The emphasis in my social media class a few weeks ago was on storytelling and communication styles, so I would like to provide a short demonstration of how you, as a writer, can communicate the same information in multiple ways, depending on the nature of your audience.
Why the image of a cucumber you ask? Well, it’s going to become the star of our story.
I pulled this quote from a corporate blog for Resolute Forest Products. It is written in typical promotional corporate tone.
“Today, the company has grown into a global leader in the forest products industry with over 40 pulp, paper, tissue, wood products and energy facilities across North America…. From the filter used to make their morning coffee to the lumber they buy to renovate their home – even the cucumbers in their lunchtime salad – all may contain a fair amount of Resolute.”– Resolute Forest Products
Presented in a more casual, instructional tone, it could read:
Many mills in Quebec and Ontario belong to one of the world’s top forest products companies: Resolute Forest Products. The company has more than 40 plants in North America, producing items you would use every day: the filter used for your coffee, the lumber for your home renovations, even the cucumbers in your lunchtime salad.
Here it is in a light, first-person style:
I just found out that a Canadian company which makes paper and lumber also grows cucumbers! I think it’s so fabulous that Resolute Forest Products uses the waste heat from some of its mills to provide energy for a greenhouse to grow cucumbers. It just goes to show that even big companies – Resolute has 40 mills in North America – can still be innovative, and cool as a cucumber! 😊
Now you try re-writing the original corporate bland copy using a different tone, and share it in the comments section.