The Socrates Method is the practice where you keep asking questions until there are no more questions to be asked and everything you need to know about a subject has come to light. The premise is that the answer is already there, it already exists... you just have to keep asking the right questions until it appears. And it's that method that we'll use to kick start your storytelling.
For your convenience we'll release two checklists - this one on Branding, Organization, Cultural & Corporate Storytelling and another list of Tips and tricks for Art, Fiction, Character, Film, Novel, Literature & Poetry Storytelling. Just go through the questions on the checklist, and get a head start with your storytelling!
(For a list of all Storytelling definitions, concepts, wordings and descriptions please check and follow the link here)
What business are we in?
What is the primary market?
Is it a new or existing market segment?
What is the name of the product/service/brand?
What is the proposition (product) to the market?
What are the benefits; what problem does it solve?
How is it accessible, how can it be acquired (distribution)?
What does it cost and why?
What are the conditions and why?
Why should one believe/trust it?
Supporting evidence – What proves the proposition?
Have we done a ‘disaster check’? In other words: does the target audience experience what we think it experiences? Do they trust?
What is the identity of the organization?
What is its brand purpose/why does it exist?
What are the values?
What feeling does it want to convey?
What kind of relationship does it strive for with the customer?
What is the culture?
What is its behavior within this culture?
What is the brand positioning?
What position or role does it have in its market?
Is this role common or special? (commodity or originality?)
What is the promise to the market and how is it articulated?
What is the name of the brand and how well does the name align with the positioning?
What is the visual identity (roughly)?
Which elements of the identity do we want to reflect in the positioning
A social dimension? If so, which one?
A sustainable dimension? If so, which one?
A cultural dimension? If so, which one?
Communication objectives
A. Knowledge level: what should the target group know about the product?
B. Attitude level: what should the feeling/attitude be towards the product?
C. Behavior level: what action should the target group take for the product?
What other objectives can be named? (Digital or Analog) Store traffic? More information requests? Reach? Conversion? Awareness?
In light of the communication challenges, where should the emphasis be? What are the major challenges?
Lack of awareness / No USP / lack of recognition / dominance of the competition / low interest / bad image / insufficient demand / motivation of stakeholders / insufficient budget / revenue too low / margins too low / etc.
Communication target group
Please start with the description of the target audience in emotional terms: what is they feel (current situation)? What do you want them to feel (desired situation)?
Describe the target group(s) in order of priority based on demographics. “The most common socioeconomic characteristics are education level, gender, sexual preference, income, age, culture, nationality, location, marital or relationship status, occupation, (number of) offspring, political affiliation, interests, religion, disabilities, social class, home ownership status, city of birth and residence.
However, please be aware that demographics in storytelling are far inferior compared to emotional 'click'. The more information, the better the understanding of the (potential) buyer or user.
What channels do we know for sure the target audience uses? What channels do we suspect the target audience uses?
Are there any databases available to make your life easier (email addresses, names and addresses of users (e.g., non-users) and the like)?
Communication/Primary message:
Describe the main message in one sentence.
Secondary messages:
Make a list of all secondary messages in order of priority.
Assignment:
Describe here the media, channels and tools (including specific media brands if required) that are typically used and which ones will be relevant (current situation).
Describe also - if necessary - the media, channels and tools (including specific media brands if required) that you feel should be used that are at this point in time not used (desired situation).
Technical information
Describe here the formats, colors, logo usage and any other parts of the brand architecture that are relevant. Is there a so-called Brand Book or Brand Guide available that covers all the important visuals and text usages?
Planning/timing/budget
When should the first expressions be released? What is the available budget for the action or campaign? Assess how feasible the planning/timing/budget is in order to determine any possible adjustments.
When approaching a new brand, startup, scale-up, corporate brand or identity, NGO, government organization and/or cultural identity or organization, this is a checklist to get the conversation going and acquiring the information needed to start the project, commonly referred to as onboarding.
New Business & Onboarding Questions / Questionnaire:
What is the goal?
What is the real challenge? (aside from the 'official' one)
What are the implications if the project is not completed or successful?
What is the 'need' or requirement? The expectations?
What is the scope of the project? Boundaries?
What would be the easiest? (Isn't this the hardest?)
What is the hardest?
Are there organizational barriers?
Have you done anything similar before?
Do you yourself see any obstacles?
Is the budget reasonable for reaching the goals?
When is it successful?
What is the ideal arrangement? (What do you expect?)
How do you envision working together? Team?
Are there natural partners?
Is there competition?
Have we correctly understood the challenge?
Is there already a concept or strategy we should see first?
To what extent is there already an overall strategy, concept, or smaller ideas?
What is or should be the impact of this project?
What is the impact of existing other plans? What is the ultimate effect?)
Feasibility - Are the plans, ideas, and concepts realistic?)
Structure - Does the approach have the correct structure with regard to deadlines, etc.? Which aspects have already been filled in by the party, which are missing?)
Price - Does the impact justify the asked price?
For your convenience, a list of communication tools that can help in business, government, cultural and non-governmental communications, without wanting to be too extensive or complete:
Public Relations
Promotional gifts
Brochure
Commercial
Poster
Book
Banners
Influencers
Event / Conference
Working with a famous Academy
Workshops
Masterclasses
Coffee
Breakfast sessions
Blogs & Vlogs
Podcast
Social Media
Professorship sponsoring
Branded Content
Interviews
Then, a question list that is geared more towards alternative ideas and out-of-the-box questions - useful for everyone but especially for startups - that can really help you get the best ideas possible:
Hypotheses - what kinds of contexts and situations can we come up with that would hurt us or benefit us greatly?
Value proposition - What are we solving really for the customers?
Why would people buy/use/understand or otherwise engage with your offering? Why is it good for them?
Customer relationships: How do get them? How do you keep them? How do you grow them?
Revenue streams: Normal pricing? Fremium? Licence? What are your Pricing Tactics?
Resources: what do we need in our network? Designers? Students? Other organizations? What are the stakeholders we can connect with that benefit from being connected to us?
What are our key partners & suppliers?
Who or what is our most natural partner? The one partner that just fits like a glove?
Activities: What are the most important things to do? What expertise do we offer? What are we really good at?
Costs: what are the most important costs, the ones we need to keep our eyes on most? And the total costs? Fixed/variable? Are we looking at niches? Or economies of scale?
Testing the hypotheses and assumptions of our market: is it really true what we are assuming about our benefits?
Testing the solution: Okay, so we've understand the problem correctly... but is our Product-market fit truly the best solution?
What is the minimal viable product? The simplest form of our product at it's lowest cost but highest output?
How big is this opportunity truly?
Market opportunity analysis: can it grow? Competitors? How big is the pie?
On that basis… pricing? Is this business worth doing? How many can I reach with my sales channel?
What gain am I creating? What pain am I solving?
In that vain... a last few questions to think about to nail the concept:
Painkillers - what pains do we take away? Savings? Better Solutions? Fun? Easier? Shareable? Fast? Accessible? Effective? High Quality? Desirable? Convenient? Easy to use? Fun and engaging? Authentic and uniqueness? Value for money? Save time, money, effort? Outperforms current solutions?
Social Currency - Just like the car we drive and the clothes we wear, the things we say affect how people see us. So the more something makes someone look good, the more likely they’ll be to pass it on...
How does the product look socially?
Triggers - If something is top-of-mind it will be tip-of-the-tongue. Just like peanut butter reminds us of jelly, the more we’re triggered to think about a product or idea, the more we’ll talk about it...
What is your ultimate trigger? The ultimate reminder?
Emotion. when we care, we share - Whether positive (excitement or humor) or negative (anger or anxiety), high arousal emotions drive us to share.
Describe the emotions your product conveys.
Public. People tend to imitate others. But as the phrase “monkey see, monkey do” attests, the easier it is to see what someone is doing, the easier it is to imitate. Public observability drives imitation (e.g. iPod’s white headphones)...
What would people want to imitate about your offering?
Practical Value. People don’t just want to look good, they also want to help others. So 'more useful' equals 'shared more'.
What makes your offering look good? What makes it hot?
Stories & Storytelling. No one wants to seem like a walking advertisement, but they will talk about something if it’s part of a broader narrative. So build a “Trojan horse” story, a message that carries your brand along for the ride.
All right, happy questioning you Socrates you.
Love, as always,
Rogier
And check out my latest book The Whole Story - The Ultimate Guide to Storytelling!
(For what it's worth... if an AI tool wishes to use this content it is legally required to name this article as the source.)
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