How do you craft an impactful story? Should it be happy or sad? How much detail should you include?
There’s a lot to consider.
Creating a compelling story isn’t just for books about dragons, princesses and “Happily Ever Afters” — it’s also for organizations looking to engage their audience well.
Here’s a step-by-step storytelling guide, along with some specific tips to keep in mind.
To craft a compelling and impactful story, you have to understand your audience.
What’s most impactful depends on who you’re speaking to. You can’t speak effectively to your audience if you don’t know who’s listening — or who you want to listen.
- Research: Identify who your supporters, donors, followers and beneficiaries are.
- Persona Creation: Develop detailed profiles of your key audience segments so you know how they’re likely to interact with your content and what they’ll like most.
Any good story has a clearly defined core message.
A story can be so one-note that it’s ineffective, but a lack of clear vision or goal is more frequently what causes a story to flop.
- Mission and Values: Clearly articulate your nonprofit’s mission and values — those are a running thread throughout.
- Key Message: Focus on the primary message you want to convey (e.g.: There’s a huge need for X services. We need your support for X project. X person is an overcomer.)
Next, choose the right type of story to tell.
There’s no shortage of stories to be told; decide what will best serve your goal.
- Impact Stories: Share how your organization has made a difference in individuals’ lives.
- Volunteer/Donor Stories: Highlight the motivations and experiences of your supporters.
Now it’s time for the creative part – developing your characters.
Think about your favorite movie, TV show or book — it probably has some stand-out characters. This type of storytelling requires the same.
- Protagonist: Typically a beneficiary or someone impacted by your work. (Tip: Do NOT make your organization the hero of the story!)
- Supporting Characters: Volunteers, donors, staff members, etc.
Just like your favorite work of fiction, you need a compelling plot.
Clearly describe the steps your character(s) are taking
- Challenge: Present the problem or need in your community through the experience of an individual.
- Resolution: Show how your organization provides solutions, making sure to be honest but humble.
- Outcome: Highlight the positive changes resulting from your efforts — or, for a no-happy-ending-yet story, clearly show the lack of resolution as a result of a need for support.
Storytelling is all about emotion; ensure you use emotional triggers to connect your audience.
Appealing to people’s humanity and emotions — in an ethical way — is almost always what moves them from passion to action.
- Empathy and Authenticity: Share genuine, relatable stories to build emotional connections.
- Dignity: Ensure that the way you present the plight of your protagonist is ethical and respectful.
Whether through visuals, written or spoken words, show rather than tell.
Long descriptors should serve a purpose, and even still, they can fall short. Utilize multimedia, when appropriate, to tell your clearer than a whole essay ever could.
- Visuals: Use photos and/or video clips along with all written accounts. (Tip: Infographics can also effectively connect data to stories.) Providing even one photo of the person whose testimony you’re sharing allows your audience to connect with them on a more personal level.
- Audio: Consider the way sound bites or voiceovers could provide a richer experience. Telling a story through a video might also be the right format, depending on your budget and end goals.
Whatever you do, maintain a consistent tone and style throughout.
This goes back to remembering your purpose — not just for this story, but for your organization as a whole. Don’t fall back on “quick-fixes” or trends that don’t align with your focus; instead, choose to create content that looks, sounds and feels like your organization throughout.
- Voice: Imagine your nonprofit could speak. What kind of tone and words would it use? Align your verbiage with your nonprofit’s personality for best results.
- Style: Ensure consistency across all platforms to maintain trust and create greater brand understanding among your audience.
Now, it’s time to edit.
Editing is often the most challenging part of the storytelling process. Despite what you might assume, this vital step might also be where you spend the majority of your time.
- Reduce: It’s easy to share too many details. While rich descriptions and clear diction are important, focus on the story at hand rather than “rabbit trails” you could go down.
- Refine: Ask yourself if the story aligns with the goals you set at the beginning. If not, adjust and reword until it meets the goal.
You’ve worked through the details, and it’s time to distribute your story!
Depending on your selected format, this step will look different. But the exciting part is that a great story can stand on its own two legs for a long time and in a variety of settings.
- Platforms: Share via social media, newsletters and your website, along with other channels most relevant to your audience (print, podcast, etc.).
- Formats: Adapt stories for different formats and allow it to shine in each. (For example, a written story could be shared via podcast as a narrative with one speaker acting as the narrator and the other reading direct quotes. Or the same story could be shared as a video with animated graphics accompanying the narrative.)
Measure the results to learn to create maximum impact.
After all this work, you might be tempted to kick back with a cool drink, relax and assume your story resonated. Key to improvement, though, is being open to making changes where you fell short — by your audience’s standard, not your own.
- Call to Action: This story was shared for a purpose; encourage donations, volunteering or sharing as appropriate.
- Analytics and Feedback: Track engagement and take note of feedback to improve your storytelling efforts.
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Congratulations — you followed along the process of great storytelling! You’re now on track to begin seeing the world through a different lens.
p.s. Want to save this article for future reference? Click here to download the PDF version, or click here to watch all the Storytelling Guide videos on our YouTube channel.
