Where’s My Story?
Finding the stories that connect with your audience.
If you’re here, chances are you have a sneaking suspicion stories are vital to connecting with your audience. But, just in case you aren’t sold, here are some quick facts for you:
Research for an international charity revealed that participants who were told about a real person donated twice as much as participants who were told about the statistics of the worldwide problem. (Source)
Facts and stats engage only the language section of our brains. Stories engage the mind as if the person were actually experiencing the story. Want your audience to engage on a heart level? Stories are the key. (Source)
Emails with “video” in the subject line have shown a 65% increase in click through rates. (Source)
Tweets with images see a 150% increase in retweets, and Facebook posts with images receive 2.3 times more engagement than those without. (Source)
Now the question is: How do you find the stories relevant to your work that will put these stats into action for you, telling your story, driving engagement, and deeply connecting with your audience?
Collecting stories is messy by nature. Sometimes storytelling is automatic, while other times finding the heart of a story takes some digging. Either way, here are three techniques that I have used my 10+ years of professional storytelling.
1. Be a good listener.
If you’re at an organization, listen to your staff, your members, and your teams. By and large, people want to tell their stories. They want to be known. When they figure out you like to hear them and will listen, they will begin to seek you out to talk.
If you’re a entrepreneur, find out where your audience is and be there with them. This can be online communities, in-person meetups, or favorite hang-out spots. And, don’t just lurk; actively engage — make friends, and listen to understand.
Pro Tip: Befriend the people on the front lines with your audience. This is one of my best sources. Not only will they know about compelling stories, but they will also be a great bridge to connecting with the people whose stories you want to tell.
2. Request stories directly from your constituents.
This can be done through an email blast, on socials, or in person. “Tell us about _____!” is a great opener. As referenced in above, you may be surprised by how much people want to share.
Pro Tip: Keep a “potential material” folder in your favorite organizing system for stories that are sent to you. Even if you don’t need them right now, they could come in handy later.
3. Be trustworthy and honor the people whose story you are telling.
You are sharing part of a human life. Protect and honor them in the way you share. Think about how sharing this story in this way will affect them now, as well as five, 10, and 30 years down the road. Besides being a good way to love others, when you are a safe person, people are able to trust you with more of their story.
Pro Tip: Make sure people understand how their story will be used, and get their permission before you share it. Do some research on media releases to make sure you are covering all your bases.