See a photo of Casey, her bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, and Part 2.
Q&A with Casey Hibbard, Question 3:
Q: If you could share just one piece of advice or wisdom about story/storytelling/narrative with readers, what would it be?
A: Since my focus is customer stories (which can also mean beneficiaries of a charitable cause), my advice is to keep it real. By that I mean try to maintain authenticity in the customer’s voice.
A major pharmaceutical company recently came out with customer success-story videos. The customers were real, but they seemed very coached to the point of sounding like actors. The videos completely lost the real quality, and man-on-the-street style endorsement that carries power. It was really a lost opportunity. They had these customers with great stories and they manipulated them to the point where they felt just like all the other drug company stories with actors. It would have been much more effective if they had spent a lot less money and just let customers tell their stories.
