I never describe myself as a storyteller, even though I am a journalist.
I do tell stories, of course, and I help my clients tell stories. I help them get across, communicate, convey and present their products, services, opinions, advice and “narratives” (another rather cringey phrase in my opinion!) to potential customers, partners or stakeholders. I help them take a whole load of corporate speak, or just information the customer/audience doesn’t need – and ‘precis’ it down (we we used to say in school) and sometimes add other angles, thoughts or elements to make it more engaging, interesting, persuasive and appealing to the audience/market they’re trying to reach.
In another aspect of my work – acting – I also portray stories, scenes and narratives – and get them off the page and into the camera. I help the director, writer and producer tell their stories. So – I am a storyteller. But I don’t use that word on myself. Why not?
Maybe I just have a prejudice about the word: it seems a bit Primary School. Maybe I just need to move with the times and embrace a new word! I am a wordsmith, after all.
Storyteller as a job title is now a thing! “Corporate Storyteller” usually means Marketing, Comms, PR and so on, and it has expanded to include influencers, brand ambassadors, the “humanising” of the message – making it relatable with case studies and real life examples etc. So I guess it’s legitimate as a job title, it’s just not in my active vocabulary when referring to myself.
So those are my thoughts, for what they’re worth. How did I get across my story? How did I tell it?! Be kind. Was it an arc, a journey, a narrative? Or just a stream-of-consciousness ramble? Or somewhere in between? *shrug* *smile*
