the art of crafting an impactful people piece

Your people ARE your brand - so, when it comes to connecting with the world about who you are, it makes sense to start with your people.

This looks like: a piece of editorial or storytelling content that centers on human stories. With journalistic roots, these pieces capture the character, life, and impact of an individual. They often appear in newspapers and magazines. Think The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Vanity Fair.

But more and more, we see this blend of reporting & narrative storytelling (sometimes with commentary sprinkled in) showing up in brand content in the form of profiles, interviews, case studies, or narrative features that can be used across almost any medium (blogs, videos, social media, etc.).

Editorial stories, or “people pieces” as toth shop calls them, prioritize authenticity, relatability, and narrative over products or transactional content. Instead, they help build a relationship between a brand and its audience.

the benefits of a people piece

These stories bring warmth even to the most technical products and services (re: putting a face & name to enterprise risk management). They put a face to the reality of what a brand has to offer (re: the Give Impact story). They make content fun (re: the Vessel Creative team bios). And in doing so, brands reap the benefits.

People pieces foster emotional connections and build a narrative arc that keeps customers engaged over time (versus a one-time transaction). This approach helps drive retention, and provides a proven return on investment. A mere 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by up to 95%. 

In short, people pieces breathe personality into your content, enhance your overall messaging, and boost your bottom line.

the toth shop secret to writing a people piece

Over the last 10+ years, toth shop has written thousands of impactful people pieces. We’ve enjoyed writing about people from all walks of life, highlighting their golden nuggets, and crafting a polished piece of content that is both engaging and impactful.

Here’s how we do it.

honor the person behind the story 

At its core, a people piece must stress what makes them human. Each story puts the spotlight on a living, breathing person with thoughts, feelings, and their own life experiences. To toth shop, they are more than a singular soundbite.

Creating this kind of content means sharing a piece of someone with the world. That means you don’t contort their words to fit a message or cherry-pick quotes that lose meaning outside their context. 

The best stories maintain the integrity of the voice and spirit behind them, and everything else must follow it. This is our North Star, and it should be yours, too.

make it a conversation 

The best editorial stories come from conversations, not interrogations. When interviewing someone, set a casual, but respectful tone: 

• Frame it as a conversation. Send an introductory email that says “I would love to have a 15-20 minute chat with you about your experience with XYZ” vs. “Can I interview you about your job?”  
  

• Slow down. Ease into things - ask about their day, how they’re doing, and so forth, before jumping into topical questions.
  

• Follow interesting tangents. Some of the best quotes come after the “official” questions have been asked and answered. 
  

Allow for silence. This might be framed as a conversation, but remember, it is technically an interview. Which means the interviewee should be doing most of the talking. It can be hard, but allowing those silences and allowing the person to sit on the question, can result in deep, meaningful insights.

lead with curiosity - not a script 

Start conversations by easing interviewees into comfortably sharing their stories. One way to do this is by letting them prepare without pressure. Often, we send “warm up questions” with the caveat that it isn’t homework but more like prompts intended to get them thinking. 

These high level questions get the ball rolling, and sometimes, once the conversation starts flowing, we don’t even get to all of them because the real story drives things in a different direction. That’s not only natural; it’s a sign of a great interview.

Plus, people are intuitive. They can tell when you’re phoning it in and just ticking boxes in a formal Q&A. Genuine curiosity in a person spurs authentic responses, and those are the responses that will give you impactful stories, details, and reflections.

listen for the golden nugget

In every interview, there’s a moment - a powerful quote, a surprising anecdote, or a metaphor - that beautifully illustrates a bigger truth.That’s their golden nugget. It’s the idea that makes you pause and say, “I’ve never thought about it that way before” or “I’m going to be thinking about that long after this interview.” 

Your job is to actively listen for the golden nugget - then build the people piece around it. 

Once, we had the chance to talk with Anna Stout about her experience at Take 5 Oil Change. We went into the conversation thinking we would focus on her experience moving up from an entry-level position and to district manager. Then, about halfway through the conversation she said, “Actually when I first applied at Take 5, I was living in my car.”

That brief mention caught our attention, and with her permission, it became the humanizing focal point of her story. 

find the arc

In storytelling, your arc - the main thread a reader will follow - carries your plot from beginning to end in a way that hooks the reader and makes sense out of all the details. People pieces place the person you're interviewing center stage; it's your job to tease out what makes them the hero of their own story. 

It might be overcoming a challenge or undergoing a transformation, but whatever it is, the arc is how you shape raw material into a piece that has rhyme and reason. Sometimes that means trimming background details or rearranging the timeline. That’s okay. You’re not reporting the news; you’re revealing meaning.

A great people piece does more than tell readers what happened; it shows why it matters.

you want to prioritize people pieces - what’s next?

Remember: your people are your brand. The potential & inspiration for people pieces is already there. Look around, dig in, and find the person - whether it’s an employee, client, or partner - who has a story that needs to be told. Let their story become part of your story,.

If you need a little help getting started, let us know. We’ve done this before.

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