Storytelling in Public Relations

Foreword

In public relations, storytelling is vital because it is how we analyze cases and then decide how we want to portray an organization or figure and what would be the best way to communicate that to our target key publics. These stories illustrate the situation or crisis at hand so that those in the public relations department or firm can understand how a situation is affecting people and how that can be addressed. They are generally concise, yet have enough detail to appeal to logic and emotion.
A well-known example of a crisis that was solved by public relations professionals in the past was when Tylenol's reputation was as stake and Johnson & Johnson saved their image (which is why we all still know what Tylenol is and consume it today) while creating a historic case study.

Example Story

This might be someone explaining the public relations case to a group in order for them to judge a new case based off of this case study.

In the Fall of 1982, cyanide was found in several bottles of Tylenol in the mid-west. Several people were fatally poisoned and a nationwide scare quickly arose due to extensive media coverage. Johnson&Johnson lost the trust of millions of customers as people suspected that they created dangerous products or may have been careless in the production process.

Analysis

The important components in this story are the general area and people involved in the crisis. This story is very straight forward as it states what happened and then a brief, yet catastrophic chain of events. 

Persuasion works here in the conciseness of this story. The details in each sentence are powerful and impactful, causing people to want to look further into the issue and how it might affect them or their loved ones. 

Retelling the Story

This telling of the story would be more of a presentation to the public relations team of Johnson&Johnson in 1982.

Johnson&Johnson stands at a threshold of our reputation. Our next step must be strategic. Are we careless? Are we killers?
 It didn't take long after the initial incident for every major news outlet to traumatize the nation with the rumor of poison that may be sitting in their bathroom cupboard at this very moment. The parents did nothing but send their 12-year-old daughter to bed on a mild painkiller for cold symptoms only to find her writhing for her life--the result of cyanide poisoning--in their own home in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Six more would have the same fate as more bottles of the medication were found intentionally laced with cyanide by nameless murderers.

By placing the crisis in the beginning, the political result in the middle and the more gruesome detail at the end, the story has more of a persuasive emotional appeal as it builds up to and relates a specific human fatality as a result of the tragedy at hand.