Post on 22-Jan-2018
transcript
Learning objectives
Increase your appreciation for storytelling in the
context of strategic planning documents.
Evaluate your Ministry’s current writing
and compare it to other ministries.
Set goals for future writing.
We spend a lot of time in
government….
• speaking to people who aren’t listening;
• writing reports that are never read;
• …..because we haven't engaged people.
“Stories are the most powerful delivery tool
for information”.
The best way to unite an idea with an emotion is
by telling a story”.
Pick a storyteller
• Help them craft their story;
• Must speak for one minute;
• No hesitation, deviation or repetition.
A story about….
• You, a member of your family;
• A famous, unusual experience or person you met;
• An interesting event—
• Illegalities or police investigations.
The information editing
skills you need…
• allow you to get a point across;
• should be highly valued in complex organizations;
• Without a narrative, no one will hear you.
Nancy Duarte—Resonate.
• Every story needs a big idea;
• A unique point of view, rather than generalizations;
• Convey what’s at stake;
• Make people care about your perspective.
pg. 78
Point of view versus topic
• Governments write about topics;
• People write with a point-of-view;
• One builds a story, one doesn’t
–Nancy Duarte, Resonate, pg. 16
“Stories link one person’s heart to
another. Values, beliefs and
norms become intertwined.”
“You can have piles of facts and
still fail to resonate. It’s not the
information itself that’s important,
but the emotional impact of that
information.”
Derick Heathcoat-Amory
• Britain’s Chancellor the Exchequer, 1958 - 1960
• 1st Viscount Amory KG, GCMG
Operation Market Garden.
• Amory was wounded and captured in the battle
• September 1944
• Largest airborne military operation to that point.
I’m thinking about the
audience….
• think about what they need;
• What’s most relevant to the audience ?
• What context is needed to order choices ?
Hypothetically, the
fountain is falling apart:
• What story do we tell ?
• This symbol of our heritage must be saved !
• This symbol of colonial oppression must go !
Is it worth…
• Saving ?
• Reinvest in a different monument ?
• What info do you need to make a decision ?
Try to anticipate
responses.
• “I’d like to thank the province for getting rid of it.”
• “Thanks for dumping our heritage.”
Language and power are
inextricably linked.
• Information drives action;
• Action has to be explained;
• End result, inevitably, is a story we have to tell.
Subordinating style
• Components in a narrative are linked by relationship
• causality
• temporality
• precedence
The positioning statement
• Emotional statement;
• Key Message;
• Two Facts;
• Action Statement (demand)
Positioning statement
exercise
• Go back into your groups;
• Use positioning statement to review release;
• Can it help you make things better?
0
22.5
45
67.5
90
B. Obama
M. Obama
H. Clinton
D. Trump
Readability Scores
Major Convention Speeches
July, 2016
0
2.25
4.5
6.75
9
B. Obama
M. Obama
H. Clinton
D. Trump
Grade Level
Major Convention Speeches
July, 2016
–Silver: The Signal and the Noise
pg. 9
“Before we demand more of our
data, we need to demand more of
ourselves.”
That $800 million
represents
• 40% of what the US Secret Service spends;
• 10% of what the FBI spends annually.
Here’s some other
stories…
• Only 5% of US flights have an Air Marshal;
• Since 9/11, there have been no hijackings;
• There have been more arrests of Air Marshals
• than by Air Marshals since 9/11.
The whole tendency of modern prose
is away from concreteness.
George Orwell
Politics and the English Language
1946
Why this worked..
• Clearly written, concrete language;
• Well organized;
• Articulates a point of view, with consequences;
• A simple, defining metaphor (car).
“If we read every sentence aloud carefully…and
if we then fiddle and adjust our words until they
feel right in the mouth and sound right in the
ear, the resulting sentence will be strong and
clear.”
–Prof. Peter Elbow
In your
documents/presentations
….
• convey a big idea;
• covey what’s at stake;
• Convince me I should care.
Exhibit a clarity of intent
• What problem am I trying to solve;
• What does ‘good’ look like;
• How will I know when I get there ?
An audience transformed
• The highest goal;
• Now that I’ve read this, I know this;
• Now, I have to do something.
We had a big idea
• It’s important because—
• This idea came from—
• We talked to these people, and they said—
Here’s how our big idea
changed
• We were surprised to discover—
• New information created these new insights—
• Here’s why these insights are valuable—
The value proposition
• Our big idea will improve a process/save money/
• make life better for people in the following ways—
Rejected opportunity cost
• If we do nothing, here are the consequences—
• Here’s what they are doing on other jurisdictions—