A Calculus Problem Solver for Communications
You know the feeling well. An inquiry lands in the press@ inbox and your heart sinks. You haven’t opened the email yet but you know it’s going to suck. Maybe you’ve worked with this reporter before, maybe you haven’t. Maybe you don’t even know who they are! It doesn’t matter. You sigh.
Why do some press inquiries elicit this reaction? What is it about certain reporters that make them so hard to work with?
Running into a difficult reporter may seem like a random occurrence, but it’s relatively predictable. …
Are we in a bubble? Why has Uber’s story spun out of control? The answers hinge less on facts and more on the hidden physics of Narrative Gravity.
The tech press moves like clockwork, fitting company narratives into a predictable arc. Here’s how pros deal with it.
I don’t remember who told me company narratives were like a clock. I was at Google, where I’d taken a job on the communications team despite zero experience in communications. During my early days there, I tried to navigate my new profession by listening to the many comms experts already at the company from whom I would learn so much. One theory about narratives stuck with me:
A company’s narrative moves like a clock: it starts at midnight, ticking off the hours. The tone and sentiment about how a business is doing move from positive (sunrise, midday) to negative (dusk…
Aaron Zamost
All around random information obsessive. Previously @Square @Google @YouTube. Currently: pandemic homeschool teacher’s asst.
