Paul Furiga is the President and Chief Storyteller of WordWrite, a strategic communications firm in Pittsburgh he founded in 2002. WordWrite focuses on B2B clients in healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services. Furiga is a four-decade veteran of journalism and PR — he wrote more than 10,000 stories as a reporter covering everything from criminal investigations to Congress and the White House, and helped shape another 10,000 as an editor. His book Finding Your Capital S Story: Why Your Story Drives Your Brand publishes this month.
The Interview
Q: How did storytelling become the focus for your agency?
A: I spent two decades in journalism before I entered agency work. I covered everything from murders and abuse investigations to Congress and the White House. I wrote more than 10,000 stories. As an editor, I helped shape another 10,000. When I started WordWrite in 2002, we put all that storytelling firepower to work. We developed the concept of the Capital S Story — the story above all other stories. Every organization has a Capital S Story. It's the story that answers why someone should buy from you, work for you, invest in you, or partner with you.
Q: Tell us about your book.
A: Finding Your Capital S Story is the sum of a lot of storytelling lessons. It provides a roadmap for business leaders who don't understand why their marketing doesn't reflect the true character of their company, who wonder why their marketing doesn't get better results, and who don't understand how to get results from marketing.
Q: Experiences that shaped your professional outlook?
A: First is the importance of authenticity in sharing your story. Second is having the right storytellers sharing that story. And third is continually ensuring that your story is engaging the audiences you want to reach.
Q: How has COVID-19 affected the ability of PR pros to share their story?
A: The pandemic, the economic troubles, the social justice concerns, the presidential election, climate change — the combination means it's never been more important to share your authentic Capital S Story. The audiences we want to engage are riding a storm-tossed ocean of vitriolic overload. They're looking for beacons of truth.
Q: How do you advise PR pros to navigate this time?
A: We align our clients' Capital S Story with classic storytelling archetypes to create what we call synaptic shortcuts. A great example: David versus Goliath. If your organization is the little guy taking on the giant, you don't have to be a Biblical scholar to understand that storyline. A contemporary example: Southwest Airlines plays the outlaw archetype, much like a modern-day Robin Hood advocating for the everyperson traveler, freeing them from unnecessary baggage fees.
Q: Any storytelling words of wisdom?
A: From the science fiction author Ursula Le Guin: "The story — from Rumpelstiltskin to War and Peace — is one of the basic tools invented by the human mind for the purpose of understanding. There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories."
Paul Furiga is the President and Chief Storyteller of WordWrite , a strategic communications firm in Pittsburgh he founded in 2002 . WordWrite focuses on B2B clients in healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services. Furiga is a four-decade veteran of journalism and PR — he wrote more than 10,000 stories as a reporter covering everything from criminal investigations to Congress and the White House, and helped shape another 10,000 as an editor. His book Finding Your Capital S Story: Why Your Story Drives Your Brand publishes this month. The Interview Q: How did storytelling become the focus for your agency?
A: I spent two decades in journalism before I entered agency work. I covered everything from murders and abuse investigations to Congress and the White House. I wrote more than 10,000 stories. As an editor, I helped shape another 10,000. When I started WordWrite in 2002, we put all that storytelling firepower to work. We developed the concept of the Capital S Story — the story above all other stories. Every organization has a Capital S Story. It's the story that answers why someone should buy from you, work for you, invest in you, or partner with you.
Q: Tell us about your book. A: Finding Your Capital S Story is the sum of a lot of storytelling lessons. It provides a roadmap for business leaders who don't understand why their marketing doesn't reflect the true character of their company, who wonder why their marketing doesn't get better results, and who don't understand how to get results from marketing. Q: Experiences that shaped your professional outlook?
A: First is the importance of authenticity in sharing your story. Second is having the right storytellers sharing that story. And third is continually ensuring that your story is engaging the audiences you want to reach.
Q: How has COVID-19 affected the ability of PR pros to share their story?
A: The pandemic, the economic troubles, the social justice concerns, the presidential election, climate change — the combination means it's never been more important to share your authentic Capital S Story. The audiences we want to engage are riding a storm-tossed ocean of vitriolic overload. They're looking for beacons of truth.
Q: How do you advise PR pros to navigate this time?
A: We align our clients' Capital S Story with classic storytelling archetypes to create what we call synaptic shortcuts. A great example: David versus Goliath. If your organization is the little guy taking on the giant, you don't have to be a Biblical scholar to understand that storyline. A contemporary example: Southwest Airlines plays the outlaw archetype, much like a modern-day Robin Hood advocating for the everyperson traveler, freeing them from unnecessary baggage fees.
Q: Any storytelling words of wisdom?
A: From the science fiction author Ursula Le Guin: "The story — from Rumpelstiltskin to War and Peace — is one of the basic tools invented by the human mind for the purpose of understanding. There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories."
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
