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Like many people, I spent my COVID quarantine listening to not one but two surprise Taylor Swift albums. Taylor has long been lauded for her storytelling ability – it’s arguably her greatest strength as a musician. Her devoted fans feel connected to her lyrics and envision themselves in the songs she sings, which are rife with everyday struggles and describe emotions we all feel or felt in our youth. As she’s matured, so have her stories and perspectives. While her albums once told stories about a scorned young woman burning pictures of her ex, they now tell stories of complicated marriages with imbalanced expressions of adoration and support. When you listen to them, it’s like stepping into the universe in which the stories exist and living them firsthand.
Writers can learn much from Taylor’s storytelling prowess. Below are three lessons.
No. 1: Let the Details do the Talking
A story must be created, as it were, brush stroke by brush stroke. The writer should strive to show the reader, rather than tell them. Small, concrete details are usually the difference between a story that works and a story that fails, or between a good piece of writing and a great piece of writing. Details inject emotion into a story and draw on the reader’s senses to bring the story to life. It’s important to note that a story does not necessarily have to have a lot of details. Certainly, writers don’t want gratuitous details that will only bore the reader. Remember: every detail should have a purpose. When implemented correctly, they will do all the legwork.
Taylor is a master at using details to bring the (in her case) listener into the story. Often, she chooses to focus on the specific rather than the vague and uses precise, matter-of-fact language (though the details do become more poetic in folklore and evermore). Check out these lyrics from Taylor’s canon, and take note of the way they provide precise imagery and emotion:
- “You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye / And I got that red lip, classic thing that you like”
- “Oh, your sweet disposition and my wide-eyed gaze / We’re singing in the car, getting lost upstate / Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place / And I can picture it after all these days.”
- “And I was catching my breath / Floors of a cabin creaking under my step”
- “The buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair / In doctor’s-office-lighting, I didn’t tell you I was scared”
- “I do recall now the smell of the rain / Fresh on the pavement / I ran off the plane”
- “Your eyes whispered, ‘Have we met?’ / Across the room your silhouette / Starts to make its way to me”
- “Your mom’s ring in your pocket / My picture in your wallet / Your heart was glass, I dropped it”
No. 2: Consider the Power of Perspective
One of the first things a writer considers is point of view. The point of view determines whose eyes the reader experiences the story through. Choosing the appropriate point of view for your story is crucial since different points of view cause different effects on the story and on the way the reader will interpret it. Over the years, many writers have used dual or triple perspectives to build stories. One key advantage of a dual or triple perspective is that it offers variety and contrast; it can balance out a particularly unreliable narrator with a more reliable one, or it can allow two flawed narratives to complement one another. In addition, when the story is told from more than one perspective, the reader gains a greater depth of understanding and gets to enjoy connecting the dots as the story unfolds. Taylor makes use of this literary tool in her storytelling.
On folklore, we’re treated to a love triangle told through three songs: betty, cardigan and august. Each song describes the same drama from a different perspective. In betty, we get to know James, a 17-year-old high school boy who cheats on his girlfriend Betty. In august, we meet the girl James had the affair with and in cardigan, we meet an older and wiser Betty looking back on her younger self’s heartbreak. Each song conveys vastly different emotions while ultimately using the same subject material. In betty we feel remorse and regret, in august we feel disappointment and longing, and in cardigan we feel heartbreak, loss and nostalgia. Taylor again uses this literary tool on evermore in tracks dorothea and ‘tis the damn season.
No. 3: Paint a Picture Using Metaphors
One of the most effective illustrative tools in storytelling is the metaphor. Writers love metaphors because they add texture and beauty to an otherwise dry description. Taylor is one such writer. For example, in Clean, she likens the time spent healing after a breakup to sobriety. After ten months sober, she’s finally clean. A song about two criminals driving a getaway car is a metaphor for a fast-tracked relationship doomed to crash.
Ultimately, metaphors make writing more colorful, interesting and, as a result, memorable. When readers encounter a phrase or word that cannot be interpreted literally, they are given the pleasure of interpretation. If you write a factual description, then that’s the end of the line for the reader – no thought necessary. But if you use a metaphor, your readers can consider and choose from many possible meanings.
Below are a few examples of how Taylor uses metaphors in her writing:
- “You’re not my homeland anymore / So what am I defendin’ now?”
- “I’m still on that trapeze / I’m still trying everything to keep you looking at me”
- “You wear the same jewels that I gave you / As you bury me”
- “I’m a crumpled-up piece of paper lying here”
- “But I took your matches / Before fire could catch me / So don’t look now”
- “You were drivin’ the getaway car / We were flyin’, but we’d never get far”
- “The drought was the very worst / When the flowers that we’d grown together died of thirst”
- “The rest of the world was black and white / But we were in screaming color”
Taylor Swift is one of many great storytellers, and there are several lessons writers can learn from her. Writers that take a page out of Taylor’s book and rely on descriptive details, powerful perspective and illustrative metaphors will enhance their storytelling skills.
The use of quantitative data in communication can be very powerful as we’ve noted in previous blogs: “Leveraging Data in Storytelling” and “When Leveraging Data, Don’t Forget the Human Element.” However, numeric information is only effective if people understand it.
Dr. Ellen Peters, the Philip H. Knight chair and director of the Center for Science Communication Research (SCR) at the University of Oregon, has studied and written about human judgment and decision-making with a particular focus on numbers and numeracy, which is the ability to process and use numbers effectively.
In her 302-page book, “Innumeracy in the Wild: Misunderstanding and Misusing Numbers” (Oxford), she sets out to answer three main questions:
- Does numeric ability matter to the quality of judgments and decisions we make?
- If it does, how, when and why is it important?
- How can we use this knowledge to improve decision-making?
While this book is written primarily for academic researchers, it’s also a wonderful resource for PR, communications and marketing professionals, as we are often tasked with communicating numeric information. A better understanding of numeracy can help communicators improve techniques, allowing audiences who are less adept at grasping abstract numeric information to understand and harness information that hinges on numbers and statistics.
In particular, chapters 15 through 17 focus on how communicators can present numeric information more effectively through the use of evidence-based techniques. Peters’ suggestions may also support your own understanding of numbers. If you’re in a position where you’re grappling to understand numeric information, for instance, as a patient in a discussion with your physician, or as a consumer trying to make sense of various mortgage options, you can put these techniques to work.
Imagine a situation where you’re talking with your primary care physician about the relative risk of a particular treatment. In this situation, it might be a good idea to drill into the absolute risks, too.
As Peters writes: “People often say they prefer risk information in relative risk formats, but this format [often] leads to misunderstandings. For example, hormone replacement therapy can be used to relieve symptoms of menopause, but it more than doubles deaths from breast cancer (its relative risk). This seemingly large increase, however, can be put in an arguably more appropriate absolute context: It increases deaths from breast cancer by a relatively minor absolute change of .02%, from 12 out of 10,000 to 25 out of 10,000. The relative-risk communication, not surprisingly, magnifies risk perceptions, and treatments are viewed less favorably than when the same information is presented using the absolute-risk format among lay people and medical experts.”
Other strategies Peters recommends include identifying your specific communication goal, “including figuring out what people know and don’t know, and what they should know.” Then you need to choose the information you want to share, determine the best format for sharing it, and test whether it works.
Communicators should not be afraid to share quantitative information because studies show that people prefer actual numbers as opposed to more qualitative verbal descriptions. In particular, Peters shares the results from a study about risk information about breast cancer and mammography. When people use qualitative labels such as “low chance” or “common” as substitutes for numbers, there are varying interpretations of what those labels mean.
After reading “Innumeracy in the Wild,” I have a better understanding of how people understand and use numeric information, when to provide quantitative information, how to reduce people’s cognitive barriers, when to present absolute vs. relative risk numbers, and what visuals to use to support comprehension.
I recommend Peters’ book for any communicator who is interested in honing their comprehension of the psychological drivers around numbers and the impact a firm grasp can have on health, business, finance, climate change and more.
Given all the unique circumstances of the past year, the media were often focused on critical updates about the state of the pandemic, the national protests around social injustices, or the presidential election. With the media’s attention largely focused on the events over the course of the year, it was more challenging than ever to grasp their attention. As such, we found that the outreach strategies most effective in capturing the media’s attention were announcements and newsjacking pitches.
These two approaches worked particularly well for our client Light Rider, a quantum LiFi company producing top-of-the-line security products.
When we began our partnership with Light Rider we were tasked with announcing the company and its groundbreaking technology. The company is leveraging the power of quantum technology to create secure, unparalleled encryption products with patented technology. Given the use of advanced technology and the dire need for improved cybersecurity, we knew this would be a story of interest to publications focused on quantum technology and cybersecurity. Through our outreach we secured four interviews with industry publications and a technology podcast. In addition to written coverage, an interview led to an invitation to the CEO to participate in an upcoming event on quantum technology.
Following the success of the announcement, we wanted to focus our attention on the unique background and deep expertise of the founder and CEO of Light Rider, Tony Lawrence. There was an opportunity to continue to build credibility with target audiences by demonstrating Tony’s understanding of cybersecurity and experience with the NSA. As such, we kept an eye out for national stories about cybersecurity so that when a story broke, we could offer Tony as an expert source. There were a couple of campaigns in which we identified and contacted reporters covering the news and offered them an opportunity to connect with Tony, a subject matter expert.
This approach was particularly effective when the story about the FireEye and SolarWinds hack broke in December. After contacting reporters covering the news, we worked closely with CNN, CyberScoop and others to provide Tony’s perspective on the situation, how the hack could have happened and how quantum technology could have helped prevent it.
Light Rider has an exciting year ahead with the availability of its products. It’s been a pleasure working with this innovative and hardworking team and we look forward to supporting the company’s goals in 2021!
2020 Light Rider Coverage
- Quantum computing meets Li-Fi—LEDs Magazine
- Light Rider Introduces a Secure Network Technology that Combines Li-Fi with QRNG and PQC—Quantum Computing Report
- Meet the first U.S. cyberwarrior—Tonya Hall Innovation Show, ZDNet
- Light Rider announces Quantum Li-Fi Technology Products—LiFi Tech News
- Tony Lawrence, founder and CEO of Light Rider, Agrees to Speak on “Emerging Technologies and Companies in Quantum Computing” at IQT Europe—Inside Quantum Technology
- US officials scramble to deal with suspected Russian hack of government agencies—CNN
- US cybersecurity agency warns suspected Russian hacking campaign broader than previously believed—CNN
The inauguration of a U.S. president is always a momentous occasion, and this year’s inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was no different. The event included performances from celebrity acts such as Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks. Yet the youngest and lesser renowned artist on the bill wound up stealing the show.
Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old National Youth Poet Laureate and aspiring presidential candidate, dazzled viewers and those in attendance with the reading of her inauguration poem, “The Hill We Climb.” In just under six minutes, Gorman expressively delivered and danced through each line of her poem, culminating in rousing plaudits and praise from her audience.
It was an incredible feat, as Gorman demonstrated how artistic expression can uniquely convey messaging in ways that are more impactful than conventional means. Gorman’s memorable performance resulted in a round of media interviews and TV spots with CNN, Good Morning America and The Ellen Show, to name a few, as well as a modeling deal with IMG Models.
Such are the marks of an indelible act. Below are a few stirring passages of Gorman’s poem that we found particularly inspirational.
Finding Light in Darkness
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade.
We’ve braved the belly of the beast,
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,
and the norms and notions
of what just is
isn’t always just-ice.
Forging A Union with Purpose
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken,
but simply unfinished.
We the successors of a country and a time
where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one.
And yes we are far from polished.
Far from pristine.
But that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge a union with purpose,
to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man.
Seeking Harmony, Not Harm
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,
but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Finding Hope in Turmoil
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true,
that even as we grieved, we grew,
that even as we hurt, we hoped,
that even as we tired, we tried,
that we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat,
but because we will never again sow division.
Daring to Climb
If we’re to live up to our own time,
then victory won’t lie in the blade.
But in all the bridges we’ve made,
that is the promise to glade,
the hill we climb.
If only we dare.
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it.
Prevailing Over Catastrophe
This is the era of just redemption
we feared at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter.
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert,
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
Our Nation’s Legacy
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation,
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens.But one thing is certain,
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy,
and change our children’s birthright.
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with.
There is Always Light
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
Art certainly has its place in effective communication. The question is, are we using it to our full advantage? In business and PR settings, this may seem impossible – yet the idea shouldn’t be dismissed. Out-of-the-box methods can inspire innovation. For example, consider how introducing a little art into a standard infographic can help distill a wealth of information into a compelling story that is quickly absorbed.
The poets of the world, like young Amanda Gorman, show us how it can be done. Art can evoke a keen sense of emotion and help communicators convey messages in ways that other methods simply fall short. It is a powerful tool that must not be overlooked.
Workplace communication is dominated by email. In 2019, working professionals received 121 emails on average each day in the United States. As email communication continues to grow, how will you write subject lines that stand out amid the noise?
To get a few quick points out of the way, it is important to send emails from an account attached to your name rather than a generic company address. People would rather receive an email from [email protected] than [email protected]. Additionally, be careful using ALL CAPS, excessive exclamation points and question marks. These are often caught in spam filters or received negatively by recipients.
Below I have summarized five key takeaways from Olivia Allen’s 2019 subject-line blog post on HubSpot.
Begin the subject line with an action-oriented verb
Think of the subject line as a call to action. It should make clear what the recipient is supposed to get from the rest of the email. Action-oriented verbs and an active voice will clearly convey to the recipient the action they should take.
Do: Register today for industry webinar
Don’t: Industry webinar has opened registration
Pose a question
The subject line can also act as a hook to bring your reader into the email body. How can you best draw them in? One way to do this is to pose a question. This should be something relevant to your audience that you know is important to them.
Do: How can a PR strategy improve your sales in 2021?
Don’t: Communiqué PR has increased sales for their clients
Preview information inside the email
The good stuff in any email is in the body. To entice the recipient to open the email, give them a preview of the information to come. Offer a breadcrumb of the most engaging or interesting information that you can utilize to lead into the body of your email.
Keep it concise
The key to a good subject line is to keep it short and sweet. The main idea should be communicated in fewer than 50 characters to fit within a notification preview. Remove details that will be made available in the email body, use simple words which are easy to digest in a quick scan, and add numbers to the subject line to quickly quantify the impact of the email in a straightforward manner.
Whenever possible, add a personal touch
If you can make your recipient feel special, they will be more excited to read your email. When sending emails, address the recipient by name, reference a personal detail you remember or wish them well.
These recommendations will help to give your emails a competitive advantage in the email inbox marketplace. Writing the perfect subject line is a learned art that will come with time and practice. The importance of a well-written subject line may be the difference between having your message read or deleted as spam. Taking care to write a strong subject line will lead to better communications for yourself and your organization.
If you run a business or manage employees, you may be accustomed to the evaluations that can estimate how successful your workers are. You analyze people’s productivity, the quality of their work, or qualitative feedback from customers and co-workers to ascertain the value they bring to the company.
However, people don’t work in a vacuum. The environment, including policies and practices implemented by management, has a huge impact on how well employees function and make decisions, as well as if they stick around long enough to offer a return on investment. An unhealthy workplace can cause frustration, anxiety, anger, and other stress-induced behavior patterns, as well as increase the turnover rate and lower productivity.
To ensure that your organization is taking care of the people that spend around 30% of their waking hours working for you, an average of 1,734 hours a year, consider their wellbeing and engagement.
What is Wellbeing?
Employee wellbeing is greater when needs are met and outside stressors are limited. According to Gallup, this means that their daily life and work experiences are fulfilling, their health and safety needs are met, they have meaningful relationships in their lives, they feel financially secure, and they are proud of and actively involved in a community.
Employees with good wellbeing enjoy better performance, lower rates of burnout, better health, are less likely to report feelings of stress, worry, and anxiety, and are typically more loyal to the company. Factors within a company’s control that affect employee wellbeing include if they’re being paid enough to live comfortably, if they have protections against getting sick and the resources to get better, if they have a work/life balance they can accept, and if management supports their healthy relationships with coworkers and addresses and prevents incidents of harassment and abuse.
What is Engagement?
Employee engagement is a way to measure how supported and valued an employee feels, often tying directly to performance outcomes including productivity, profitability and retention. Gallup identifies 12 elements of employee engagement that predict high team performance, including having set expectations and adequate resources, receiving regular praise and feedback, having a connection to the work and the company’s mission, making an impact at work, and having opportunities to learn and grow, among others.
Employees with good engagement are more productive and profitable and less likely to leave the organization, leading to stronger, long-lasting teams. The factors that affect employee wellbeing can vary and should be tailored to each employee, but company leadership should prioritize the integration of engagement efforts into the company’s culture.
Lessons from 2020
The mass departure from offices in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused many people to work remotely for the first time. The increased sample size and mandatory nature of this transition, preventing self-selection bias, allowed for Gallup researchers to draw more objective conclusions about the effects that working remotely has on employees’ wellbeing and engagement and the different effects experienced by those who are working onsite. These conclusions are related in several ways to the age of respondents.
Some key takeaways include:
- Fewer onsite workers report high levels of wellbeing, but the difference is more pronounced for younger workers. Approximately the same percentage of Baby Boomers working onsite and remotely were thriving (57% onsite and 58% remote), but the divide was greater for Gen X (55% onsite and 59% remote) and Millennials (47% onsite and 54% remote).
- Remote workers report markedly more feelings of stress, anxiety and worry. This was especially pronounced in Millennials.
- In general, remote work is more engaging than onsite work. Engagement for onsite Millennials is low (30%), but remote Millennials have the highest recorded engagement Gallup had ever recorded from Millennials (41%). For both Gen X and Baby Boomers, 38% of remote workers were engaged in their work, just higher than the 33% of onsite Gen Xers and 35% of onsite Baby Boomers.
You may have noticed that, overall, younger workers have a lower rate of wellbeing and engagement. The advantage Baby Boomers have with employee engagement and wellbeing has to do with the greater opportunity they have had throughout their careers to establish financial and professional stability, as well as find a manager and position that engages them. These elements often come with time, with an added factor of luck and circumstance, but it’s important for managers to recognize the probability that Millennials don’t have the safety net that some older workers have been able to build.
To set employees up for success, we can learn from the differences found in remote and onsite workers. Below are some ideas to improve employee wellbeing and engagement that will help soothe employees’ worries, lesson stressors by offering a safety net, strengthen the bonds of your team, and allow them to focus on their work.
Ideas to Improve Employee Wellbeing
- Promote a healthy work/life balance. This includes limiting mandatory overtime and on-call time, and offering PTO and encouraging employees to take it.
- Pay your employees enough they can afford to pay for daily expenses and save for an emergency without taking a second job, which can pull energy away from their work at your organization.
- Offer good healthcare that allows employees to access preventative medicine, emergency care and mental health resources.
- Support healthy relationships between coworkers by setting up events for team bonding. Here’s what’s worked for our team while we’ve been working remotely.
- Defend your employees from harassment and abuse by acting immediately if transgressions occur. For more on this, check out the training programs offered by Kantola.
Ideas to Improve Employee Engagement
- Ensure employees have all the resources they need to do their jobs.
- Focus on clearly communicating expectations. Identify responsibilities, processes, and the standard you expect from their work as often as needed.
- Try to speak with each of your direct reports regularly. Especially in remote work situations, factor in some unstructured time to connect with employees on a more personal level, something you might have done by the office watercooler.
- Offer methods for growth, learning and advancement. The process of continuous development can be more valuable to a career than a single promotion, focusing effort on cultivating talents and strengths that will differentiate employees as they advance their careers.
- Offer plenty of public praise and private feedback. Create a recognition-rich culture and provide constructive and motivating advice to employees.
- Create situations where your employees can get to know each other and form personal friendships.
- Focus on improving your management style and don’t micro-manage, ignore feedback, or dismiss the opinions of your employees. Here are some management styles to aim for, as well as some to avoid.
- Communicate the impact that your employees’ work makes and align the missions of the company with employees’ roles and daily tasks.
How is your organization prioritizing employees’ wellbeing and engagement?