You have to be more than a messenger

Don't know about you, but lockdown gifted me a wonderful opportunity to discover, listen to and read new outputs from lots of different places. It's made me realise that sharp storytelling is a skill you really need to work at and hone.

I've been swimming for the last few weeks in the warm waters of BBC Sounds where I've walked the sands on Radios 3, 4 and 5, immersed myself in inspiring archive interviews, documentaries and the relaxed honesty of Louis Theroux's 'Grounded' series. I've joyously had the time to indulge in the Guardian's lunchtime long reads, discovered the beautiful prose of Anthony Doerr in his masterpiece 'All the light we cannot see'. I've given more focus to specialist category commentators in the pained sectors of retail, food, drink, hospitality, travel and across marketing, brand and digital - and of course read as much as I can about the refreshed urgency for genuine social purpose. My mind, my creative edge, my articulation, my hunger for discovery and expression all feel enlivened.

In home schooling, I've been mesmerised by my 10 year old daughter's highly tuned search abilities(including the use of voice), entranced by her spontaneity and effortless use of any available tech to learn and create every day. She's made music videos, picture albums, artworks to adorn the walls, she's animated, she's voiced over, she's painted, she's built, she's DJ'd, she's presented, she's printed cards, books and even set up an instagram feed for our cocker spaniel. And she makes it look a breeze. She is utterly stimulated and I have to say, inspired. But here's the thing...she works at it and is madly curious. You realise at her age, she is still uncluttered and unencumbered by the distractions of phones and social media and not enslaved by short form articulation. Like a lot of children at this age, she just soaks up words and images. She makes short form content, but she also uses words and images in a natural. free and easy long form, where she is actively learning structure, flow and proper narrative building.

So it got me thinking how our up and coming comms talent or indeed our industry's seasoned professionals are honing their storytelling skills, their sense of editorial style, self expression, creative layering, the art of flow and generally building their confidence in the use of language. The reason it's important may seem obvious, but I will say it anyway - don't ever slip into becoming a mere carrier of information or data.

I've worked with some amazing digital talent - wizards turning out amazing looking assets, but I do wonder sometimes if they are in danger of getting too tied up in the quest for numbers and in the function or process. What they are really chasing of course is engagement and that's about creativity and the ability to craft a really compelling story. And long form and some of the core principles of good writing and journalism give you both context and narrative. I see my children learning this stuff naturally right now, but are we teaching it enough to the grown ups in agency and client side to really develop their narrative building capabilities?

What about the words they use, the richness they add into a client's lexicon? What about their very understanding of the client's brand language and tonality? Far too often, content is judged on volume and speed and less about exploring and working a story's genuine news value - and I am not just talking about traditional news in traditional media. I am talking about values that have real impact wherever they are aired, shared or discussed.

One of the sad trends of the last two or three years is that the decline in the power of traditional print and news has invited some of our industry watchers to predict the death of the newspaper and magazine. It has then often been used as an excuse for some to say: "It's not relevant or important or valuable to read a newspaper or magazine or listen to speech based radio." So where do people learn?

It looks like lockdown has seen news move back up people's agendas - perhaps for obvious reasons, but I see that as an entirely positive thing - particularly for a generation that has emerged without the same relationship with news, features or say, investigative, documentary long form editorial platforms, that previous cohorts have grown up with.

How do you get to understand proper story construction, learn how to deliver nuanced arguments succinctly, how to gently hype or elevate, to exude calm defence, express clever thinking, trigger speculation or provoke debate? How do you paint pictures with limited words or get across a compelling personality in a paragraph? Read, enjoy, study all forms of editorial output - multi-channel, multi-genre, read long form, not just short and allow yourself some depth. I so hope agencies are doing enough to encourage and help hone these skills in their talented people.

Friends find it odd, when I say I am learning every day in a job that I've been doing for over 20 years, but I so am. And with the kind of content creation and assets we have at our disposal now, it reminds you that there's never been a better time to be a storyteller. But you have to work at it and ravenously eat up as many different styles and genres as you can. Don't be a messenger - be a listener, a creator, an entertainer, an educator - and love the art of the story.

I’d love to know what you think? What do YOU do? Do you see your agency or your teams or individuals showing the conviction and sheer passion to develop their skills? How do you help them?

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