As a communications consultant to nonprofits and foundations, one term I find annoying is "storytelling."
"We need to get better at telling our story." I hear that all the time. What the heck does THAT mean? It sounds like it means something and that I should intuitively understand, but sorry, I don't. By itself, "storytelling" has become one of those buzzwords that drive up consultant's fees for workshops and such. Nonprofit execs hear the word and feel like they should be better "storytellers," but they have no real idea what that means, because the term is meaningless by itself in the context of nonprofit and foundation communications. It suffers from overuse by consultants to the extent that anything could be called storytelling.
THE SOLUTION
The solution lies in using “storytelling shortcuts.” I am working now on a course outlining my top shortcuts for creating SUCCESSFUL communications. These are good for writers, and especially for other professionals (
CEOs, executive directors, fundraisers, program managers) who have to produce communications but who don’t consider themselves professional writers.
Your communications will be MUCH easier when you know some of “shortcut” techniques for communicating. My aim is to
reframe the concept of “storytelling” in a way that is useful by getting you to deliberately and intentionally choose a storytelling device before you prepare any communication.
A device is just another way of saying “shortcut.” It’s a formula or structure that gets you going and makes your writing MUCH easier and faster to produce. More importantly, the right device will provide a structure that actually moves people to action. And the use of shortcuts will actually make you more creative by giving you more alternative ways to shape your message.
Trust me, professional writers all use formulas and shortcuts. Consider Shakespeare. One reason he was able to create such a massive body of wonderful work is that he use formulas:
In his plays, he wrote mostly in the 10-beat-per-line “iambic pentameter” style. Once he’d mastered this style, he used it again and again.
In his poems, he favored the sonnet –- a form that dictates the rhyme scheme of a poem, so you can focus on expressing yourself, as your poetic structure is already
pre-determined. It’s like using a template.
For his subjects, he often recycled history (Anthony and Cleopatra) and classic fables that already existed. That’s a shortcut,
isn’t it? Good enough for him, good enough for me.
Once you choose the right device for conveying a message, the rest becomes almost automatic. Shortcuts, templates, crutches, tools, recipes or formulas –- that’s exactly what they are. They give you a structure for your message that makes it easier to get people to behave the way you want –- donate funds, quit smoking, award you a grant. And they virtually eliminate writer’s block and procrastination.
HERE’S A KEY POINT. Shortcuts or formulas are like recipes – but YOU are the chef. So as you go along, you will find ways to improvise, enhance and modify the formula. You may end up with a piece that deviates quite a bit from the structure you chose as your shortcut. That’s great! The idea of using the shortcuts is to get you started quickly in the first place.
Here’s why I find the term "storytelling” annoying. As nonprofit communicators, we are not “storytellers” like Hans Christian Andersen or Mark Twain. We're producers of commercial communications aimed at getting people to behave differently or take action. (I fully expect some constructive criticism for this article, because I am taking a respectfully
contrarian view to a term that so many people are enamored with. I'm OK with that.)
In our world as nonprofit communicators, narrative storytelling is only a tiny fraction of the communicating we need to do. Reports to the board, financial reports, grant requests,
Facebook posts, and many other forms of communication require a full toolkit of devices that go beyond narrative storytelling.
My comments here are aimed not necessarily at a skilled copywriter, but for the executive director of a small nonprofit who does the communications herself, or with the help of a college intern or volunteer; or for the harried fundraising director who is also charged with "getting the message out" and other aspects of marketing and public relations. The "expert" advice I've come across on storytelling goes way beyond anything useful in the real world that MY audience lives in, trying to crank out solicitation letters and thank yours to donors and newsletter articles and web page updates and board presentations and grants for funding and and and. ...
But since the “storytelling” word is here to stay in the nonprofit and foundation communications fields, I need to deal with it because, as David Allen points out in his wonderful books, Getting Things Done and Ready for Anything, "What you resist, you're stuck with.” So that’s what inspired my upcoming course on "storytelling shortcuts for nonprofits."
When you are faced with a communications task, and you are stuck on the best way to convey the message, you think first about our audience and the outcome you want from them -- what you want them to know or do as a result of your communication. What action do you want from them?
At the outset, it may be useful, before you start writing anything at all, to first identify an effective "device" or storytelling "genre." My around-the-office term is “shortcut.”
For example, if you are trying to reduce teen driving deaths through a public education campaign, you might first do the research and discover that parents are the best audience (this is true). Your research also tells you that a key predictor for teen driving safety is the amount of time parents spend talking with their teens about safe driving. Research shows that most parents spend zero time on the topic, other than "drive safely" or "buckle up." (This data is also true). So your aim is to increase the amount of time parents spend talking with their teen drivers about specific tactics and situations they will face. That’s the action step you want: conversations between parents and teens.
Examples:
"
Texting and driving is now against the law for teens in Indiana, did you know that, son? If you get a ticket for
testing, I am not paying for it, nor am I paying for your increase in car insurance."
"When you drive to school, that curve on Butler Road is especially dangerous, because I see crazy people come through there every day way too fast, crossing over the
centerline. You need to be going slow enough to control your car to avoid these idiots."
"We're entering the fall season, and wet leaves can be as slippery as ice; so reduce your speed, keep more distance between you and the car in front of you, and give yourself more time to come to safe stops."
These messages make a difference. They give the teen driver specific new awareness of specific threats, along with specific steps to drive safely and defensively.
OK, then, now that you are ready to communicate, what "devices" or “shortcuts” would be best to convey the particular messages you want to get across to the parents? Is it a storytelling technique that shares a gruesome story of a teen who was killed in a crash caused by
texting? Would it be best to use testimonials from other teens, or would an authority figure like the local sheriff be a better person to deliver this message? Would a music jingle on the radio be more effective than a
PSA on television? Music is one storytelling "device"; TV is another. Would it be best to lay out the case in a rational, fact-based article with statistics and charts?
Would billboards or neighborhood yard signs be a good device to "tell your story," since they could be placed on the road, where the reach teens at the moment of truth -- when they are driving?
As you see, there are many communications "devices." Some have little to do with "storytelling." Is a billboard that says "Slow down, dangerous intersection ahead" really a "story"? Is an article filled with facts and stats a "story?" So you see why the term "storytelling" annoys me; it suggests a "narrative," which is another common buzzword these days. Communication devices number in the dozens, and only a few use a narrative form.
Back to our example of the teen driving campaign, which is based on a real-world example, the Drive Alive campaign. After much research, it was determined that the best device for getting what we want -- safer teen driving as the result of enhanced parental communication and oversight -- would be conveyed through the use of a "parent-teen driving contract." If you look at this contract, you don't think "storytelling." It’s a form that parents have their teens sign, outlining driving behaviors, limitations, and consequences for violating these family driving policies. It has proved to be a VERY effective communications device. The use of this contract virtually assures that parents and teens will talk about specific threats and specific avoidance strategies. And it creates accountability -- consequences for the teen who violates safe-driving behaviors. It does so in a way that no narrative "story" ever could.
So to reiterate, my beef with the word “storytelling" is that it has been overused to the point that it means nothing, adds nothing to the skills of a nonprofit communicator, and wastes time and effort.
Storytelling workshops focus on things like having a “protagonist” and having a “thesis” and a “
plotline.” You hated those terms in ninth grade English, and they won’t serve you well now either. So here’s my view in a nutshell: If you choose the right device (shortcut) and the right message, the way you “tell your story” becomes automatic.
It can be very helpful, before you even sit at the keyboard, to examine the available communication devices and shortcuts to convey your message. This thought process may lead you in a direction that never would have occurred to you otherwise, which I believe is the essence of creativity.
Here are a couple of the shortcuts I plan to comment on in the course.
Shortcut Device No. 2: “Situation; Consequence; Solution.” This is a formula that works almost every time.
Example A:
“Indiana does not require drivers education, and 1 in 4 local teens has had no formal training in driving a car. And parents are not well informed about their role in the first crucial months of a teen’s driving experience. {Situation} Every year, 15 teens die on local roads. Almost all of these accidents are the result of speeding, not wearing
seatbelts, or distracted drivers. {Consequence} A new program called Drive Alive is educating parents and teens on these critical factors that mean the difference between life and death. {Solution}”
Example B:
“Home hazards are often easy to miss, but according to the Home Safety Council, it is a problem that is too serious to ignore. {Situation} In fact, in its State of Home Safety in America report, the Council found unintentional home-related injuries result in nearly 21 million medical visits and 20,000 deaths on average each year. The study also found that leading causes of home injury related death are slips and falls, fires and burns and poisonings. {Consequence} Use the following home safety advice from the Home Safety Council.... {solution}
Example C:
African-American babies and toddlers are 2.5 times as likely to die in a home fire as the rest of the African-American population. {Situation} In fact, nearly every day a child under age five dies in a home fire, a tragedy the U.S. Fire Administration (
USFA) says families often can avoid. {Consequence}
USFA urges families to familiarize themselves with the following fire safety tips so they can Prepare, Practice and Prevent the Unthinkable. {Solution}
The situation-Consequence-Solution formula should be one of your most frequently used tools. It virtually eliminates writer’s block by giving you a formula that nearly writes itself.
Shortcut Device No. 7 Don't try to persuade or motivate people – educate those who are already motivated. Here’s what I mean when I say don’t even bother trying to “persuade” people with facts and logic. It just
doesn’t work. As evidence to support my point, consider this, which was brought to my attention by the excellent blog produced by The Communications Network. In his New York Times column, Nicholas D.
Kristof writes, “There’s pretty good evidence that we generally don’t truly want good information — but rather information that confirms our prejudices."
Kristof cites a study showing that when Republicans and Democrats were offered “neutral” political research, respondents said what they most wanted were “intelligent arguments that strongly corroborated their
pre-existing views.”
At the same time, “there was little interest in encountering solid arguments that might undermine one’s own position.”
Kristof’s remedy? “The only way forward,” he says “is for each of us to struggle on our own to work out intellectually with sparring partners whose views we deplore. Think of it as a daily mental workout analogous to a trip to the gym; if you don’t work up a sweat, it
doesn’t count.”
I disagree with
Kristof’s solution. I’m not sure that’s the best use of our time and effort. I have another means of dealing with this problem that works better for me.I've recognized this phenomenon for a LONG time! At work and at home. Logical people are persuaded by logic and reason, and I enjoy studying persuasion, reasoning, argument, etc. Problem is, most of that knowledge is useless because most people are not logical, as indicated in the New York Times article. You can give them 10 reasons, and they'll dismissively say, "Yeah, well, still, I think such-and-such. ..."
Being RIGHT is of very little value in much of our communications -- personal and professional. I recommend a communications strategy that deals with this phenomenon in certain situations. In many communication campaigns, don't focus on the people who need persuading. Instead, segment the audience to people who have SOME motivation already, and support that motivation with information resources that can help them (live healthier, drive safely, raise kids who can read, quit smoking or drinking, etc.)
So the key may be not I the way we tell our story, but in audience segmentation. Don't try to persuade someone not to smoke; focus on smokers who would like to quit, and give them the tools to do so.Persuasion, as a strategy, is a high hurdle. Segmenting the audience to support the audience that is already motivated is a device that works. It's not always the answer, but when it fits, it's an effective shortcut to success.
Summary: Choosing the right shortcut makes your work easier and more effective. I don’t know what “storytelling” means to me in terms of writing an executive summary to a board of directors, or creating a Marketing PowerPoint, or posting a Facebook entry. But I know what “shortcut” means. It means an easier, faster way of getting people do to what I want them to do when they ready my material. The course will be published on my Website at
MainStreetNonprofitTraining.com+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Next, the Billy Mays advertising formula is to find a way to demonstrate the product. He never TELLS about the product; he SHOWS you in creative ways how good the product is. For noprofit marketing, this means showing the impact of our work through stories about real people. Show people how your program will improve their lives. This may mean more photos, testimonials, and other devices. When you produce any communication, whether it’s a newsletter, a poster, a flier, or a progress report to a foundation, ask yourself the question that Billy Mays asks when evaluating a new product: “Where’s the WOW Factor?” On the show, Billy turns down good products that lack what he calls the “Wow” factor. If he can’t demonstrate it, he can’t sell it.
