Creating A Story to Carry Your Message Margaret Enloe Communications Director Chesapeake Bay Program Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

Bay Commission NYDCVAMDPADEWVFederal govt A vast partnership of all the major players in the Chesapeake region, working collaboratively on science, policy and restoration efforts

To reach someone through the heart is other than reaching them through words. Besides words, allusions and arguments The heart knows a hundred thousand ways to speak. Rumi – 13c. Persian poet

Stories are:  Primal, timeless  Provide order/connection  Help us make meaning  Understand selves & others  How we persuade  An invitation VIDEO: What Makes a Hero?What Makes a Hero?

An engaging story builds a bridge. The main “story” in your work gives your audience a familiar way in, an invitation to connect to you and your message

 Passion  Protagonist  Antagonist  This is what you’re protagonist is up against – not necessarily a person or group!  Awareness – the ‘aha!’ moment  Transformation – what’s changed

 VALUES  When organizations, causes, brands or individuals identify and develop a core story, they:  Create and display authentic meaning and purpose that: others can believe in, participate with, and share. VIDEO: Power of WordsPower of Words

 Who is your main audience?  What do they care about?  What level of info do they already have?  Are they already on the team, not on or prospective? PROPERSUADABLECON

 Anagrams  Listen = Silent  Conversation = Voices rant on  Immediately = My ideal time

 What is the story in what you have to say or tell about your work?  What do you want your audience to do or understand?  How are you going to express it in a way that engages them?  What do you want to convey?

 Craft your story to hit your target audience as close to home as possible  Make it meaningful  Me = center of target = personal/local  Mine = next layer = family/community/region  Ours = outer layer = region/state/nation The closer you are to the center (or “me” or “local”), the closer you are to relevant

 Create a ‘vision’ for your audience  Be brief – 1 or 2 core ideas (at most!!)  Picture is worth 1000 words  Specific, concrete, local (relevant)  Statistics – be careful  Validation

Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein  VIDEO: TEDEd – The Power of Simple WordsThe Power of Simple Words

Or not...

Tell us a story about why you became a watershed steward?

CBP stories –  Video: Linking Land and Water in Brook Trout RestorationLinking Land and Water in Brook Trout Restoration  Fewer incentives, Higher Commodity Prices Mean Decline in Forest Buffer Restoration  Restoration Spotlight: Restaurants Recycle Oyster Shells to Bring Bivalve Back

 IF written, read it aloud  Can you cut words or simplify them?  Use legibility score (in Word) – if you’re above gr. 12, your probably too complex  IF verbal, write it – keeping only relevant parts  Get someone outside your work to read it, listen and critique  Imagine reading /saying it to a 10 or 90 year old

 TED Talks –  Jay O’Callahan: The Power of Storytelling -