You’ve probably heard it before: to persuade someone, tell a story.

Compliance programs are, fundamentally, persuasion challenges: You have to persuade employees to change their behavior.

But not all stories are created equal. Stories are a powerful persuasion tool — but they have to be good stories. And as the Harvard Business Review puts it, “most executives struggle to communicate, let alone inspire.”

The same is true for compliance programs — if we’re not careful, we can struggle. Our industry was created at a time when acted-out scenarios — sometimes even with video!—were cutting edge and modern. But the world and storytelling have moved on. Once, a five-minute sexual harassment scenario seemed short, even daring. Now, it seems long and tedious — likely to feature middling actors and cringeworthy dialogue (not to mention 2006-era mobile phones).

The good news is that the digital age has delivered a range of new approaches and tools. Check out this story we created to raise awareness about keeping control of information.

We love this format: It’s engaging, memorable and under 35 seconds long. And it reflects the way people communicate today.

Make sure your stories are doing the heavy lifting for you. As the saying goes: People forget facts. They remember stories.

Interested in trying out some new approaches to your storytelling? Reach out to patti@rethinkcomplianceco.com for a no-strings-attached consultation with the Rethink creative experts.