Turn complex work into stories people actually understand
The Story Room is a practical workshop series for universities, research organisations, education providers and mission-led teams. We help you shape clear narratives, audience-first messaging and content that travels across channels, from stakeholder briefings to video, web, media and events.
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Heard it before?
Australian universities use the same language. 80% claim to be “innovative”
Over half describe themselves as “global” (63%),
“diverse” (59%), or “inclusive” (57%)
How can anyone stand out?
of Australian Universities describe themselves as “innovative”
describe themselves as “global”
describe themselves as "diverse"
describe themselves as "inclusive"
Have you fallen into the language trap?
We analysed the key terms used by leading universities in Australia to differentiate themselves.
Your story is your proposition. What you choose to say when you have a captive audience. If a university can’t articulate its value in this context, how effectively can it differentiate anywhere else?
The problem isn’t just an overuse of certain words and it isn’t fixed by originality for originality’s sake. It’s about making your message unique by telling a story.
Our analysis looked at the key terms used by Australian higher education. We parsed through every institution’s website and Linkedin, tallying the ten most frequently used terms and buzzwords. What emerges is a picture of blandness.
The Findings
We first analysed 370 businesses in the higher education sector – everyone from top-tier universities to private vocational schools. It’s important for even the most prestigious universities to be aware of the language used by the broader sector. After all, they are increasingly competing against them for students and funding.
The most widespread buzzword was “supportive”. When 41% of institutions claim to be supportive, the term loses its power to differentiate. What does “supportive” look like in specific, tangible, and valuable ways?
The next repeat offender is “innovative” with more than one-third of all higher education using this as a primary positioning tool (38%). But the parroting becomes even more alarming when looking specifically at universities, 80% of which repeatedly lean on “innovative” as their go-to buzzword.
Global (63%), diverse (59%) and inclusive (57%) – three very similar terms – are next in line, employed by over half of all universities. These terms are well-meaning but interchangeable, especially when they’re popping up in every second paragraph.
You might think that there would be greater differentiation among the top-ranked universities. However, despite the fact that these institutions typically have larger marketing budgets and dedicated communications teams, we found a complete collapse in differentiation among the top universities in Australia. Every single top 20 university (100%) uses “innovative” as a top descriptor, with over one-third using it more than any other word (35%).
Steve Jobs famously described innovation as “distinguishing between a leader and a follower.” It’s troubling that top universities are following the crowd with their messaging, signalling the exact opposite of innovation. True innovators, like Jobs, demonstrate what they do differently by making it specific, useful, undeniable; “1000 songs in your pocket”. Jobs and Apple understood that vagueness is rarely intentional, but it is often costly.
The problem isn’t just an overuse of certain words and it isn’t fixed by originality for originality’s sake. It’s about making your message unique by telling a story.
What you'll walk away with
Audience clarity
Identify who you need to move, what they care about, and what to say first
A story spine
We'll deliver a tailored workshop at your campus or facility with your real examples.
Built for teams in
Universities and TAFEs
Research institutes and CRCs
Schools, edtech and education programs
Government funded education initiatives
Centres, hubs and innovation precincts
Perfect if you’re trying to
Increase engagement and participation
Translate research into public value
Improve stakeholder and partner understanding
Lift media, event, web or video performance
Align messaging across faculties, projects or workstreams
The workshop
We run tailored workshops for faculties, centres and project teams.
What we cover
Audience mapping and priorities
Your story spine (problem, promise, proof, payoff)
Key messages and proof points
Plain-English summary and calls to action
Where the story shows up (web, decks, video, events)
Format:
Half-day in person (3.5 hours)
Partner with the story room
If you’re leading a program, centre, precinct or network and want to lift how your community communicates its work, we can deliver The Story Room as a tailored series, including leadership sessions, stakeholder narrative development and content production support.
How we work
Together, 89 Degrees East and WildBear Entertainment combine strategic clarity with powerful storytelling to move organisations from idea to impact.
We align audience insight, messaging and decision-making with compelling narrative craft and creative execution, ensuring your work is both strategically grounded and vividly brought to life.
The result is practical, in-session outputs, reusable templates and tools, and clear production pathways that give your team confidence to implement immediately, with optional follow-on support to sustain momentum.
- Audience and stakeholder strategy
- Messaging hierarchy and positioning
- Facilitation, structure, decision-making
- Implementation planning and internal alignment
- Story craft and narrative development
- Creative translation (what it looks and sounds like)
- Format guidance
- Production pathways and delivery confidence
- Practical outputs in-session
- Templates and reusable tools
- Optional follow-on support
Frequent Questions
No. The workshop is designed for non-communications professionals as well as comms teams.
Yes. We use your real examples wherever possible.
Yes. We offer an executive-focused version.
Yes. In-house delivery is available.
A story spine, key messages, and content outputs you can use immediately.
Still have questions?
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