What to Say When Things Get Tough: Business Communication Strategies for Winning People Over When They're Angry, Worried and Suspicious of

Chapter 3

THE LOST ART OF STORYTELLING

To hell with facts! We need stories!

—KEN KESEY, NOVELIST

 

In the public relations business, we spend a lot of time talking about, developing, honing, and conveying messages (sometimes known as sound bites). They are the words and ideas we want our clients’ audiences to remember, the ones that will resonate and (hopefully) inspire them to change their attitudes, beliefs, and actions.

We typically talk about messages in terms of a triangle, which is nothing more than a device for developing three messages and then building upon them to create a full-fledged messaging platform. While it’s unclear who invented the message triangle, my firm credits communications consultant Michael Sheehan. Sheehan helped ...