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Take Content by the Tale: How to Use Storytelling to Strengthen Your Marketing Materials

By John J. Buchanan
August 01, 2018

In law firms today, content is not only king — it seems to be everything! Clients crave content and lawyers are happy to pound out client alerts, practice descriptions, blog posts, bylined articles, etc. With so much content flowing out of firms, how do you make your content — or for that matter, all of your marketing materials — stand out from the crowd? The answer's not simple — but it's clear: storytelling.

Why Is Storytelling So Compelling?

Storytelling is as old as humankind itself. Since the beginning of time, people have told stories and it seems that not only can storytelling be intellectually and emotionally fulfilling, it has a physical impact on the brain.

Using the research of neuroscientist Paul Zak, psychologist and author Susan Weinschenk wrote about the chemical effects of storytelling on the brain: “Zak found that during the rising action people release cortisol, at the climax people release oxytocin if they feel empathy with the main character, and if there's a happy ending people release dopamine. Interest can be maintained by cycling through these story pieces and keeping the brain chemistry going.” (“The Next 100 Things You Need To Know About People: #114 — Great Stories Release Brain Chemicals,” May 11, 2016). So, storytelling is both mentally and physically rewarding to humans.

Another compelling aspect of storytelling is that it can take a somewhat dry desert of facts and turn them into a lush jungle of memorable images. As my good friend and fellow law firm PR professional Cheryl Bame of Bame Public Relations says: “Facts are boring. Stories are compelling.”

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