Outage Analysis: March 5th/6th 2024 Meta, Comcast, and LinkedIn
Harnessing storytelling vision
1. HARNESS YOUR STORYTELLING VISION
Practical tips for planning, capturing, and
sharing your organization’s best stories.
Michaela Guerin Hackner
mhackner@forumone.com
The Nonprofit Technology Conference
March 18, 2011
3. The Visionary Process
I. Develop Your Storytelling Vision
II. Bringing Your Vision to Life
III. Sharing Your Vision With the World
4. Develop Your Storytelling Vision
“Being true to yourself involves showing and sharing emotion. The
spirit that motivates most great storytellers is ‘I want you to feel
what I feel,’ and the effective narrative is designed to make this
happen. That’s how the information is bound to the experience and
That’
unforgettable.”
rendered unforgettable
- Peter Guber
6. Connections Catalyze Change
“Stories link one person’s heart to another. Values, beliefs, and
norms become intertwined. When this happens, your idea can
more readily manifest as reality in their minds.”
- Nancy Duarte
7. Prerequisites
1. Organizational Backing – leaders share your vision
2. Empower others to own your vision
– Training
– Tools
– Inspiration
3. Make investments in storytelling
– Hire staff, conduct audience research, buy equipment (camera,
video camera, audio recorder, lots of paper and pens!)
9. Where Are You Focusing Your Message?
Who are your audiences? Prioritize 3 or less.
11. People Come to the Web to Consume
Identify what your audience is looking for, and make sure it’s ready and available:
Read
Download
Buy
Listen
Watch
Update
Email
14. Leverage Universal Themes
Love
Death
New life
The bond of family / relationships
Power
Loneliness
Surprise
Hope
Harmony
Balance
Beauty
Old vs. new
Past vs. Present
* Adapted from Within the Frame by David DuChemin
15. What Are You Trying To Communicate?
Choose 1-2 messages max
message:
Primary message
The single most important thing you want the user to learn. (this
message supports all of your business objectives).
message:
Secondary message
A group of key messages that extrapolate the primary message.
Adapted from Content Strategy by Kristina Halvorsen
16. What Can I Do?
Give them something to do on each page!
Your vision will inspire others. Give them a chance to participate.
• Choose stories that will get your message out and solicit action.
• Choose stories that have the potential to go viral. Ask yourself, do I
want to tell something about this?
• Pick stories that you can’t get out of your mind and that touch your
heart.
17. What Do You Want People To Do Once Inspired?
Your ultimate goal for your story
(hint, this should include an action!)
Donate
Subscribe
Volunteer
Share
Get involved
Make a call
Comment
Adapted from Content Strategy by Kristina Halvorsen
18. Why Should They Take Action?
Make the reward worth it
How will they personally benefit from adopting your idea? What’s
in it for them materially or emotionally?
Benefit to sphere
How will this help their sphere of influence such as friends, peers,
students, direct reports? How can they use it to their benefit with
those they influence?
Benefit to mankind
How will this help the humans or the planet?
Adapted from Resonate by Nancy Duarte
22. Words Aren’t the Only Story
“At church on the morning of January 28, 2011 the pastor joked
that ‘Thanks to the Egyptian government we will not be interrupted
by cell phones.’ But on that Friday despite the cutoff of Internet,
cell phones and SMS messages feeding into Twitter, the largest
demonstrations blocked downtown Cairo causing the police to
close the square. While phones came back on Saturday (after the
demonstrations) Internet and SMS were down for a week. Still, the
demonstrations continued to grow daily. Social media may have
been the trigger that initially got things going, but the gun was
already loaded with social and economic discontent, and once the
initial shot was fired, the demonstrations took a life of their own.”
http://www.irex.org/news/egypt-facebook-twitter-and-old-fashioned-organizing
25. “Go For Bear”
• Plan a shot list in advance
• Wear comfortable clothing
• Pack for any conditions
• Charge all your batteries ahead of
time
• Bring adequate memory cards /
film
26. Create a Safe Space
• Put your subject at ease
• Put down your camera first and LISTEN
• Use the camera to gain access, but also don’t try to rush it.
28. Capture Details
Photograph: lizainge.co.uk
* Adapted from Within the Frame by David DuChemin
29. Pick a “Hook”
Photograph: Steve McCurry
* Adapted from Within the Frame by David DuChemin
30. Wait For the Shot
“The best photographs contain a number of elements that had to come together at that
1/60th of a second to make the image. It’s rare that you won’t have to wait for it.”
* Adapted from Within the Frame by David DuChemin
32. Make it Interesting
• Show scale. Size is relative. Pull in details that give a sense of
scale and tell a larger story.
• Be sure you have a subject.
• Include a foreground – put something interesting in the
foreground that helps tell the story.
• Check your horizon and make sure it’s straight.
• Keep an eye out for distracting elements and remove them.
• Know where the light is coming from and take advantage of it.
• Don’t forget to include emotion.
* Adapted from Within the Frame by David DuChemin
34. Use Techniques to Draw the Eye In
Large elements
Light elements
Warm colors
Focused elements
Isolated elements
High contrast
Oblique lines
Recognizable elements
Human / alive elements
* Adapted from Within the Frame by David DuChemin
48. Storytelling Reading
Resonate
by Nancy Duarte
Within the Frame
by David DuChemin
Content Strategy
by Kristina Halvorson
Storytelling for User Experience,
by Whitney Quesenberry & Kevin Brooks
Understanding Exposure
by Bryan Peterson