Caught the eye: Storytelling in PR
In his book, Frank Littek introduces PR professionals—who view storytelling as a complement to standard PR work, carried out in addition to the usual press releases and reports—to a new form of storytelling.
The freelance journalist, PR consultant and author wants to use storytelling to structure the entire PR work in order to create or change the corporate image holistically.
A company achieves this by concentrating on its myth, the central idea, and communicating this to the public as an ongoing story. One example that appears in the book is the environmental protection organization Greenpeace. Every step the company takes - the animal rights activists fight whalers in rubber dinghies - is told as a story, with these narratives being strung together to tell the story of the organization, its "David versus Goliath" battle for the environment. An exciting approach. However, readers who want to find out more will have to be patient. After a few introductory examples that show how important and fundamental stories are for people, the author turns to the specifics of different journalistic forms of presentation and the basics of press work in around 70 pages: tips on how to write good press releases, what the difference is between a report, a report, a news item or a feature or what press officers should look out for in an interview. Even if concrete examples are repeatedly mentioned - airline crashes, a freight forwarding cooperation - these often do not focus on the core topic or the basic idea of storytelling. In addition, there are long passages in which excerpts from novels are used to explain what a good story looks like. Sections that are perhaps exciting to read. However, the author would have liked more reference to PR. Conclusion: The book is suitable as a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs or employees involved in communication. It makes you think about your own company and at the same time conveys the basic knowledge of press relations. However, PR managers who want to deal with the topic of storytelling in depth are less likely to be happy with this publication. (imp)
Frank Littek (2011): Storytelling in PR - How to use the power of stories for your press work. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. 225 pages.
