Stephen Follows, creative director, Catsnake Visit the CharityComms website to view slides from past events, see what events we have coming up and to check out what else we do: www.charitycomms.org.uk

1. Story, story, hallelujah
The importance of storytelling in PR
Presented by Stephen Follows Creative director of Catsnake Film
stephen@catsnake.com @stephenfollows3 December 2015

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My Story
• Stephen Follows, creative director at Catsnake Film
• An online video agency based in Ealing Studios
• Over 20 million views to date

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Three truths about stories
• We all enjoy stories – deep down, on a primal level
• Stories affect us – we feel connected and personally
involved
• Stories inspire action – far more than logic and reason

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Once upon a time…

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… in a land long ago…
250,000B.P.
200,000B.P.
100,000B.P.
10,000B.P.
PresentDay
Homo
sapiens
Stone
tools
Mitochondrial
Eve
Fully modern
humans
Farming
Fudge
iPhones
Jeremy Corbyn
Credit Default Swaps
Spoken
language
150,000B.P.
50,000B.P.

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… humans evolved tales
• The love of stories is hard-wired into our brains
• Evolution has made the most important things deeply
enjoyable
– Fuel became cuisine
– Procreation became sex
– Survival techniques became stories

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So, waddya know?
• People who crave fat and sugar live longer
• In the bush predators could be anywhere
• You’re unlikely to meet someone only once
• Nakedness always leads to procreation
• Faces you see often are your friends
• Representations of humans are humans
Obesity
Superstition
Ethics
Pornography
Celebrity
Videos

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The Life of Brain
Primate
“Cerebral Neocortex”
Language, planning and perception
Mammal
“Limbic System”
Motivation, emotion,
reproductive/parental behavior
Reptile
“Basal Ganglia”
Aggression, dominance and instinct

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Your cerebral neocortex hard at work

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What’s a story?
An account of imaginary or real
people and events
told for entertainment

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A story in a single picture

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So how can we use this?
• By wrapping our aims up in a story, we can…
– Entertain our audience so we don’t need to force them to
watch our content
– Make them feel whatever is most useful to us
– Lead them to our desired outcome (a sale, an action, etc)
– Make them want to pass on the video, thereby continuing
the cycle with others
• Three effective types of stories for driving action…

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1. The Challenge plot

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2. The Connection plot

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3. The Creativity plot

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• Practical Value
• Social currency
• Triggers
• Emotion
• Public
The elements which make content more shareable
Tap into your audiences’ inner caveman
Make people look good when they share
Tap into familiar items to trigger associations
When we care, we share
Being seen to share, and feeling included

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How to crush a soul and not be fired

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The emotions that cause action
High Arousal Low Arousal
Positive
Awe
Excitement
Amusement
Contentment
Negative
Anger
Anxiety
Sadness

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Further reading

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Stay in touch
For these slides, or to just swap stories,
email me at stephen@catsnake.com
Twitter @StephenFollows

21. Visit the CharityComms website to
view slides from past events, see
what events we have coming up
and to check out what else we
do: www.charitycomms.org.uk

22. PR in the digital age
Conference
3 December 2015
London
#charityPR
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