Terminology
What’s the difference between narrative and story?
If you’re confused — don’t worry, you’re not alone.
“Narrative” and “story” are used interchangeably in many places, and in others their definitions vary greatly.
The terms used on this website are defined below; while they are not the definitions shared by most communicators, they are the most useful for this type of work.
The Narrative Home — a project of No Lip Service — describes how the terminology came to vary so much, and which definitions vary or are shared.
Definitions
Communication
Narrative communications
Organizational storytelling
Organizational communications (also corporate communications)
Narrative
Story
Impact storytelling
The action of organizing information so that it is more useful.
A collection of information that has been organized into a format that makes it more useful.
Organizational storytelling about the impact of an organization’s work on individual people or a social issue.
Transferring information.
Organizational communications that includes storytelling.
An area of organizational communications that produces stories about people, narrated and published by the organization, in service to the organization.
Communications produced and distributed on behalf of an organization and its spokespeople.