What makes a great story?
September 7, 2012
Deb Nelson and I have been teaching a Skillbuilder (workshop) for the Maine Association of Nonprofits entitled “Finding and telling our stories: Bringing our mission and method to life”. It’s about helping people identify stories about their organization that are compelling, illustrative, and can be told in just a few words.
As part of this workshop, we ask participants, “What makes a great story?”. These are some of the answers that we hope to hear (and we usually do):
- The story has a compelling narrative
- It’s not obvious (e.g. you must keep listening)
- It’s accurate, true, really happened
- It can be told with authenticity and authority
- The imagery is vivid.
- It’s culturally relevant for the audience
- It fulfills the right goals for its audience
- It has a real beginning, middle, and end
- It’s suitably short
These are the kinds of stories that we want to tell in describing the work of our organizations — whether in fundraising for a non-profit, marketing a commercial service, or offering an innovative product. Compelling true short stories draw people in, create interest, and communicate most effectively.
