Aren’t we all storytellers! Business communicators and PR people aren’t the only ones with stories to tell. At a weekly management meeting I often hear a response to a complicated question that goes: “Ok, so here’s the story…” Or take reports. The most interesting executive summaries I have read have a beginning-middle-end format, and one more element –the cliff-hanger to get you to read the rest of the 15-page document. (Conversely, the most boring ones have bullet points and stats. The do the job, but they don’t light a fire.)

And my point is? Yesterday I attended a workshop by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. It was on “High intensity business coverage” and dealt with the finer points of finding, crafting and publishing business stories. Terrific speakers, with amazing takeaways for writers, a very good cross section of attendees, including some the storytellers a.k.a. journalists I am familiar with from The Arizona Republic.

In one session, writing coach Dick Weiss talked about the ingredients of an A1 story: Action, narrative, dialog, passion, character, theme. But what stuck in my mind are two other elements he recommended –tension and quirkiness. Weiss has another nugget: “Start where the readers start” because it addresses their values, and the what’s-in-it-for-me question.

Storytelling isn’t a new skill. If you’re a parent you’re probably a master at it. Every night I need to invent a story for my daughter at bedtime and one day she gave me the ideal recipe: “Could you make it a little scary, but give it a happy ending?” From then on, storytelling has been a breeze. Sprinkle tension, bring about a resolution, fade to black… Since yesterday, I’m working on the quirkiness thing.