Presented at the NewSchools Venture Fund Summit

1. Using Storytelling
to Communicate
Your School’s
Vision and Impact
Annie Escobar & Ethan Goldwater
ListenIn Pictures
www.ListenInPictures.com

2. Leading the Movement to End
Bad Non-Profit Video
• Created videos for:
– Achievement First
– KIPP Foundation
– TEAM Schools
– ROADS charter schools
– Explore charter school
– NSVF

3. Download the free e-book
and worksheet:
www.startstorytelling.com

4. The Challenge
Finding simplicity, coherence, interest.

5. “The most
powerful human
drive is the one for
connection.”

6. “People will forget
what you say, but
they will never forget
what you make them
feel.”
-Maya Angelou

7. Our Brain on Stories
When we’re engaged in a
great story we feel a
sense of reward and
connection.
Mirror neurons make
us feel what others
are feeling.

8. 70%
of learning is through stories.

9. Your Story Basket
• A collection of stories which
illuminate different elements
of your org’s approach.
– Different versions of the
same story for different
audiences.
– Each story demonstrates a
lesson you’ve learned.

10. Your Story Basket
• Organizational level:
– The Origin Story
– The Failures Along the
Way
– Impact Stories
• Individual level:
– Each member of your team
has their own Calling
story.
– Encourage storytelling for
culture, motivation,
validation, sharing best
practices

11. What makes a story great?

12. The Arch
Stories are about JOURNEYS:
– Someone starts somewhere.
– An inciting incident: They
face a challenge
– They have a moment of
TRUTH/transformation that
teaches them something
about the world.
– They move forward with
their new insight.

13. Great Stories:
• Include telling, vivid
details/anecdotes, MOMENTS
– The Challenge
• “I cried on the first day
of school”
– The moment of
transformation
• “I cried in art class and
everyone was there for
me.”
– The After
• “When I’m reading I feel
like I’m watching a
movie”

14. Great Stories:
• Are emotional
• Show vulnerability
• Share an insight or
realization that
relates to others
• Are simple: only
include details that
reveal your
message.

15. Simple
Unexpected
Credible
Concrete
Emotional
Stories

16. Great stories reflect on universal human needs:
• The quest/need for:
– Perfection- the need to master a practice through
hard work
– Truth- the need to tear down falsehood
– Wholeness- the need to be part of a community
beyond self. Belonging.
– Simplicity- the need to find meaning behind
complexity
– Uniqueness- the need to express
individuality/creativity
– Justice- the need to resist abuses of power

17. What makes a
story inspire?

18. Protagonists
• Protagonists are
PEOPLE
• Feature specific
people, not just ‘we’
• A school or a program
is not a protagonist

19. The Calling
• An unfinished story
that begins with a
moment that WOKE
YOU UP.
• When you realized
you couldn’t stay
silent any longer. You
needed to do
something.
• Explains what you are
driven by, what your
higher purpose is.

20. Connection Plot
• Two people come together
across a divide and they teach
each other something about
life.
• Why they work:
– Appeal to our need for
connection
– Reveal the human element
underlying your motivation.
• Example: A student who you
connected with which taught
you something about how
schools should serve students’
needs.

21. Challenge Plot
• An individual faces a challenge, has
a realization about the world and
overcomes that challenge.
• Why they work:
– We root for the underdog.
– Contextualize the problem.
• Example: A student who grew
despite facing obstacles.

22. Creativity Plot
• Someone finds a unique
solution to an intractable
problem
• The story of how they
discovered that solution.
• They help people
understand why your
approach is unique.
• Example: Trying something
new with students and saw
how it reached them.

23. The Origin Story
• Have different versions of your stories that
illuminate different points you want to
emphasize.
– The call – What you are driven by.
– Connection – Why you care about what you do.
– Challenge – Why you are prepared for the
journey/able to succeed.
– Creativity– Why your solution is best.

24. Communicating Impact
• Use the 3 plots
• Instead of sharing a lesson learned by
those in the organization, they can
carry a core message.

25. Fill Out the Worksheet up to ‘Vision’

26. The Invitation to
Others
After the story or
all on its own.

27. Vision:
Frame the world in a
new way.
Give people new
language to understand
how things are.
Paint a new picture of
them of what is
possible.

28. How to Tell Stories to Build a Movement
• Be Inclusive:
– “This is what I’ve learned, now you can join
me in making this vision happen.”
• They are a part of something that
matters.
– Let them know why they matter.
• Appeal to the audience’s emotional &
psychological needs

29. Fill out the Vision section.

30. Storytelling Time!
Choose one story to share.
-set up the problem/context
-illuminate the moment of
connection, realization or
insight
-summarize what the
experience taught you, what
you took from it, how it
transformed you