Insights
Storysensing
Originally published in B&T.
This article introduced the idea of storysensing. The language has been updated for the current Hyde & Seek definition, but the central argument remains the same: relevance is judged, not manufactured.
PR has never had a shortage of stories organisations want to tell.
The harder question is which of those stories anybody else has a reason to care about.
At Hyde & Seek, we use the term storysensing for the judgement behind that distinction.
What is storysensing?
Storysensing is the ability to recognise when an idea has the ingredients of a story, what is missing, and whether the timing and context make it worth telling.
It sits before storytelling.
Storytelling asks how to communicate an idea well. Storysensing asks whether the idea is worth carrying forward in the first place.
That means looking for things such as:
- a genuine change or trigger
- tension or consequence
- evidence that makes the argument credible
- a point of view that adds something to the conversation
- a spokesperson with real authority or proximity
- timing that makes the idea relevant now
It is pattern recognition, not inspiration
Storysensing can look intuitive from the outside, but good judgement is usually built through repetition.
You see what journalists engage with and what they ignore. You learn which claims survive the second question. You notice when an organisation is trying to make an internal priority sound externally important. You get better at recognising when the interesting part of a story is somewhere other than the announcement.
Data and AI can support that process. They can surface patterns, track conversations, organise information, and help interrogate an idea.
They do not replace the judgement about what those signals mean in context.
Storysensing changes the job of PR
If PR is treated as distribution, the work starts with a message and ends with a media list.
If PR is treated as judgement, the work starts earlier.
Sometimes the strongest contribution is sharpening the angle. Sometimes it is finding the evidence. Sometimes it is connecting an organisation’s expertise to a live issue. Sometimes it is telling a client that the announcement is not a media story and should go somewhere else.
That selectivity matters because credibility is cumulative. Journalists, customers, investors, and other stakeholders learn what to expect from an organisation over time.
A simple storysensing test
Before an idea goes public, ask:
- Why now?
- What is actually changing?
- Who is affected?
- What can we prove?
- What are we adding that is not already obvious?
- Is this the right channel for the idea?
If the answers are thin, the idea probably needs more work before the storytelling begins.
The bottom line
More content does not create more relevance.
Storysensing is the discipline of finding the ideas that deserve attention, strengthening them until they can withstand scrutiny, and knowing when not to force the rest.
Related: why “it isn’t a story” is useful feedback and why judgement becomes more valuable as AI makes output cheaper.
Written by
Jasmin Hyde
Founding Director, Hyde & Seek
Jasmin Hyde is the Founding Director of Hyde & Seek Communications, with more than a decade of experience across journalism, public relations and strategic communications in Australia and Southeast Asia. She has led communications for federal and state government, global technology companies, superannuation funds and international NGOs, and advises founders, executives and organisations on earned media, executive positioning, reputation and AI visibility. Her commentary has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, B&T, Mumbrella and PR Daily.
