Storytelling that connects

There is a line that opens episode six of Social Media for Business and it is one of those observations that sounds simple until you sit with it for a moment. A real storyteller does not take themselves more seriously than the subject. They have to be kept in orbital step. It came from this episode's guest before the recording even began, and it set the tone for everything that followed. 

Episode six is the first in-person recording in the podcast's history, and the guest is Steven Jones. Founder of the Seafarers Happiness Index, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, writer, campaigner and one of the most quietly authoritative voices in maritime communications. The conversation with host Rebecca Bridgen covers storytelling, crisis communications, brand visibility, AI, and what it actually takes to build trust with an audience before you need them to give you the benefit of the doubt. 

The danger of eclipsing the story 

The opening question goes straight to the heart of what makes communication work and what makes it fail. When brands become too focused on how they look, on projecting confidence, authority and polish, they risk losing the very thing that makes a story worth telling. Authenticity. The touch point between what you are saying and how you are saying it has to remain in balance. If one runs too far ahead of the other, credibility disappears. The story loses its solidity. And the audience, whether they can articulate why or not, stops believing. 

Steven's point is not that brands should be less professional or less considered. It is that the subject always has to remain at the centre. The moment the storyteller steps in front of it, the whole thing starts to unravel. 

AI as a sense check, not a ghostwriter 

The conversation turns to AI, not because it is obligatory but because it is genuinely relevant to how Steven works. His approach is a useful one. Rather than using AI to generate content from scratch, he uses it as a sounding board in the early stages of writing. Is this a good idea? Is this worth pursuing? Have I thought about this angle? The model pushes back, asks questions, and occasionally points in a direction he had not considered. 

The distinction he draws is an important one. The human element, the experience, the judgment, the having actually seen and sensed the things being written about, is what transforms a piece of content from statistically likely language into something worth reading. AI can support that process. It cannot replace it. And the moment you hand everything over, the output becomes the same generic noise that fills every feed. 

There is also a sharp observation about how AI has changed. In its early days it was agreeable to a fault. That has shifted. Rebecca mentions having an argument with Claude about the colour of a logo. For curious minds in particular, Steven notes, having something that will engage honestly with a question without judgment is genuinely valuable. The key is staying in charge of the relationship. 

The Seafarers Happiness Index and a new shore-based companion 

Steven has been running the Seafarers Happiness Index in partnership with the Mission to Seafarers for just over ten years. The premise is straightforward. Ask seafarers how they feel about life at sea and use that data to give their experiences a voice, particularly those working for operators where no such mechanism exists. The index has always been more interested in the reality at the bottom of the industry than in confirming what the best operators already know. 

A new development adds significant context. The Shore-based Happiness Index has just launched, asking comparable questions of those working in the maritime industry ashore. Already, in its first weeks, it is producing insights around fatigue, mental health support and the experiences of former seafarers who have made the move to land. The intention is not to pit one group against the other but to build empathy between them, to help each side understand something of the pressures the other is carrying. 

Visibility before the crisis 

The section on crisis communications is where the conversation becomes most directly useful for any business owner or marketing professional. Steven's argument is a straightforward one but it is not comfortable. If the first time anyone hears about your organisation is when something has gone wrong, you have already lost the argument. There is no shock absorber. No goodwill. No context for people to draw on that might lead them to extend you the benefit of the doubt. 

Shipping is a sector that is genuinely good at operational risk management. It has been getting better at safety and security for centuries. But it has not been equally good at anticipating what happens to its reputation when something goes wrong. And something always goes wrong eventually. The businesses that communicate consistently, that celebrate their successes and share the honest realities of what they do, are the ones with something to draw on when the moment arrives. 

You cannot outsource a relationship 

One of the clearest lines in the episode comes during a discussion about retained communications agencies and the assumption many organisations make that a crisis will be handled on their behalf. Steven's position is direct. You can use an agency. You should use an agency. But you cannot outsource the relationship itself. The connection between a brand and its audience, its partners, its industry, has to be owned and maintained by the people inside the organisation. An agency can resource and advise but they cannot manufacture trust that was never built. 

The practical test he suggests is a simple one. Pick up the phone to your crisis contact at the agency right now. Do you know them? Do they know what you do? If the answer to either question is uncertain, that is the starting point. 

Ask someone who does not care 

For business owners wanting to build a stronger brand story, Steven's single most useful piece of advice is to stress test it with someone who has no vested interest in being kind about it. A friend. A family member. Someone outside the industry entirely. If they cannot understand what you do after you have explained it, your content is probably not doing its job. If they have never heard of you at all, that is the most important data point you will collect all year. 

Strip back the corporate armour. Ask the honest questions. And be willing to do something with the answers. 

The bigger picture 

Good storytelling, whether for a brand, a campaign or a crisis response, comes down to the same things every time. Knowing what the story actually is. Staying close enough to the subject to tell it with authority. And never losing sight of the human being on the other side of it. 

The businesses that get that right do not just communicate better. They build the kind of trust that holds when everything else is under pressure. 

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7FOHQATlUHc 

Listen on Spotify: https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/u6olgUTu74b