Skip to main content
PEAR Story Building Framework
January 3, 2022

PEAR Story Building Framework

The PEAR framework helps organize and shape ideas into a compelling story.

Good storytelling allows us to capture and influence our audience. It helps us educate clients, inspire customers and collaborate with peers. But turning ideas into strong stories can be daunting. We’ve all been paralyzed by a blank page or too intimidated to sift through a mound of research to find a thesis.

We created PEAR to help us break down ideas into simple paths of logic (or PEARs) that can easily be molded into powerful stories. We hope it makes facing the blank page a little less pear-shaped!

PEAR stands for Problem, Examples, Analysis and Resolution
Problem: What are we facing?

The problem introduces why you want to tell the story. It’s your articulation of the current situation and what’s blocking progress, contentment or growth.

Examples: How is it showing up?

To support your problem statement, you need evidence that it exists and the consequences it’s causing. These examples can be quantitative or qualitative, but the purpose is to show concrete and relatable illustrations.

Analysis: How else could we look at it?

This is your “so what?” It’s your opportunity to analyze and reflect on what’s going on. You might provide a new way of looking at the problem or surface hidden consequences.

Resolution: How do we make it better?

Your resolution is the feather in your story’s cap. It proposes how the problem should be addressed and envisions the outcome.

 

When to use PEAR

You have a bunch of insights but don’t know where to start (documentation, articles)
You have an idea but don’t know how to make a case for it (presentations, blog posts)
You need to facilitate a challenging conversation (workshops, conflict management)

 

How to use PEAR

  1. Create a table with 4 columns and label each column P, E, A and R.
  2. Write down the problem, or problems, in the P column.
  3. In the E column of the table, add examples of how the problem is showing up.
  4. In the A column, think of alternate ways to view the problem, or added affects it might cause.
  5. In the R column, identify ways the problem can be addressed.
  6. Organize the content into a path of logic that makes sense for the format of your story. Be creative and don’t be afraid to adapt and evolve your insights. PEAR is meant to be a flexible framework containing all the elements to help you craft your final story.

What do you think?

Give PEAR a try and let us know how it helped you craft a powerful story!

 

Artwork by Andrew Beckman


More Ideas