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Creating A Story to Carry Your Message Margaret Enloe Communications Director Chesapeake Bay Program Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay www.Chesapeakebay.net
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Bay Commission NYDCVAMDPADEWVFederal govt A vast partnership of all the major players in the Chesapeake region, working collaboratively on science, policy and restoration efforts
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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
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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?
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Anagrams Listen = Silent Conversation = Voices rant on Immediately = My ideal time
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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?
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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
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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
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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein VIDEO: TEDEd – The Power of Simple WordsThe Power of Simple Words
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Or not...
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Tell us a story about why you became a watershed steward?
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CBP stories – www.chesapeakebay.net 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
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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
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TED Talks – www.ted.com Jay O’Callahan: The Power of Storytelling - http://vimeo.com/14806071 www.chesapeakebay.net
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