The first draft of your story is probably crappy and that is a-ok. My best friend and college roommate, Ernest Hemingway, used to say, “The first draft of anything is shit.” Right on. Just put it on paper. You’ll feel better. The other thing Ernie used to say is, “Write drunk. Edit sober.” While you don’t need to drink and draft, there’s something to letting it all out. Maybe you can talk aloud and record yourself. Or type your thoughts in a…
Consider the homing pigeon, Cher Ami, who took a few bullets, losing her foot and eye during World War I, but still delivered her message, saving a group of American infantrymen in danger. Cher Ami was a hero, especially among the 77th Infantry Division. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre and later went on to open a tap dancing school for aviary fanciers who also had a single wooden leg. I made up the part about the tap dancing, but the rest…
The other day I facilitated a board retreat with one of my favorite advocacy groups. During introductions, I asked each person to share something that would make their eyes roll during the retreat (so I’d know what to avoid and others would know what to expect). Several members said, “My eyes roll any time we do something touchy-feely.” I gulped, knowing later in the day we’d have a storytelling exercise about their personal journeys to join the board, which was…
We watch and then we klatch. If you give your listener a cliffhanger, she can’t stop right there—er, she can’t let go. She HAS to hear the end of the story. This sequence (i.e., build up the story, hit pause right before the finale, watch the listener clamor for it) can rile up your fans/donors to give more because the tension is driving them nuts. Let them see the montage. The most successful fundraisers I have attended had (in addition to great organization, timing, and proper staffing)…
Sometimes it helps to see what not to do. Workshop participants often want examples of great stories but in a perfect world, they would have great and not so great examples of the same thing back to back. Comparisons are much more revealing. Here is a story I stumbled upon. Read the caption version first and then the article. Version A: at the top of the page is the photo version story. There are 10 captions that tell a succinct story.…
My kid saw an Elmo toothbrush at the grocery store the other day and insisted I buy it. He already had a toothbrush at home but it never fired him up like this one. In the end, figuring this would make him more likely to brush, I bought it. Did he manipulate me? Or persuade me? Or did I do one of those to him? Whenever I teach a workshop on strategic storytelling for nonprofits, I frame it within the art of…
Oh, jargon. All dressed up and trying to get invited to every little shindig. That fancy institutional lingo, so cozy in your messaging, sucks the blood out of your stories. Jargon stamps out approachable “story speak” and replaces it with “institution speak” at every turn. Let’s say your organization works in asset building. You could start a story with… Michelle wanted to break the cycle of generational poverty so she began to explore asset building. Jargon attack! No way does Michelle talk that way to herself. Better…
How about this year we all commit to owning our awesomeness in our stories? I just read a mediocre story on a respected nonprofit’s site. A story that had so much potential but then skipped the best part. Since I don’t name names, here is a generic sum up: Line 1: In the present. Happy parents hold heir new baby boy. Lines 2 and 3: Flashback: Just a year ago, things looked dire. Short list of unfortunate events explaining why situation is bad. Line 4: Advocacy Organization “provides…
Before you watch the video (which you may have seen already and should watch again anyway) and before you read the NPR article about it (which has spoilers so watch the video first) please reflect on this. Can your organization show a story where you don’t tell the objective until the end? I don’t typically advise this approach because it is so high risk. You’d have to make all the other components of your set up so good to keep the audience interested. You’d…
Board trainings are the best. One day, a buttoned up guy with a fabulous head of silver hair—we’ll call him Peter—moved himself to tears. He sat in a windowless conference room surrounded by a dozen fellow board members he had just met. Peter told us a story about a teenage hooligan, Jimmy, falling through the cracks. A very special nun, Sister Bea, went to bat for Jimmy and got him a gig as an orderly. As Peter spoke about Jimmy’s struggles and Sister Bea’s compassion he choked…