Reframing the Narrative Strategic Storytelling Reframing the Narrative

z z Why Storytelling? John Trybus led a workshop here at KVEC in late October/early November. During the workshop he stated that “Storytelling is not about perfection, It’s about connection.” In the article “Your Brain on Fiction” Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, performed a study to try to understand how – what networks in the brain do stories influence. His findings are that ‘when we see ourselves in a story and make connections, ideas resonate and stick,” “stimulate the brain and change how we act in life.”

Stories vs Content: CONTENT: Shares Information Facts Tells A STORY: Creates Emotions Drives Action Inspires CONTENT: Shares information, gets facts out. Test Scores, attendance rate – but what does that really mean? Can you remember it? Do you know why the facts are important? More importantly do you know what your role is in knowing those facts? Do you know the jargon or what it means? Content shares information, but not necessarily in an emotional or action-driven way. A story influences the brain. In the article, “The Science of Storytelling: What Listening to a Story Does to Our Brains”, they say the answer is simple – we are wired that way – a story, if broken down into the simplest form, is a connection of cause and effect. Personal stories and gossip make up 65% of our conversations. When we hear a story, we relate it to our existing, personal experiences. Stories create emotions, they drive actions to and from a target audience. In ”Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath - the importance of shifting the onus of learning onto the listener from the storyteller. “to make communications more effective, we need to SHIFT our thinking from “what information do I need to convey?” to ”What questions do I want my audience to ask?” George Cuouros states that his hope is that stories compel people to want to know more and find their own conclusions. In that instance people find similarities to one another and not focus on what makes us different so much. Have you ever had a student tell you a story of their life and it totally changed the way you taught them, because it connected you in an emotional level that might not have been there before? You understood them on a different level, which compelled you to DO SOMETHING different, even better. So ask yourself: How can you share stories that will do this – create emotions, drive action, compel action, inspire….

Storytelling + Brain Storytelling activates the brain in ways Information does not Neural Coupling: A story activates parts in the brain that allows the listener to turn the story into their own ideas and experience thanks to a process called neural coupling. Mirroring: Listeners will not only experience similar brain activity to each other, but also to the speaker Dopamine: the brain releases dopamine into the system when it experiences an emotionally-charged event, making it easier to remember and to remember with greater accuracy. Cortex Activity: When processing facts, two areas of the brain are activated (Broca’s and Wernicke’s area) A well-told story can engage many additional areas, including the motor cortex, sensory cortex and frontal cortex. Use Storytelling Culture Assessment Tools …….. ( 2 surveys printed)

5 Essential Building Blocks of an Effective Story 1. CHARACTER What makes an effective character? Relatable Imperfect 3-D Charismatic Interesting Reflective

5 Essential Building Blocks of an Effective Story CHARACTER RECOMMENDATIONS: Keep number of characters to a minimum Superstar characters not necessary Position the school as a “supporting character” Focus on people instead of organization

5 Essential Building Blocks of an Effective Story 2. TRAJECTORY How is trajectory created? Starting the story, not at the “beginning” Utilize flashbacks and flashforwards Varying the pace Creating an energy that will pull the reader or viewer forward to an eventual call-to-action

5 Essential Building Blocks to an Effective Story 3. AUTHENTICITY Stories should show the character’s transformation using rich details RECOMMENDATIONS Tell the story from the characters POV, not the organizations Ban the jargon words! Don’t overly control the “message” Focus on the details and engaging the 5 senses through description or visual: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch

5 Essential Building Blocks of an Effective Story 4. ACTION-ORIENTED EMOTIONS Stories should convey emotions that move people to act How do you want your target audience to ultimately feel at the end of the story? What emotion(s) will you strive to create? What do you want your target audience to do after consuming the story? What’s the call-to-action?

5 Essential Building Blocks of an Effective Story HOOK Stories must capture the audience’s attention in 10 seconds or less Creating the Hook: What will happen in the first ten seconds of the story? Consider: Activating the senses Using humor

Brainstorm Plan Purpose/ Put it Together Evaluate z z Brainstorm Plan Purpose/ Put it Together Evaluate Prior to starting your story – set aside some time to think about your stories purpose. Brainstrorm: Think about what’s going on inside your schools that need to be highlighted, that need attention, that need parent/community assistance. Think about the work around your problem of practice, your theory of action. Can you use that? Jot down ideas quickly. When done, take a minute to re-read ideas you wrote down. Circle ONE you’d like to create a story about. Plan your story strategy: Think about what action you want to drive, what action you want your target audience to take, what emotion will lead them to the desired action, what type of story you will tell – what channel (FB, local news, paper, school media) – video, voice, pictures, written story and what success will look like once your story is out. Story purpose statement/putting it all together. Follow the guidelines to complete your ideas and determining what will have to happen for you to consider your story successful.

Strategic Storytelling RESOURCES: act.theholler.org/community-engagement/trainings/ss/ The Community Engagement Holler QUESTIONS: Cassandra Akers cassandra.akers@floyd.kyschools.us 606-794-3106 Resources can be found at act.theholler.org Look under Community Engagement Tab: click on the Community Engagement Holler or Strategic Storytelling under the Trainings heading.