For non-profits, knowing how to tell compelling stories to funders is vital. Storytelling creates empathy, and often empathy is the path to a successful non-profit that is able to really make a difference in the community. Bring me in, and I’ll work with your staff to tell stories that will deeply resonate with your funders.
“We have received really great feedback, some people saying that this is the best session we have had at our KE retreats, so thank you so much for your engaging presentation!” – Rebecca Phillips Konigs, Knowledge Broker at Evidence Exchange Network, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Over the course of the day, students will learn the art of storytelling by doing as we come together to learn about story choice, structure, editing, connecting with the audience, and laughing ourselves silly along the way.
Sample Story Structure Exercise: Students will form a human story structure, incorporating the start, rising action, climax, and end. They will be given various broken stories to fix as a class – one with a useless climax, one with no rising action at all, one with far too much extraneous information. Using humans to represent the story structure makes a clear and simple distinction between the parts of the story – no more blurry, “Wait, is this the climax, or is it part of the rising action, or…”
“I had many colleagues tell me this was the best workshop they have ever been to!” – Jake Winn, Right To Play
Sample Editing Exercise: Given a six word story (like the famous Hemingway “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) students will talk about the larger world of the story and how much information can be contained in just six words. After going over various existing six word stories, all students will have an opportunity to write their own. This reinforces the knowledge that most of the time, less is more. With only five minutes to convey the story in a presentation, knowing how to tell a compelling, pared down story is vital.
What is the Take Home Message? Stories create empathy, and in a non-profit that relies on empathy from funders, knowing how to tell a story well is a vital skill.
What do my students say, after working with me? Click here to find out.
To ask questions or request a proposal for your group, please fill out the Booking Form.
Sage Tyrtle 