7 storytelling tips and tricks to turn your internal comms from drab to fab

We all know that effective communication is vital to a company’s success. From increased employee productivity and engagement to higher staff retention and trust, the benefits to getting it right are huge.

However, there are several challenges that internal comms teams face in getting their message across.

Reaching audiences – when employees are hybrid, in-the-field, remote, working non-linear patterns, in the office, or are non-desktop workers – reaching the right people, at the right time, with the right messages can be tricky.

Employees are time poor – staff are often overloaded with questions or requests for information and have limited space in their day to read, watch, or listen to information, news and stories. So, comms teams are constantly competing for their attention and time.

Staff don’t know where to look for information – many are simply too busy doing their day job to actively seek out comms content, meaning important information will inevitably be missed.

So, how can we mitigate these challenges and make sure staff get the message?

One way is to use storytelling techniques to create engaging, relatable and informative content that your audience will want to see.

Storytelling is one of the most important tools in the IC toolkit. Done well, storytelling can:

So, here are seven storytelling tips and tricks to help your internal comms cut through the noise:

1. Get emotional

Creating an emotional connection with your audience helps them relate to the message and understand it on a deeper level. You can do this by telling anecdotes or giving real-life examples that resonate with your employees.

2. Start at the beginning

Every story has a beginning, middle, and end, which makes it easier to follow and remember. Use a story arc to build anticipation and keep employees engaged.

3. Make it personal

Make your content more relatable and memorable by making it personal. Use the experiences of the employees or the organisation to create a story that resonates with them. Personal stories are more likely to be remembered and shared.

4. Get visual

We all had our favourite picture book as kids, right? And there’s nothing like images, videos, or infographics to help illustrate a story and make it more impactful. A well-designed visual can help to reinforce the message and make it more memorable. After all, they do say a picture speaks a thousand words…

5. Less is more

As we mentioned earlier, employees are often time poor, so it’s important to keep it brief. Make sure the story is concise and to the point. Avoid unnecessary details and stick to the key message.

6. Mix your mediums

Your choice of medium will depend on the audience you’re targeting and the story you have to tell but make sure to use a variety of mediums from email and video to social media or internal newsletters. Mixing it up will help you reach a wider audience and make your content more accessible.

7. Make ‘em laugh

Channel your inner comedian and use humour to make your messages more memorable and engaging. By using humour in appropriate ways you’ll make your stories more relatable and enjoyable.

In addition to storytelling, another vital tool in the IC toolkit is an easy-to-use, modern intranet.

That’s where Involv comes in.

Involv Intranet helps you create internal comms that cut through by giving you:

• Easy-to-use, customisable templates to create content that looks and feels like home.

• Audience targeting to allow you to tag and target audiences in specific parts of your organisation.

• Mobile intranet so frontline workers need not miss out.

• Permissions and approval workflows so employees can feel empowered to tell their own stories.

• Analytics, so you can see what’s working and what’s not.

If you want to know more about Involv Intranet and how it can help you overcome the biggest IC challenges, download our ebook.

Or book a demo with one of our intranet expert.