How can you tell a compelling PR story?

Experience what you are writing about. Many years ago I was asked to write web content for a care home facility for young adults with severe learning difficulties. I had to prepare appropriate content to help them with fund raising. I had been supplied enough background information that I could have written about it but the principal Director insisted that I go and visit the facilities, meet the residents, helpers and experience the home for myself. He was absolutely right. I came away feeling emotional, humbled and wrote from the heart. It was a lesson well learned.

How you choose your audience also relies heavily on your ability to stick to and represent your core values and vision. If your audience isn't in alignment with who you are as a company - one of them has to change, and most likely, its your audience.

Understanding your audience demographics, psychographics, and consumption habits is vital - but so is their intent. Truly understanding why your audience engages with your brand allows you to understand their intent/"why" towards you. Unlike demographics, which may flux over time, intent remains a constant. Focusing on this allows you to welcome knew audiences across all spectrum's, a collective "why" - turning your audience into a tribe that will share your brand story.

Your audience is important to you. But the key to successful PR is knowing that the reporters and media you pitch are looking for stories that will interest, excite, and/or entertain their audience. In other words, why does their audience need to know your story or news? Related: how will publishing that story help the reporter and media outlet to be seen as important sources of information by their audience.

Don't assume you know the story. If you don't have direct experience with the subject matter or aren't from the community in question, get whatever experience you can and involve those with lived experience. When I had to develop content to engage a diverse community, as well as pitch related stories, I partnered with community leaders, attended community meetings to hear firsthand stories, and walked through the experience in question with community members. I also quoted community members whenever possible and recruited some as media spokespeople. To be totally blunt: There's nothing worse than white people telling Black people what they need to know or what their story is. It's not only incredibly offensive, it's inevitably inaccurate.

Listen, in the PR game, it's not just about getting your story out there—it's about crafting a narrative that resonates. Your angle? That's your North Star. It's the pulse, the heartbeat. Now, asking "why should they care?" That's where the rubber meets the road. We're in an era of information overload; mediocrity doesn't cut it. So, how do you elevate? Dive deep. What's the zeitgeist? What are the cultural moments that intersect with your narrative? Link with those. But, here's the real sauce: Be fearless, yet strategic. Like JAY-Z crafting a bar, or LeBron hitting a clutch shot, precision is key. Know your audience, study the landscape, and make sure every move is a masterstroke. It's more than PR—it's legacy building.

In tech PR it is important to focus on the major news hooks that startups can use to attract journalists’ attention: — Fundraising news — A new partnership — A launch of a new product or entering a new market — A new milestone (for instance, your app now has 1 million downloads, or it was used by a celebrity) — If you have pivoted to address new challenges and meet new needs — A fresh piece of research analysis/survey — If you have an M&A or someone is buying your startup Even if your news hook isn’t newsworthy in itself, you can still frame it into a piece of content that has merit. That's the art of finding a right angle.

News has a better authenticity: Everyone is going to say good thing about their own brand, product or business but something appeared in news becomes more believable. It earns authenticity and credibility. So PR story should be created with news aspect in the mind. News uses facts, figures, statistics and verifiable information so your PR story should. PR stories with news like structure can help earn reputation for your brand, gain recall and will resonate with the target audience. This will lead to like and share the story on digital media because the reader believes it will help others as well. All these due to need aspects. So make your PR story a news and not a paid advertorial.

All events, brands, or any entity for that matter has stories. The stories must resonate with the reader: the community, media news outlets, even other like mind brands. Choosing the story also depends on outside social issues. Whats trending, whats hot, what the newest topic? One could create a story pitch from the background soundtrack .. yet .. with a twist .. a different perspect not being told. Or.. one could go all the way out the box to create a mn exciting new soundbite. KimiRhochelle @krprmedia

At its core, PR is about spinning a tale that grips the audience. But here's the twist: It's gotta feel authentic, and this three-act setup? That’s the game plan. First, you lay out the scene - that's the intro to your brand's world. But the meat? That's in the confrontation. Every iconic brand faces challenges; it's how you bounce back that makes headlines. And the resolution? That's your victory lap. Show the world how you turned challenges into triumphs. But here's the jewel: execution. Don't just talk about it, be about it. Dive in, but move with strategy. Like chess, think several moves ahead. Be bold, but always, always be sharp. Get out there and make your story legendary!

To have a compelling story, first create tension & hold the tension to capture the attention then offer a solution to address the situation and ensure the story line flows and is authentic and relatable

It should also be accurate. Don't try to inflate your story by twisting the facts. Focus on shaping the narrative and enhancing it with additional details (like how it plays into the mission or the vision of the company). Hyperbole will always come back to haunt you; focus on sewing the story into the truth, and not the other way around.

Embrace humour in your story and the story must be of human interest. Audiences are going through alot of challenges in their daily lives so when they land on a story it has to be humorous, the story should speak to our daily lives not big dreams from Mars.

If anyone thinks that they don't need storytelling for business and tech-related materials, they are absolutely wrong. What is the volume of the market you have launched your product for? What startups are you as a VC going to invest in due to your personal background? Any news peg needs a narrative, any story should be told in order to impress, not just to "inform". In fact, not many people prefer to be "informed" (most of them have their corporate newsletter for that purpose). They want to get involved, they want to experience, and sometimes even become a part of your mission! That's why you need to draw a very logical, pervasive and emotional storyline at the same time.

Use data as much as you can to tell your story, imperial evidence is everything in this day and age. Back your story with figures and ensure data is accurate. Throw in some research findings. That way the story will be taken as legit and appealing.

Many great points here! I’d like to also add that dynamic storytelling includes a constant need to elevate the consumer/reader benefit. It’s natural to center our clients product or service, but ultimately we’re not appealing to the news outlet we’re pitching to. We’re appealing to their audience.

To capture the attention of media outlets, your story must be seen to address an issue of general public interest not individualistic. Media likes quotable quotes, ensure your story has punchlines that can picked by the media and that is where data/empirical evidence is key. It's important to note that media likes to run with stories that will make headlines, unfortunately for many media houses, headlines are made if the story is negative or scandalous and that is the environment we live in. As a professional story teller stick to the facts, if some thing is wrong, admit and acknowledge that something went wrong but u must always show that you are putting in place measures to address the issue. Your story should be memorable

Before you can be a successful storyteller, you must first be a great story FINDER. Are you telling the same story that has been told before or are you telling a new story? Story finding is an often overlooked step but needs to be the starting point for every communications pro.

One of my favorite methods for creating a compelling story is a hook. Tease them on why they want to read your story, give them a taste, but don't give away what they want to know. This will keep them reading.

I believe in a guerrilla approach when delivering a PR story - not only thinking about the content of the piece but how can the piece be delivered to the press in a different, edgy and unforgettable way?