#Title

STORYTELLING

as a skill in creative career building
AAQIB HASIB
When creating a resume and writing a cover letter, what are some of the skills you think about highlighting? Many of you may say work ethic and dedication. Others might say an ability to handle pressure or that they “care too much.”
A majority of you would not have thought to put down storytelling as a skill, even though you might possess it.
That is because most of us don’t think of it as a skill or trait required for the average white-collar job, as we are told by society that jobs are all largely formulaic and rarely creative.
However, for those of us whose hearts and minds are ruled by the storytellers inside of us, there are definitely opportunities in the traditional job market for leveraging storytelling skills.
Filmmaking
In recent years, opportunities for young filmmakers have definitely increased. There is a demand for content everywhere. After all, what else can most people working a 9-5 job do on the weekdays except watch something?
The OTT market in Bangladesh is also currently booming, with producers and production companies being somewhat more willing to spend money for quality projects.
Saim Bin Mujib, an actor, theatre artist, and multimedia and commercial video producer, shared, “Storytelling is a vital skill for filmmakers, producers, actors and even commercial video creators. Our content, irrespective of what it is trying to achieve, has to engage audiences. The best way to engage viewers is to tell them a story about whatever the topic of your multimedia content is. Additionally, when you’re starting out, focus on the quality of your content rather than the production quality. Once you have built an audience, that is when you should ramp up the production value.”
Commercial video-making
On the opposite end of the spectrum, commercial video-making is quite different. Here, you’re usually selling some kind of product to the audience. Irrespective of whether it is a tangible or intangible product, the important thing is to keep audiences hooked.
The type of content in this particular field can greatly vary – from simple advertorials to high-level videos.
Think about one of the greatest storytelling brands of all time, Nike. If you grew up in the 2000s, I am sure there are countless Nike campaign videos that you remember. Whether it is the infamous “The Switch” or “Winner Stays”, these are the type of commercial videos that you could be making in this field.
Saim Bin Mujib advised, “For a film, it is important to keep your plot twists hidden away from the audience. So that they can discover it through your storytelling. For social media and commercial videos, you need to tell audiences right off the bat what is being offered. Maybe through an intro where you show what they can expect from your content.”
Advertising and Copywriting
While Mad Men might be somewhat exaggerated when it comes to portraying an advertisement agency, there is one aspect to the craft that it gets right. Don Draper consistently mentions how telling a story about a product through their copy is essential for success.
Rubayet Hossain Khan, Managing Director and CEO of O’ Content, said, “Storytelling isn’t an essential skill, but it can be very useful. There are plenty of people in marketing who won’t ever need to use this skill. However, the most important thing is to connect with the audience, which good storytelling skills can help with. A big problem in our country is that everyone believes they can tell a story. But when was the last time you truly remember an iconic ad? So, there is a lack of good storytellers.”
Magazine writing
While magazine writing may be very similar to freelance content writing, the latter is more focused on elements like SEO and keywords. Writing for a magazine, however, is vastly different.
Here, the focus is on engaging readers, rather than writing content that will show up as top results on Google. When you’re writing for a magazine or a features supplement, it is crucial for you to frame your articles in a way that the readers can feel like they’re on a journey from the first word till the final one.
As someone who has personally been in this field for many years now, my best advice for newcomers is to be patient. It won’t happen overnight. And honestly, if you’re looking to become a better storyteller than you already are, then this is the perfect space within which you can begin to hone your skills.
Regardless of where you take your storytelling skills, the creative ability that storytellers have makes them better individuals in other unrelated fields as well. Being able to approach problems creatively can sometimes help in even the most traditional 9-5 job. So, for any of you young storytellers reading this, all I can say is carpe diem.