Sociological vs Psychological Storytelling, The Importance of Concrete Language and How to Get Attention For Your Podcast

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10 stories we've enjoyed this week

Illustration of small girl wearing brown trousers and a white shirt flying. She is surrounds by flying insects with white wings. She too has wings. The background is a blue sky.

Illustration by Ukraine-based illustrator Yev Haidamaka - Hire her

Hi All,
We had a team two-day get-together this week. It's the first time we've done something like this in a long time. It was lovely to see everyone and great to do. If you are in a hybrid working situation I'd be interested in hearing more about how your teams are getting together. How often are you doing it? How is it working out?

We've always been a hybrid company. It's allowed us to work with the best talent from all over the world for over a decade. One of the sessions we had was looking at the pros and cons of hybrid working. The consensus from the team was that, for us, whilst it's not perfect, the benefits to working from home outweigh the negatives by far. It's hard to imagine the workplace ever returning to what it was pre-covid.

This week we've been speaking to potential partners for our research project on how businesses are finding and using stories in this new world. We want to deliver really usable insights and recommendations for both commercial organisations and non-profits, so they can develop a clear understanding of how their content fits into the new habits of their audience. Would you like to partner with us on this? Get in touch.

Right. Time for some stories. Have a fantastic weekend.
Hugh

The Short Story

Another Way to Tell a Story: Sociological vs Psychological
(8 min read)

How Baby Driver Told a Full Story Through a Single Stunt
(8 min watch)

How Spotify's Curators Select Podcasts to Feature
(7 min read)

Then Barbara Met Alan
(68 min watch)

Why Food Businesses Are Losing Faith in Instagram
(5 min read)

12 Teenagers on What Adults Don't Get About Their Lives
(12 min read)

World's Best Designed™ in Digital and Printed News
(Awards shortlists)

Why Concrete Language Improves Customer Service
(8 min read)

How a Publishing Rhythm Can Tell a Story
(Podcast series)

Name the Movie in as Few Frames as Possible
(1 min play)

The front cover of a newspaper. The headline is to the left of the columns, pushing them away, distorting the text. The headline reads "E Unter Druck" which is German for "Under Pressure"

How can we help you?

Storythings is a strategy and content company based in Brighton and London. We'd love to help you with some creative and bold ideas.

Here's 3 reasons to get in touch.

1. You want to talk to us about content production: podcasts, videos, animations, illustrations, editorial.

2. You want to talk to us about content strategy or format development.

3. You want to create a brand or an identity that makes it easier to communicate your message.

We do other things too. We're very friendly and always enjoy meeting people, so get in touch.

The Full Story

Another Way to Tell a Story: Sociological vs Psychological
A lot of advice you read about storytelling has a bias towards psychological storytelling, whereby the plot is built around a protagonist's internal, and external, journey to get the thing they really want. If, however, your work involves telling stories about complex systems and how the system impacts the people within it, you might want to take a sociological approach to your story structure. This piece gives some great examples of how to tell these kinds of stories. Thanks to Adam Chmielowski for sharing this.
(8 min read)

How Baby Driver Told a Full Story Through a Single Stun
You learn a lot from a character by how they're introduced in a film. In Jaws, we first meet Robert Shaw's character, Quint, as he drags his nails down a chalkboard. In Silence of the Lambs, we're introduced to the character of Hannibal in his cell following a long walk in which Clarice is fully briefed on what not to do when she meets him. And in Pulp Fiction, the characters of Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega are revealed via a mundane conversation about the name of the Big Mac in Europe, whilst en route to hit a bunch of dealers in an apartment. This video essay breaks down how we find out everything we need to know about the main character, Baby, via the opening stunt.
(8 min watch)

How Spotify's Curators Select Podcasts to Feature
There's a lot of great advice packed into this blog post from the Spotify editorial team. Particularly the list towards the end which isn't just about catching the eye of the curators but serves as a useful guide for making a great podcast. If you want help with making your podcasts or help finding an audience for your podcast, we'd love to help you.
(7 min read)

Then Barbara Met Alan
I really enjoyed this BBC drama about two cabaret performers and disability rights activists who met at a gig, fell in love and became the driving force behind an unprecedented campaign of direct action. Their campaigning forced a TV telethon off the air and brought about real change. The drama incorporates archive footage and features some of the real people in a really nice way. Bookmark it and watch it over the weekend.
(68 min watch)

Why Food Businesses Are Losing Faith in Instagram
Whilst this news story is focused on how changes to the Instagram algorithm has affected photo-heavy marketing from food companies, it's a lesson for anyone over-dependent on social platforms. Either develop formats that don't live on social, or be prepared to change your strategy every time the social platforms change their strategy. We'd be happy to help you develop a strategy that doesn't rely on social.
(5 min read)

12 Teenagers on What Adults Don't Get About Their Lives
If you work with young audiences or if you're a parent of a teenager this will be of interest to you. The New York Times talked to 12 teens about things such as their views on social media and how they feel talking about difficult subjects in school. It's a really good read, with audio and video to accompany the teens' stories. The answers to 'what would you ask your 40-year-old self' were not what I was expecting and reveal something troubling about the fears of teens today.
(12 min read)

World's Best Designed™ in Digital and Printed News
Rather than point to a single story, I thought I'd share a bunch of shortlists for you to browse through. There are some beautifully designed stories in here that you could spend an entire Sunday morning reading, watching and interacting with. Newsletter favourites The Pudding and New York Times are in there.
(Awards shortlist)

Why Concrete Language Improves Customer Service
We do a lot of work helping clients remove abstract language from their stories. We show them how to use words and structures that create images in the minds of their audience/customers. Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger has been researching how concrete language can make customers feel seen, heard, and valued, especially when it comes to customer service: "Feeling like someone listened to you is about three things. First, paying attention. Second, understanding. But third, it’s about really showing someone you heard them. And that’s what concrete language does...Even if you heard someone, that’s great. But show them that you heard them. Signal to them that you heard what they said. It can be repeating back what they said, but it can even be more specific in showing that you heard and you’re ready to help."
(8 min read)

How a Publishing Rhythm Can Tell a Story
Occasionally, the hook that catches our attention, that makes us take a second look, that lodges in our brain, can be the simplest of things. I love that the publishing rhythm and number of episodes made me bookmark this series.
(Podcast series)

Name the Movie in as Few Frames as Possible
Via Jason Kottke, this game is like Name That Tune but for movies and frames. I got today's in one guess and yesterday's in two. So either I'm brilliant or it needs a bit of a tweak if it's going to hold attention.
(1 min play)

We hope you've enjoyed this week's newsletter. I'm sure some of your friends would love to read it. Sharing it would be really appreciated. If you've received this from a friend you can subscribe here and get it direct to your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for reading and see you all next week,

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the team at Storythings

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