Stories with Soul: Staying Alive in the era of ChatGPT

 Keith Boyd, of Microsoft, and Mario Juarez, of StoryCo, talked about stories and ChatGPT. 

In 2003, we were talking about structured content, XML, and ebooks. And we would have been talking about AI as well. 

Storytellers set the vision. Steve Jobs said that the most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. 

Storytelling has to be a big part of our toolsets. 

The elements of a good story include premise, plot, character, prose, and theme. Element of humanity in all of these. Stories are always about human beings. Sometimes connected to struggle, which is where you get plot. 

A story is the hero's journey. Not going to need it in tech docs, but it is highest rendition of something wired into all of us. There is a sense of fairness built in to this narrative structure. It resides in anyone who digests your content. 

A lot of problems are global, but starting at that level numbs the audience. Focus on the individual. 

So how to leverage AI? Well, with AI, what could go wrong? Well, AI has a tendency to hallucinate and make things up. 

How to think about AI. It can be a framework to overcome writer's block, how to get started on that first page. It can start with good, and that's how to get to great. In theory, how to get started. 

How to use superpowers to give my content more soul. "SOUL" is an acronym.

Sincere: Your story reflects sincere perspective.

Optimistic: Story inspires positive action

Unique: Perspective is unique.

Lively: Engaging language that positively challenges readers. 

But more: ERA

Empathetic: Connect with audience in an emotional way.

Relatable: Foster meaningful connections.

Authentic: Only you could write this story.

SOUL ERA has several levels. On its best day, content that comes out of ChatGPT is at best at the first level. More or less accurate, but with no soul. 

With craft and care, can get beyond that. Can start with that draft. 

Level 2 is demonstrably different. Uses language such as metaphors that only humans could understand. Level 3 builds a visceral connection, demonstrating deep knowledge, inspires action because the content is actually consumed. 

Generative AI is the ultimate research assistant. You can ask it every stupid question, explore every topic, and it can define every term, validate every assumption, generate sample text blocks, and provide a reference roadmap. 

AI can't be clear, concise, or compelling.

Monday Keynotes

Reltio's Megan Gilhooly noted that making unpopular policies more readable doesn't make them more popular. 

The problem with being a perfectionist is because it inhibits you from reliably using your data. One type of perfectionist looks for the perfect piece of data, never finds it, and never moves forward. Another type thinks their work is more "perfect," and doesn't trust others' work. And another type is hyper-critical of imperfection. 

How to break free from perfectionism when it comes to data. Perfect costs too much. Accept iterative progress. More precise might not be better. 

Maura Moran, of Contiem, addressed getting business buy-in. Trying to make a case for content investment is intrinsically hard. It's a bit niche, people don't understand what you're trying to do, and you're always competing with other projects. 

Key is to make you value visible in a way that resonates to stakeholders.

Identify the real value to your business. Two business case benefits: financial (ROI) and non-financial.

Align the project to company goals and culture. Reflect the language of the organization. 

You have to make the problem visible. May be that people don't think there is an issue. 

Know your stakeholders. Not only people in your workflow. Look for influential allies. Understand the approval process. Need to know when budgets are signed. Know who is on the approvals committee. Have private meetings and get questions answered early. Find a sponsor with influence. 

Have to be constant and consistent and memorable with communication. Your initiative can be cut after it's been approved. One team came up with the tagline "Taxonomies are our superpower." It helped to keep the visibility of their project high. 

Create a brand. Even come up with a logo--and use it!

Samantha Azzarello, of J.P. Morgan, told a story of building a content strategy from scratch. 

Came from an economist background, did not know much about content. Had lots of questions. But I knew if I built trust and credibility, could be successful. 

Content is super-regulated. But also has to be quick, responding to events. 

J.P. Morgan had never done a content strategy. To do strategy would need better organization and distribution. 

Building trust and credibility means building relationships, with honest communication, in the details.

Don't get to do it sometimes. Have to do it all the time, every time. 

Iterate with language, especially if something doesn't resonate. 

Deliverables go a long way to building trust and credibility. 

Being helpful, responsive, collaborative goes a long way. If  a stakeholder asks, if you can help and respond, it goes a long way. Being helpful and responsive can go a long way for when you need to ask for something. Note that this is not transactional.

Content Quality is not an Accident – Defining and measuring KPIs for Enterprise Content Quality

 How do you define quality. Well, take burgers. You can define quality if the size and shape and components are the same. Or you can look at taste. How do you measure that.

One way the the quality of content has been measured in in the readability of the text. 

Need something else. readability scores can be high on unintelligible text. 

What does in mean for linguistic quality? Controlled language. Rules for style, grammar, and spelling, plus a vocabulary. 

A style guide is a formal description of a corporate language. The settings of a style guide are the KPIs. The settings of a style guide define the quality criteria.