THE POWER OF STORY TELLING

FEBRUARY 28 & MARCH 1, 2014

ALBERTA COUNCIL FOR GLOBAL COOPERATION (ACGC)

THE POWER OF STORY

“The truth about stories is…that’s all we are.”- Thomas King

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OverviewWhy Stories Matter - Stories Are What We AreFoundations of StorytellingStories for Social Justice and Change

**LUNCH**_______________________________________ Limits, Risk, and Possibility of StoryThe Power and ‘Curiosity’ of Public NarrativeCreating Your Organizational Story ________________________________________Our Stories for ChangeMoving from Narrative to Engagement Evaluation and Concluding Perspectives

Objectives

• Experience the power of story• Share tools, resources and processes• Craft a strong public narrative• Connect stories to potential for social change

Why Stories Matter

"People won’t remember what you say or what you do, but they’ll remember how you make them feel.”

Key Principles

We want to tell the stories that matter now.

They must be- true- relevant- a call to think, feel + act

INTRODUCTIONS

Take 2 minutes to interview a partner: “Knowing that stories are vital to your organization,

why are you here?”

WHEN WE ARE MOTIVATED BY WHAT WE CARE ABOUT…

We take action!

WHY? Why is ACGC engaging in this?

Why story? Why now?

Story FoundationsStories are about values

• What we value• What our organizations value• How we want to live

Stories are about “living texts”

…co-creating knowledge with/incommunities

..with attention to history, culture, context, and place

Stories are about Community5 connections - Community, Learning + “Lived

Experience” shared through Story

Learning is a life-long process. It is all about communities telling stories. Real-life learning and sharing is:1) non-formal and experiential: real life context

2) community-based: community challenged to learn together

3) collective + individual: challenged to process, analyse, reflect

4) critical: question and analyse sources and bias of information;

5) evaluative: assess and monitor learning and responses to local issues.

(Adult learning principles - Freire, Canada World Youth, + Mündel, 2002, p. 20).

Examples?

Steps ActivityExperience Sharing your own experiences

Reflection Thinking about the experience, discussion

Generalizations Applying these experiences to understand other challenges and opportunities, considering context

Application

Knowledge Sharing

Moving ideas developed through “livedexperience” (theory) into action

Constant cycle – A,R,A,R(action, reflection, action, reflection)

Prepare presentations, newsletters,social media

Facilitate or engage in discussion and reflection

Evaluation Re-visit objectives – did it have the desired effect?

Evaluate impact, challenge your organization and your own learning

Experiential Learning + Telling Your Story

Story FoundationsStories are about…• Readiness + Purpose• Audience• Image or Graphics• Key messages• Emotional response• Agency + Action

Resource: Pinterest• http://www.pinterest.com/akwconsulting/nonprofit-storytelling

Stories are about thinking, feeling, acting. Ideas have hands and feet …

BREAK

We are the heroes of our own stories

The Ethics of Story“Story is a process of personal empowerment in the process of collective action for change”

Who’s telling the story?…particularly important in OUR work

“Narratives of liberation are anchored in people’s stories. In this sense, what stories we decide to tell…form the basis of critical pedagogy” (McLaren & Leonard, 1993)

s (Program Planning and Reflection on 3 dimensions (Sork).

Dimensions of Story + Ethics

Technical

Social - Political

Ethical

3rd dimension

Surface

Deep

…poverty tourism or learning opportunity as a transformational “trigger event”?1. How do program planners build support for learning (short/long-term?) 2. Consider limits, risks, and possibilities in program plans

CASE STUDY EXAMPLECSL- COMMUNITY SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT DOWNTOWN CORE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Questions for Reflection: Who is included, and whose voices are left out?What if we were to ask WHY …5 times? “Who isn’t here and should be, and how can we get them involved?” (Sork, 1996, p. 180)

Stories for Social Justice and Change

OXFAM GROW http://www.oxfam.ca/grow

LINKING STORIES + COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

• Process of developing active and sustainable communities based on social justice

• Can influence power structures to remove the barriers People can participate in issues that affect their lives.

• Facilitate participation= people + process. • Enable connections between communities and link

stories to development of wider policies and programs. • Require ethical, foundational values of fairness,

equality, accountability, opportunity, + choice• Educating, enabling and empowering are at the core

(Source for CD, CCEDnet)

LunchWhen we come back…

Limits, Risks and Possibility of Story

RisksWhat are the risks involved in the stories we tell?

“Stories are wondrous things…and they are dangerous” - Thomas King are dangerous."

Possibility?

Resources + Possibilities

Tech Soup – Digital Story Tellinghttp://www.techsoupcanada.ca/en/community/blog/3-great-examples-of-digital-storytelling-at-workInfo Graphicshttp://www.hongkiat.com/blog/50-informative-and-well-designed-infographics/Data Visualization Galleryhttp://philanthropy.com/blogs/innovation/nonprofit-data-visualization-a-gallery/667/2011disastersinfographicCausevox – Examples of video storytellinghttp://www.causevox.com/blog/9-examples-of-video-storytelling-for-online-fundraising-campaigns/The ABCs of Non-profit Storytellinghttp://pfa-blog.com/home/the-abcs-of-non-profit-storytelling/

The Power and Curiosity of Public Narrative

Is it a mirror reflecting back our own assumptions about the world?

Or is it a lens to examine challenges and ‘possible’ worlds?

Creating Your Organizational Stories

1) What are you using/what do you know?

2) Strengths/limitations of tools to tell your story (audience and goals)

3) How do we link our goals to the resources we have?

A quick poll…do you use…

Other tools?

Instagram

Tumblr

Pinterest?

Addressing Barriers

What would support your use of these tools?

I would need…So that…

Snapshot Stories

Goal: reflect on a key moment that you can’t wait to share with others about your organization

1) Describe a key moment2) Choose a title for this “snapshot”3) Be ready to share it.

Response:In telling your own story…What were the key words or emotions that you used?

Who was there? What surprised, energized, or moved you? You may have been at your best, or struggling…

Why is the incident you shared significant? How and in what ways does this story demonstrate the work that you do?

Moving from Narrative to Engagement Advocacy + Policy

Research

Design

Implementation

Evaluation

WRAPPING UP…

Head: What have you learned about story and processes?

Heart: What did you experience - the emotional response to story?

Hands + Feet: How will you respond – be ready to take action and apply story in your own organization?

For more information or to talk more about storytelling ideas…

Contact: Zane Hamm

zhamm@ualberta.ca(780) 439-8764

THANK YOU for participating!ACGC commits to

Telling the stories that matter to us now.

Spring 2014

Together We Are Stronger!