THE POWER OF STORY TELLING FEBRUARY 28 & MARCH 1, 2014 ALBERTA COUNCIL FOR GLOBAL COOPERATION (ACGC)
THE POWER OF STORY ?
“The truth about stories is… that’s all we are.” - Thomas King
Overview Why Stories Matter - Stories Are What We Are Foundations of Storytelling Stories for Social Justice and Change **LUNCH** _______________________________________ Limits, Risk, and Possibility of Story The Power and ‘Curiosity’ of Public Narrative Creating Your Organizational Story ________________________________________ Our Stories for Change Moving from Narrative to Engagement Evaluation and Concluding Perspectives
Objectives • • • •
Experience the power of story Share tools, resources and processes Craft a strong public narrative Connect stories to potential for social change
Why Stories Matter "People won’t remember what you say or what you do, but they’ll remember how you make them feel.”
Key Principles We want to tell the stories that matter now. They must be - true - relevant - a call to think, feel + act
INTRODUCTIONS Take 2 minutes to interview a partner: “Knowing that stories are vital to your organization, why are you here?”
WHEN WE ARE MOTIVATED BY WHAT WE CARE ABOUT…
We take action!
WHY? Why is ACGC engaging in this? Why story? Why now?
Story Foundations Stories are about values • What we value • What our organizations value • How we want to live
Stories are about “living texts” …co-creating knowledge with/in communities
..with attention to history, culture, context, and place
Stories are about Community 5 connections - Community, Learning + “Lived Experience� shared through Story Learning is a life-long process. It is all about communities telling stories. Real-life learning and sharing is: 1) non-formal
and experiential: real life context 2) community-based: community challenged to learn together 3) collective + individual: challenged to process, analyse, reflect 4) critical: question and analyse sources and bias of information; 5) evaluative: assess and monitor learning and responses to local issues. (Adult learning principles - Freire, Canada World Youth, + MĂźndel, 2002, p. 20).
Examples?
Experiential Learning + Telling Your Story Steps
Activity
Experience Reflection Generalizations
Sharing your own experiences
Application Knowledge Sharing
Evaluation
Thinking about the experience, discussion Applying these experiences to understand other challenges and opportunities, considering context Moving ideas developed through “lived experience” (theory) into action Constant cycle – A,R,A,R (action, reflection, action, reflection) Prepare presentations, newsletters, social media Facilitate or engage in discussion and reflection Re-visit objectives – did it have the desired effect? Evaluate impact, challenge your organization and your own learning
Story Foundations Stories are about… • • • • • •
Readiness + Purpose Audience Image or Graphics Key messages Emotional response Agency + Action
Resource: Pinterest •
http://www.pinterest.com/akwconsulting/nonprofit-storytelling
Stories are about thinking, feeling, acting. Ideas have hands and feet ‌
BREAK We are the heroes of our own stories
The Ethics of Story “Story is a process of personal empowerment in the process of collective action for change”
Who’s telling the story? …particularly important in OUR work “Narratives of liberation are anchored in people’s stories. In this sense, what stories we decide to tell…form the basis of critical pedagogy” (McLaren & Leonard, 1993)
Dimensions of Story + Ethics 3rd dimension Surface
Technical Social - Political Ethical Deep
s (Program Planning and Reflection on 3 dimensions (Sork).
Questions for Reflection: Who is included, and whose voices are left out? What if we were to ask WHY …5 times? “Who isn’t here and should be, and how can we get them involved?” (Sork, 1996, p. 180)
CASE STUDY EXAMPLE CSL- COMMUNITY SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT DOWNTOWN CORE NEIGHBOURHOOD …poverty tourism or learning opportunity as a transformational “trigger event”? 1. How do program planners build support for learning (short/long-term?) 2. Consider limits, risks, and possibilities in program plans
Stories for Social Justice and Change
OXFAM GROW
http://www.oxfam.ca/grow
LINKING STORIES + COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT • Process of developing active and sustainable communities based on social justice • Can influence power structures to remove the barriers People can participate in issues that affect their lives.
• Facilitate participation= people + process. • Enable connections between communities and link stories to development of wider policies and programs. • Require ethical, foundational values of fairness, equality, accountability, opportunity, + choice • Educating, enabling and empowering are at the core (Source for CD, CCEDnet)
Lunch When we come back‌
Limits, Risks and Possibility of Story
Risks What are the risks involved in the stories we tell? “Stories are wondrous things …and they are dangerous” - Thomas King are dangerous."
Possibility?
Resources + Possibilities Tech Soup – Digital Story Telling http://www.techsoupcanada.ca/en/community/blog/3-great-examples-of-digitalstorytelling-at-work
Info Graphics http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/50-informative-and-well-designed-infographics/
Data Visualization Gallery http://philanthropy.com/blogs/innovation/nonprofit-data-visualization-agallery/667/2011disastersinfographic
Causevox – Examples of video storytelling http://www.causevox.com/blog/9-examples-of-video-storytelling-for-onlinefundraising-campaigns/
The ABCs of Non-profit Storytelling http://pfa-blog.com/home/the-abcs-of-non-profit-storytelling/
The Power and Curiosity of Public Narrative Is it a mirror reflecting back our own assumptions about the world?
Or is it a lens to examine challenges and ‘possible’ worlds?
Creating Your Organizational Stories
1) What are you using/what do you know? 2) Strengths/limitations of tools to tell your story (audience and goals) 3) How do we link our goals to the resources we have?
A quick poll…do you use…
Other tools?
Tumblr
Pinterest?
Addressing Barriers What would support your use of these tools?
I would need… So that…
Snapshot Stories Goal: reflect on a key moment that you can’t wait to share with others about your organization 1) Describe a key moment 2) Choose a title for this “snapshot” 3) Be ready to share it.
Response: In telling your own story‌ What were the key words or emotions that you used? Who was there? What surprised, energized, or moved you? You may have been at your best, or struggling‌ Why is the incident you shared significant? How and in what ways does this story demonstrate the work that you do?
Moving from Narrative to Engagement Advocacy + Policy Evaluation
Research
Design Implementation
WRAPPING UP…
Head: What have you learned about story and processes?
Heart: What did you experience - the emotional response to story?
Hands + Feet: How will you respond – be ready to take action and apply story in your own organization?
For more information or to talk more about storytelling ideas‌
Contact: Zane Hamm zhamm@ualberta.ca (780) 439-8764
THANK YOU for participating! ACGC commits to Telling the stories that matter to us now.
Spring 2014
Together We Are Stronger!