Focusing on the Story: Learning from Shonda Rhimes
Source: Glamour
To the creatives in the entertainment industry, promotion and views are just a necessary evil: what they truly care about is storytelling, and as public relations practitioners, we can learn from them. To Shonda Rhimes -- award-winning producer, screenwriter, author, and showrunner of shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal -- storytelling is an opportunity to gather ʼround the campfire with other creatives and viewers, a community-based experience. In a 2017 TED conference discussion with Cyndi Stivers, the Encourager-in-chief of the TED Residency program, Shonda discussed her perspective on storytelling and what the future may hold.
Speaking from her expertise in the industry, Shonda explained that the need for storytelling will never go away. For the audience, people want to be entertained and they also want to know that they aren’t alone, so stories based on universal experiences resonate deeply with them. For the creators, Shonda included, there is a need to create and share stories to strengthen that community bond. Shonda takes storytelling extremely seriously, evident in the high-quality of her content. Her productions are especially compelling to audiences because the multi-dimensional characters bring the story to life, not just the plot itself.
Source: www.blog.ted.com Cyndi Stivers and Shonda Rhimes discuss storytelling at a 2017 TED Conference
Storytelling is also a core element of public relations so hearing how Shonda creates a show can teach us how to properly promote it. First, Shonda recognizes the potential impact a show can have, not just on the emotions of the audience, but on their perspectives and actions. Not every person watches the news or has an extensive education, so especially when considering shows like medical and political dramas, it is extremely likely that people will internalize what the shows are teaching. Because of this, Shonda prioritizes research and accuracy to present her viewers with an unbiased, intellectual take on everything from medical advice to ongoing political issues. Even Shonda recognizes that despite her best efforts, her work will never be entirely perfect, and it is up to PR practitioners to acknowledge a program’s fictional nature and provide additional resources to viewers, ensuring that mistakes will not have catastrophic effects that reflect poorly on the company.
When Shonda first began casting for Grey’s Anatomy, she unexpectedly defied the industry’s expectations by doing something she thought was the bare minimum: casting based on interesting actors, not type. Her goal was to make a television show more representative of America than what was being shown on networks at the time. Since then, highlighting diverse stories and actors has become much more common, but as a society, we are still nowhere close to where we need to be. People watch content that resonates with them, so if shows aren’t diverse enough audiences will not feel passionate enough to continue watching or feel positive about the company behind the show. But it’s not just about getting people to watch, it’s also about making a positive impact on the world. If a company claims to value diversity, it must continue to make real, tangible steps toward that goal or risk being known for its performative activism for the sake of PR.
Shonda’s TED talk provided me with action items for PR professionals in the entertainment industry, but, more importantly, it showed me a change in mindset that must be readily adopted by the whole PR field. In its simplest terms, I see public relations as communicative storytelling for a purpose to effect changes. The current mindset of this industry, however, focuses on the second half of that definition, “for a purpose to effect changes,” but Shonda shows the importance of prioritizing the storytelling aspect. The reason that PR professionals are trained to be creative and good writers is that storytelling is what makes PR compelling to audiences. Integrating a narrative throughout an organization’s story and presence is vital in encouraging the public to interact with the organization and think positively about them, so it can’t just be an afterthought. Shonda Rhimes is not a PR professional but rather creates art: storytelling purely for the sake of storytelling. Although this is far from a traditional approach, strengthening the storytelling will in turn strengthen the outcome, a welcome side effect.
Source: Masterclass
