Narrative Communications

Organizational communications that includes storytelling.

Storytelling is part of communications in change organizations.

Organizational storytelling sits at the intersection of communications and narrative.

Organizational storytelling became a new norm in communications practice after digital media and Web 2.0 made it easy to publish and share stories online, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of popularity and demand from audiences.

Some information is really difficult to communicate effectively without telling a story, such as human impact, social change and visions of the future. Stories are also used to create specific audience effects including empathy, simulated learning and action.

Storytelling complements organizational communications according to the information being communicated.

Narrative Communications

Communications

Best for sharing information
Product: statements
More efficient
Requires less interpretation
Harder to remember
Concerned with distinctions (is/is not)
Describes states

Storytelling

Best for generating effect
Product: stories
Less efficient
Requires more interpretation
Easier to remember
Concerned with relationships (cause + effect)
Describes change
Generates experience (embodied simulation)
Generates knowledge (simulation learning)

FAQ

  • Traditional organizational communications produces statements, whereas organizational storytelling produces stories. Statements and stories communicate different types of information.

    Statements are stories are useful in different ways: statements are more useful when communicating information about stable environments, stories are more useful when communicating information about changing environments.

  • No — it depends on what you are communicating.

    Storytelling is commonly used by change organizations — such as nonprofits and social change organizations — as it is very difficult to describe human impact or change without telling a story.

    However, statements are more efficient at communicating information than stories — so they are preferred when not communicating change.