How to Bring Your Social Impact Story to Life
The language we use to communicate our brand identity and corporate initiatives has the potential to inspire people to take action and draw out powerful emotions from our readers. We have all experienced truly impactful storytelling that inspires us to think, to act, and to do great things in our lives and the world around us.
A well-crafted narrative can bring your initiatives to life and make them more engaging, memorable, and impactful for your audience. Consumers, employees, and investors are more concerned than ever with how companies are addressing the pressing social and environmental issues our society is facing, and telling a powerful story is one of the more effective tools companies can use to better communicate their commitment to being a responsible business.
Bringing a story to life isn’t always easy - especially when the topic is as heavy as what initiatives companies implement to address societal issues. But here are some tips to help you use more impactful language and storytelling to bring your corporate sustainability initiatives to life and create the support and inspiration you need for meaningful change.
Be Clear and Concise
The language used to communicate your sustainability and social impact work should be easy to understand and concise. Stay away from complicated jargon and technical terms that are not needed for your particular audience. Instead, focus on trying to clearly explain the purpose and impact of your work using simple language. Your goal is to engage your audience, and that’s more likely to happen if you present it simply.
Tell a Story
People are naturally drawn to stories and storytelling is an amazing way for your overall message to be more memorable. An iconic example of the emotive impact of storytelling around sustainability is Dr. Seuss in The Lorax. We all remember the story of the Lorax and how big factories made the beautiful pastures a wasteland. The good news is that you don’t need to be Dr. Seuss to tell a powerful story around your company’s impact initiatives.
Use Numbers to Show Impact
People are drawn to numbers in writing because they can help to demonstrate the tangible impact of your work. Whenever possible, weave data points into your story that show the amount of waste or GHG emissions reduced, corporate financial support in the community, or internal employee data on DEI, as a few examples. Numbers like this will go a long way in bringing the story home for your readers.
Highlight Employee Involvement
Employees are among your most important audience, but you should also see them as the subject of your storytelling. Bringing their lives and experiences into your story will give your message even greater, personal impact.
Make it Personal
Social issues and sustainability can be extremely personal for many people, so you should use language that adequately reflects this. Talk about the impact your initiatives will have on individuals, communities, and the planet. This will help to make your specific initiatives less generic and more relatable to your audience.
Inspire Action
Finally, we all know that stories have the power to inspire action if they move us the right way. One way to do this is by sharing inspiring stories about the positive impact of your initiatives in the community, on the people you are working with, and on the planet. These inspirational anecdotes can often motivate your audience to get involved and support your efforts.
Good narratives around your social impact and sustainability work will engage and inspire your employees and help communicate your passion with customers and investors. When you are able to tell a truly compelling story, you demonstrate a sense of common purpose and shared values with your audience that will feed back into the work you do and lead to even greater impact.
So if you want to amplify the success of your sustainability or social impact work, start by telling stories that can bring your work to life.
The Uplift Agency
Uplift builds strategies, programs, and communication campaigns that advance ESG in workplaces, supply chains and communities.
We know how to navigate the road ahead because we’ve already been down it – 90 percent of our team has led environmental or social programs in corporations or nonprofits. Because ESG is all we do, our services are more comprehensive and integrated than most firms.
