Brilliant research doesn't always find its audience.
The findings are rigorous, but the story gets lost, buried in journals and reports, hard to explain to funders, policymakers, industry, or the public who need it most. For more than 12 years, we’ve helped universities, researchers and innovation programmes close that gap, using our SPA™ framework to turn complex ideas into stories that support public engagement, knowledge exchange, stakeholder engagement, media visibility and thought leadership, and drive real-world impact.
With Research Excellence Framework raising the stakes for how research is communicated, SPA™ gives you a structured way to simplify complex research, personify it through real voices, and amplify it to the audiences and evaluators who matter: from funders and policymakers to REF impact case reviewers.
Simplify
Cut through complex research to find the story at its heart.
Personify
Put the people behind the research at the centre of the story.
Amplify
Share your story with the funders, partners and audiences who need to hear it.
From coaching sessions to showcase events, SPA™ is a way for your research to be known, remembered, and built on. We are talking knowledge exchange, stakeholder engagement, media visibility, thought leadership, and attracting students and partners.
StrategyStory felt different. Their focus on the people aspect of storytelling made a big difference. In a B2B space it's easy to focus on processes, propositions and technology innovation. Kate and her team made sure people were at the centre of everything we do.
Mickael Paris, Director of Marketing, FinTech Scotland
Our offer for researchers
Research Impact Storytelling
Turning complex research into compelling stories for funders, policymakers, industry and public audiences.
Strategic Communications for Research and Innovation Programmes
Creating clear narratives that connect partners, stakeholders and communities around shared goals and outcomes.
Leadership Communications
Helping senior academics and research leaders communicate ideas with confidence and influence.
Story Teams™
Practical programmes that help academics develop storytelling capability and create content from within their own institutions.
Coaching Story Sprints™
Focused one-to-one coaching that helps experts communicate complex ideas with clarity, confidence and impact.
Multimedia Storytelling
Podcasts, video, case studies and digital storybooks that bring research and innovation to life.
With a camera in front of me, the task felt like a mountain I wasn't able to climb... The 1:1 coaching I had from StrategyStory was excellent. Each session had objectives tailored specifically to take me on a journey towards the outcomes I wanted to achieve... I'm much more confident now and have even coached my own teams, who have become very popular on social media.
Professor Jenni MacDonald, Chief Nursing Officer and Nurse Consultant, Tissue Viability
Work with us
Make the most of our background in journalism, strategy and storytelling, simplify your communication to amplify your credibility, emphasise academic rigour and rise to the pressures of external audiences.
They've already made impact with SPA™
Case Study 01
After supporting the school’s research communications strategy, we created and delivered our Story Teams™ programme for senior academics. Researchers learned storytelling techniques for communicating beyond academic audiences and created stories exploring the work of colleagues across the school. The result: more engaging external communications, new content across audio, video and written channels, greater confidence communicating research impact, increased collaboration across departments, and practical storytelling skills that continue long after the programme ended.
Story Teams: Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), FinTech Scotland
As strategic storytelling partner for the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab, we helped translate complex regulatory innovation into stories that strengthened collaboration across the fintech ecosystem.
Using our SPA™ approach, we developed podcasts, interviews, digital storybooks and case studies that connected entrepreneurs, researchers, regulators and funders around a shared narrative of innovation and impact.
Link to read the FRIL Report
Click to view the Storybook
Case study 03
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Ready to tell your research story?
If you're looking to strengthen research impact, engage stakeholders, or equip your academics with new communication skills, we'd love to talk.
Book a call to talk about your goals, or email us at hello@strategystory.co.uk.
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