questions:

These questions help craft the exact message that you want to communicate to your audience.

“If your goal is selling products, your stories and your content are going to look very different than if your goal is brand awareness,” said Covel.

Find talented storytellers

Brand storytelling is only as strong as the storytellers.

“Somewhere in the organization, there have to be great storytellers. This is not a skill that comes naturally to everyone,” said Covel.

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