Storytelling role in government communication

Today in Saudi we are witnessing rapid developments in government digital solutions, and updating the government policies to achieve Saudi Vision 2030. At the same time, some of the communication teams in the government entities are under enormous pressure to swiftly communicate these developments with a simple language to be understood easily by the public, rather than releasing the data and raw information as fast as possible, it should be about providing a meaningful storytelling experience to the public.

Why storytelling does matter?

According to Stanford university “Stories are 22 times more memorable than facts and figures alone”. Storytelling allows the connection with the audience and provides a meaningful experience for the government entity to be authentic and inspiring.

The battle of attention

Another main obstacle faced by communication teams is the battle of attention in communication which often went against the government entity persona in terms of positioning and the history of the entity, as well as the communication teams’ primary emphasis on releasing data and raw information rather than effectively demonstrating a true and meaningful experience to convey the belief and perception.

Electronic, fast and easy!

Another issue is now have been above the surface which is most the communication efforts that has been releasing between 2016 and now, were about promoting the government e-services as “Electronic, fast and easy”. This is due to the government digitalization of the services since the start of Saudi Vision 2030 back in 2016, which cased the lack of differentiation in the communication efforts as well as not showing the impact for the audience and how their experience has been enhanced greatly.

How to develop an effective storytelling?

Simplicity — has a simple story, messages and can be easily understood.

Carefully crafted — has a well-written content and logical structure.

Emotional — can trigger some emotions, make the audience feel and believe in order to deliver an effective message.

In short, the communication teams in the government sector need to find more beneficial ways in order connect with the audience effectively.