Seems like today is the day to be talking about narrative. Someone just asked me for more detail in another blog that I participate in (The EVP Lab on LinkedIn) so I thought I’d just add my comments here .

When organizations communicate about themselves it’s invariably just the straight facts. These are important, for sure, but unless the organization’s mandate or reputation is highly attractive to an individual, corporate communication is not generally so engaging as to make people say, "Yes! I’d LOVE to work there, when can I start?" As I mentioned in my previous post, what a narrative allows you to do is to paint a vivid picture that triggers the imagination of the potential hire (or customer) and compel them to want to know more. Think about how young kids like to hear the same story over and over. I believe it’s because the narrative has inspired them to imagine a world that they like to participate in, so hearing the story allows them to go there.

That’s what a narrative should achieve - it should suck the potential hire in via their imagination and make them want to go there. The narrative still has to be absolutely factual (authenticity is everything) but it is HOW the story is told and the relevance of the topics it covers. This means touching on all aspects of the employee experience, not just the job and the benefits. It needs to touch the emotions to draw people in.

This type of writing is usually more creative than most corporate communicators are used to. It’s descriptive and broad in what it covers. It’s a holistic view of the organization that gives you a taste of the personality and values of the organization in such a way that you can vivdly imagine.

Where the mind is inspired, the emotions follow.