In my previous blog Our World Reflected: Why We Tell Stories, we explored some of the reasons why, as humans, we tell stories; that, as social creatures, stories help us contextualize our lives and give meaning to our actions. But how does the power of storytelling directly relate to our events? And why should creating a narrative be top-of-mind for our clients as we help them navigate the complexities of bringing their vision to life?
Engaging & Captivating Audiences:
Your audience inhabits a busy, noisy world. Constant interruptions and notifications, multiple devices, and the pressure to stay informed and ahead of whatever the current business trends are mean that, in the event space, you’re constantly vying for your attendees’ attention. Bringing people together is only the first step in the process of engaging them. Once they’re occupying the same space and time, how do you grab them and keep them invested?
Creating a storyline that weaves its way through your event is essential for seizing and holding your audience’s attention. If your content lacks a cohesive narrative, then your attendees have no incentive to remain engaged for the entirety of the show, participating only when it suits them and ingesting chunks of information in a non-linear, haphazard way. Providing your audience with a story arc that unfolds as the event progresses, that creates milestones and shared moments along the way, that builds emotion and then pays off at the end, motivates your attendees to remain engaged, captivating their minds and hearts throughout the entire journey.
Enhancing Brand Message:
Bringing hundreds or thousands of people together for an event is not something to be taken lightly. The time, money, and effort involved in creating these shared experiences for your audiences in order to communicate your messaging to them is immense. After all the work and complexities, the challenges and opportunities to get your messaging in front of your participants, doesn’t it deserve to be heard?
Foregrounding your brand message in a narrative helps your attendees contextualize and connect with it. If your content isn’t telling a story, it isn’t creating touchpoints for your audience to continuously come back to. Providing a story arc allows attendees to ground their understanding of your brand in a larger context, enhancing its meaning, connecting it to other moments in the attendee journey, and ultimately helping your attendees to engage with it in a reinforced and meaningful way.
Creating Connections & Fostering Community:
One of the primary reasons for bringing folks together for a shared experience is to create and strengthen connections among audiences. Whatever their mutual identity is—whether it’s industry, region, gender, business role—creating connections through this identity creates more meaningful experiences among attendees, and ones that last beyond the confines of the event itself.
Storytelling has connected individuals to each other for thousands of years. Stories are how we help define and communicate our identities to others, and find commonalities between us. When audiences see themselves reflected in your brand story, it provides a shared meaning, fostering community through a common understanding. And reciprocally, it’s this community that brings your brand message to life, repositioning it as a shared story, and embodying it as a shared identity. Community is also what extends the momentum and engagement built during an event, transcending the temporal limits of the experience, and carrying your messaging out into the world. Simply put, storytelling creates community, and community reinforces your story.
Storytelling is inarguably one of the most powerful tools in any event environment. Humans crave a story—to motivate themselves, to connect to each other, and to give meaning to their world. Building a strong narrative into your attendee journey insures that your audience remains engaged, embodies your messaging, and creates community wherever and whenever they are.
Hara Slonevksy
Communications Director, TENCUE
