Build · Discernment
What should we use?
BUILD is story development through discernment. FIND reveals the available landscape of material. That material may have surfaced through FIND—or it may already exist within the organization. BUILD asks what belongs in this particular story, for this particular audience, for this particular purpose.
Audience and purpose come first.
Available material
The underlying facts
What FIND revealed
Ten good points
Material for another moment
A particular story
Audience and purpose
Connection point and entry point
Relevant story elements
Priority, structure and timing
The same underlying facts can support very different stories depending on audience, purpose, connection point, entry point, what is foregrounded, priority, format, timing and structure.
Not everything discovered in FIND belongs in every story.
A good story can still be the wrong story for this message.
Ten good points are not necessarily ten relevant points.
BUILD requires judgment about what belongs now. Material that doesn't belong now is not discarded. It can be protected for another story, audience, purpose or moment.
DISCERNMENT IN PRACTICE
They came asking for a bigger, better video.
A 75-year-old heating and air conditioning company wanted a video after seeing one produced by a major competitor. Their initial story focused on bigger equipment, better technicians, a long history and years of awards.
All true. But was that the story their customers needed to hear?
Through uncovering and discernment, a different connection point emerged: comfort.
Long-tenured employees demonstrated stability. In-house technician training supported quality. A partner personally responding to customer inquiries demonstrated attentiveness. Decades in the same community provided history and trust.
The story shifted from what the company had to what those strengths meant for the customer.
“No matter the weather, we make it better.”
The Build Process
BUILD produces the blueprint.
Establish the concept.
Define the direction and connection point.
Organize the relevant story elements.
Decide what is foregrounded.
Establish sequence and timing.
Define the blueprint and architecture for the chosen format.
The format should follow the story—not determine it.
A client may ask for a video, social campaign, presentation, book, website or another deliverable when that format does not best serve the audience and purpose.
The blueprint is ready.
BUILD has created the blueprint. It now needs to be verified against reality.
Go to → ALIGN