This often happens to me when I read something interesting in a PR resource and don’t bother to save.  You may have read the same piece. The basic premise was to re-define PRSA, “The Passionate Relationship Minded Storyteller Association.”

The author suggests that we should tell stories that are predictable enough yet different enough to hold attention.  The content should contrast traditional styles to interrupt patterns to initiate surprise, hold interest and compel audiences to read more to learn final outcomes.  For me this begs the eternal question, “Who is the Storyteller and Who/What is the Storymaker?”  In the case of a standard press release or media alert, could industry statistics/talking heads or the bells/whistles of a new product or service really meet the criteria noted above?

Lets examine the new definition:

Passionate- Does passion come from statistics, talking heads, new bells/whistles of a product/service?  I believe passion comes from the audiences; the customer/client who has been able to solve a challenge or opportunity as a result of the product/service.

Relationship-Minded- Do relationships stem from products/services? It’s pretty obvious to all of us that relationships are derived from people.  In our case, audiences who are engaged with out products/services to help them achieve desired outcomes.

Storyteller- The name denotes that we are not Storymakers.  The Storymakers are the audiences we engage through the value of our products/services.  At the risk of being redundant, our company is NOT the Storymaker!

The conclusion is clear.  The Passionate Relationship Minded Storyteller Association engages with audiences (Storymakers) to share passionate stories of the value of our products/services.

Something to remember the next time we’re asked to create content to HOLD ATTENTION.