Why should I care about your story? Effective storytelling that isn't boring
By: Lauren Bishop
Sep 1, 2026
Category: PR strategy
Services: Writing
What is a story? Google defines it as “a connected series of real or fictional events meant to entertain, inform or influence.”
On the surface, I’d agree. But a story is much more than that — at least a good one is.
Think about what excites you when you’re watching a movie, reading a book, listening to a podcast, or, better yet, what moves you, what makes you think. Is it the relatable joke that reminds you of your sister? Was it the grief that helped you understand loss? Was it the big win for the protagonist after a series of failures?
You answered yes to these hypotheticals because they all connect with you on a human level. They spark your brain. They tug at your emotions. They pull you into the scenario, thinking, “What would I do if that were me?”
That’s the difference between a story and a good story. A good story doesn’t just inform — it immerses. And immersion is intentional. It’s crafted and rooted in something many overlook: the senses.
There are five senses. Are you using any?
What was the last piece of content that genuinely stopped you mid-scroll? Chances are, it didn’t just tell you something. It made you feel something. Maybe it painted a picture so vivid you could see it. Maybe the language had a rhythm that made it satisfying to read. Great storytelling works because it meets people where they already are. Inside their bodies, their memories, their lived experiences.
The five senses are the fastest route there.
Sight: Show, don’t just tell
Visual language does the heavy lifting in storytelling. Descriptive detail transforms flat copy into something a reader can actually see — and what we can see, we remember.
“The bakery was nice” doesn’t do much. But “Towers of mismatched cake stands lined the window. Each one stacked with something dusted in powdered sugar or drizzled in something glossy,” puts you in the doorway.
In practice: For a community development piece, instead of “the neighborhood has seen disinvestment for decades,” try “boarded storefronts and overgrown lots sit next to handmade murals and a community garden that someone decided to plant anyway.” This image holds complexity that statistics alone can’t.
Hearing: Write for the ear, not just the eye
Even written content has a sound. Sentence rhythm, word choice and pacing create a reading experience that can feel musical or monotonous depending on how it’s composed. Reading your copy out loud is one of the simplest quality checks you can do. If it doesn’t flow when spoken, or sounds repetitive or redundant, it won’t land when read.
“We provide comprehensive solutions for organizational communication challenges” versus “We help people say the right thing to the right people.” Neither is necessarily wrong — but one drones and one lands.
In practice: A public health campaign about mental health access should feel like a healthy conversation as opposed to a policy brief. Compare “This initiative aims to reduce barriers to behavioral health service utilization among underserved populations through community-based intervention strategies,” with “Getting help shouldn’t feel like filling out paperwork in a language you don’t speak. We’re working to make sure it doesn’t.”
Language that mirrors how your audience actually speaks builds credibility and trust, while keeping the door open for them.
Smell: A shortcut to somewhere familiar
Scent is the sense most directly wired to memory and emotion. Use it.
“It smelled like every good summer of my childhood. Sunscreen, charcoal and someone’s overwatered lawn” puts a reader somewhere instantly.
In practice: A food systems nonprofit talking about local agriculture doesn’t have to stay abstract. “The kind of tomato that smells like a garden, not a grocery store,” connects the reader to a lived experience and makes the case for local food in a single line.
Touch: Ground your audience in the physical
Texture and physical sensation add dimension to storytelling that purely visual or auditory language can’t. When a reader can almost feel something, they’re no longer a passive audience, but a participant.
“She handed him the letter” versus “The paper was thick. It felt like old stories and held the weight of old pine wood.” Suddenly, you’re rubbing your fingers together to remind yourself of what that’s like.
In practice: For a housing or neighborhood revitalization story, texture becomes metaphor. “Brick that’s been a part of the city for hundreds of years and made a home for dozens of families” carries history.
Taste: Bring your audience to the table
Food shows up in nearly every culture, community and life milestone. It’s intimate, nostalgic and deeply human.
“The coffee was bad” versus “The coffee was cold and bitter like an unforgiving Upper Peninsula winter.” One is forgettable. One is a memory.
In practice: A community engagement event may be a meeting, but it can also be a space where “someone’s grandmother brought tamales, and they were gone in ten minutes.” That detail does more for trust and belonging than any formal summary of the event could.
Now, who are you telling this story for?
A story can be beautifully crafted and still completely miss the mark if it’s written for the wrong person, or no one in particular.
Before you write a single word, ask yourself: who is actually reading this? What do they care about? What keeps them up at night, and what gets them out of bed in the morning? What do they need from you that they haven’t been able to find anywhere else?
If you don’t know the answers, that’s your homework before the writing starts. Audience research isn’t a box to check. It’s the foundation everything else is built upon. The most powerful content marketing and communications work happens at the intersection of what your organization needs to say and what your audience actually needs (and dare I say “wants”) to hear. Find that overlap, and you’ve found your story.
Because at the end of the day, the best stories aren’t about the teller. They’re about the person reading them, nodding along, thinking, “Yes, that’s exactly it.”
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