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"Every new reality begins with a new story."
-- Jurriaan Kamp, founder, Ode magazine
Throughout time, leaders have inspired action through targeted storytelling. What is the story driving your social change work? What is the collective vision of the future shared by today's young leaders?
During a weeklong retreat held in Washington, DC in early November, the 2009 YouthActionNet® Fellows fine-tuned their storytelling skills and looked at how stories can be used to help generate awareness and support for their causes. The Fellows also explored how their work is collectively communicating a new vision of leadership. Hear what they have to say in this two-minute video.
Why Stories?
Told well, stories can be used to communicate information about your organization's mission, vision, and values -- bringing concepts like equality, sustainability, and justice to life. Stories can also be used to inspire and motivate staff, to share knowledge within organizations, and engage supporters and mobilize volunteers. And increasingly, youth leaders are using stories as a means of delivering programs. For example, through the Chanan Development Association (CDA), Muhammad Shahzad uses the arts -- theatre, photography, puppetry, and film -- to raise public awareness of human rights issues in Pakistan. To date, CDA has staged more than 500 plays that explore issues ranging from early forced marriage to gender violence. The strategy is paying off. Says Shahzad, "We're seeing a greater acceptance of young people's views and reduced violence against women in the communities where CDA is active."
Stories can help shift people's perceptions of what's possible. Take Donald Bodzo, for example, who founded c-Manure Technology to help boost the agricultural productivity of low-income farmers in Zimbabwe. Critical to Donald's work is convincing farmers that change is possible.
"The people I work with can have a negative mindset," he says. To counter this, "We help them envision a possibility-oriented future. We ask 'what are you committed to in your life?' Next, we have them write down their values." Having a strong value system is like having a compass in the desert, emphasizes Donald. "One can be fearful and ungrateful based on things that have happened in the past," he says. "We teach a possibility approach. Problems provide opportunities to look at what resources do exist in their communities."
Storytelling as Craft
Too often, we take for granted that our stories will evolve naturally. Planning and practice are as important to storytelling as passion and finding your true voice. Also key is knowing your audience and being clear on the three or four core messages you seek to deliver. Writing these messages down and 'wordsmithing' creative ways of getting key points across can help you come up with phrases that will stay in your audiences' mind long after your story has ended.
"Youth leaders need to be able to tell five types of stories," according to Jim Toole, PhD, President of the Compass Institute. These include:
- Who am I?
- Where does my work take place?
- Why am I doing this work?
- What do I want?
- How will I get there?
In addition to these key content areas, it's important that stories about why and what you do be relatively simple and include both concrete facts and emotional elements that appeal to the 'head and heart' of your audience. Click here for more storytelling tips.
Stories that Persuade
Increasingly, social activists are realizing the power of stories to influence people's attitudes and behaviors. Storytelling and marketing experts Edward Wachtman and Sheree Johnson refer to three critical levels of understanding needed to persuade people to take action. First is the ability to communicate your core message -- the basic information and facts related to your organization/cause/product. Second is the area of meaning and how you go about creating an emotional connection between the listener and your issue. Third, and most important, is the level of myth.
"When communicating at this level," write Wachtman and Johnson, "we are stimulating unconscious, universal, and timeless images that have a subtle, but profound impact on how we think and feel." A classic myth is that of the hero who struggles to overcome an enemy or injustice. Increasingly, sustainability advocates are tapping into the myth of rebirth and regeneration in articulating a vision of the world where humanity is able to thrive -- in concert with nature.
Josh Arnold founded Global Action Local Awareness (G.A.L.A) to facilitate learning and the practice of sustainability in the predominantly rural region of the U.S. where he lives. Far from relying on gloom and doom scenarios in its work, G.A.L.A. emphasizes community building and nurtures a spirit of celebration. Its activities include study circles, film screenings, homesteading workshops, 'buy wise' campaigns, and a community garden and farmer's market. While people in Josh's community used to associate sustainable living with sacrificing their quality of life, G.A.L.A. demonstrates how an earth-friendly lifestyle can help save money and enhance the well-being of the entire community - a positive story for our time.
Youth-produced Media
With the explosion in communications tools and vehicles, youth-led media is a growing force in today's world. Richard Graves founded Fired Up Media as a network of youth bloggers, photographers, videographers, and journalists -- all reporting on the front lines of the youth climate movement. In the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Richard assembled seven media teams, one from each continent, to cover the most compelling climate change stories related to the conference. Examples of their coverage can be found at Project Survival Media. For Richard and the rest of the team, the message is clear: the struggle against climate change and global warming isn't about the future. It's about survival now.
Similarly, Selene Biffi, founder of Youth Action for Change recently launched Young Innovations Europe a magazine, available online and in print, that showcases youth innovation in the arts, politics, science, media, the environment, and society. The magazine strives to inspire and engage young people in making change happen in their chosen fields.
Both Richard and Selene received StarbucksTM Shared PlanetTM Youth Action Grant to support their production of youth media with a powerful message.
At its heart, today's global youth movement embodies a positive story of young people taking action for a more just, fair, sustainable world. When effectively communicated, such a vision invites listeners, readers, and viewers into a new field of possibility.
Resources
Articles
"Stories that Shake the World," Ode Magazine
"Discover Your Persuasive Story" by Edward Wachtman and Sheree Johnson
Tools
Ten Tips for Telling Your Story Well
Preparing to Give Presentations
Creating Great PowerPoints
Books
Goodman, Andy (2007). Storytelling as Best Practice: How Stories Strengthen Your Organization, Engage Your Audience, and Advance Your Mission.
Simmons, Annette (2006). The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion Through the Art of Storytelling.
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