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THE POWER OF STORIES
by: Wayne Fortin |
Over the past year I have been struck more
than ever by the powerful impact that the recounting of
“TIP Calls” has on listeners, especially on listeners with a
limited knowledge about TIP. In the last month alone I have seen
everyone from city council members, to funders, to Rotarians, to
TIP board members have a WOW experience after hearing a
volunteer talk about a TIP call.
I am convinced that our ability to talk about our TIP
calls effectively is essential to operating a successful TIP
program. If told properly, TIP calls can transform TIP
supporters into TIP Champions. TIP calls can convey more about
TIP in a minute than a three-page article or a glossy brochure.
However, I don’t believe we as an organization have paid enough
attention to becoming good storytellers and to telling our
stories at every opportunity. Turning our TIP experiences in the
field into gripping “stories” we can tell others is quite a
challenge, for 2 reasons. First, we need to be creative and
craft stories which bear no resemblance to specific TIP calls
and which maintain the privacy of our clients. Our stories must
be creatively constructed from bits and pieces of many TIP
calls. Second, we need
to develop stories which are “brief and amazing.” Usually, we
only have 1 or 2 minutes to tell our story and to WOW our
audience. In short, it takes time, skill and discipline to
craft and then deliver TIP stories.
I am developing a brief training program which will train
all of our TIP Leaders and volunteers on how to be effective TIP
storytellers. This training will address questions like: How can
we take the raw material contained in TIP calls and turn them
into interesting TIP stories? How can we tell these stories
without breaking confidentiality? How can we tell our stories in
a way the “knocks people’s socks off?”
Once we have become great storytellers, the question then
becomes how can we increase the frequency of our storytelling?
I believe we need to tell our TIP stories everywhere — at
fundraisers, at board of directors meetings, at city council
meetings, at civic club presentations . . . everywhere.
And when someone pops
that favorite cocktail party question “What do you do?”
each of us should be ready with “Let me tell you a story.”
Simply put, if we
increase our storytelling we will increase our support base, and
we will effectively differentiate ourselves from the 1,000's of
other nonprofits trying to get noticed. After all, do you know
another organization that has the emotionally powerful stories
to tell that we have?
Finally, it’s important to remember the importance of call
sharing with each other. We need to call share with each other
effectively and frequently. Hearing each other’s stories
energizes us, rekindles our passion for TIP and reminds us what
TIP is really all about.
We know that we do extraordinary work. However, others
can’t see what we do. So, we need to tell them stories so that
they will say “WOW, now I get it!” |
Wayne Fortin, Founder |
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