It’s not about you: The keys to audience-first storytelling

During Ragan’s Writing and Content Strategy Virtual Conference, Lucy Abreu, global head of culture and communications at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, reminded attendees that communicators should remember their ultimate goal is reaching their audience.

“It is never about you,” Abreu said. “It is about your audience. What do they believe today? What are their hopes, their fears, their dreams? You need to know that before you start writing anything.”

She added that effective storytelling is a combination of art and science, and that great storytelling helps make a message stick in audiences’ minds.

“Stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone, but how do you know it matters?” she said. “How do you know what you are doing is making that impact?”

Abreu also said that when weaving a story, comms pros need to keep one big audience-centered idea in mind during the ideation and drafting process.

“What is the one action you want the audience member to take when they finish your story?” asked the audience. “Don’t fill it with five different actions either. People have short attention spans. Give them at least one clear action to take.”