Aims/objectives
- to explore what makes stories impactful
- to practice storytelling as a tool for promoting projects and gaining more support
Material needed
- Flipchart and markers
- Projector and screen
- Laptop with internet access
- Power point presentation about storytelling (see annex 2)
- Short film: TMB Panyee FC short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU4oA3kkAWU
Preparation
Before the activity, make sure the projector works and that you have both the video about the football club and the presentation ready.
Step by step description
- Invite participants to share something that interests them about storytelling. In case they don’t know each other yet, you can first start with a round of names and everybody saying a few words about their motivation for joining this workshop.
Tell the group 1 or 2 famous stories and ask them: „What kind of stories are these?“
Storytelling as a tool to present your project: Tell the group that in this workshop / learning activity we are focusing on storytelling as a tool to present your own projects in a way that gains support and creates greater impact.
What makes a story a good story? Show them the video about TMB Panyee Football Club.
Ask them what makes a good story and write the key answers on the flipchart. Summarise the outcome and underline what to pay attention to, but also what to avoid when making own stories.
Input: how to make a good story. Connect your input on the results of the participants‘ answers and add what is missing.
Exercise in trios: craft your own story. The participants in trios have a task to create a short story about the project of one of them; the other two are supporting the person to craft a good story.
The questions for reflection during the crafting of the story are as follows:What is your message?Who is you audience?Where is the story happening?Who is the hero?What is the challenge?What has happened? Something unexpected?What is the question to the audience to make them think?What is the call for action?Tell your story. In the last part of the workshop, the participants have the opportunity to tell their story to the audience and get an immediate feedback about how impactful the story was and what could be improved to make it even more impactful. Especially, the focus should be on how to make the story more relevant for the audience and how to create space for their engagement.
Debriefing
Suggestions for adaptations and variations
There is a possibility to skip the part with known stories and immediately focus on storytelling that serves the purpose of promoting a project, or larger idea, or looking for support, etc. Some examples could also be used from the different crowdfunding platforms, where the proposals are presented as short stories.
Another interesting focus could be simple awareness raising that stories are around us every day; we just need to be more attentive and start to notice them as stories.
Reference / original source of the method
This activity was facilitated by Darko Marković during his workshop „Change the world with a story“ at the aces Academy 2016 in Senec, Slovak Republic.
Further tips and resources
- Book „The Storyteller’s Secret: From TED Speakers to Business Legends, Why Some Ideas Catch On and Others Don’t“ by Carmine Gallo
- Handbook „A Changemaker’s Eight-Step Guide to Storytelling“, Ashoka Changemakers
- Article „How to tell a great story“ by Caroly O’Hara, Harvard Business Press