Thanks to everyone who attended the Internet Advocacy Roundtable on storytelling! In particular, a big thanks goes out to Alan Rosenblatt for hosting yet another fantastic event and Jonah Sachs and Susan Finkelpearl from Free Range Studios for speaking.
Attendees enjoyed free food while Jonah and Susan presented not only some of Free Range's work, but also offered several great tips for crafting a compelling, evoking story for any nonprofits' cause. Using several of their own pieces (such as the big hit Store Wars, The Meatrix, Friends with Low Wages, Hybrid vs. Hummer), the duo reminded everyone about the five key characters in the common myth:
Hero
Nemesis
Mentor
Oracle
Animal familiar
With these elements, a nonprofit can create a story for their issue that will tug at the hearts of potential donors and volunteers. Attendees discussed a recent Nicholas Kristof article illustrating how bringing stories to a human scale - like ones about puppies and children - can be much more effective than broader ones.
In addition, one of the hot topics of the afternoon was the effectiveness of numbers in advocating. While for the most part numbers and statistics are largely less effective than a well-constructed, human story, numbers that themselves tell a particular story can be used if they evoke emotion. The most important part of any nonprofits' story is that it shares with its audience the right emotions, not just ideas. A story that leaves people angry or motivated wields far more power than one that leaves the audience simply depressed or confused.
Weaving such a tale can seem like a daunting task, but Jonah and Susan offered several steps to make the process a little less overwhelming:
1. Identify your specific audience
2. Identify emotionally remnant themes
3. Set the stage
4. Choose your mysteries/metaphors
5. Select a medium
Again, thanks to everyone who attended and participated in today's event! You can check out the podcast and presentation when it's posted on the Internet Advocacy Center's site. We hope to see you at the next Internet Advocacy Roundtable about online branding campaigns on June 21. Stay tuned for more information as the date approaches!
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