Telling Stories

Key Concepts

We use stories in organizing to communicate values and motivate people to take action.
A story comes alive when a character faces a challenge, makes a choice, and experiences the outcome.
The Public Narrative framework consists of a Story of Self, a Story of Us, and a Story of Now.
Learning to craft and recraft your Public Narrative is a leadership practice.

Storytelling in Organizing

We turn to storytelling in organizing to answer the question of “why?”—why we care, why our work matters, and why we value one goal over another. Most of us don’t do this work because of a list of facts, and rattling off statistics usually isn’t an effective way to recruit ordinary people to stand up against injustice. We’re here because of our values; the desire to create change stems from beliefs like fairness, equality, democracy, and environmental sustainability.

Storytelling allows us to communicate our values, and in organizing, we use stories to articulate our shared values. Stories can inspire, engage, and connect us—and, most importantly, motivate others to join us. To motivate collective action, we must identify and express our shared values in ways that spur us to act together. The most effective way to do that is by telling stories.

Storytelling is not synonymous with “speechmaking.” It’s a practice we use in many contexts, not just from a stage at a rally. For example, stories are told when recruiting a new team member or when debriefing with a volunteer after a hard shift. An organizer might ask a new team member, “Why did you choose to get involved in this campaign?” or “Can you tell me more about why you’re here today?” to hear a bit of the volunteer’s story. In turn, the organizer might share part of their own story to build connection and, ideally, motivate the volunteer to take further action on the campaign.

Each of us can learn to tell a story that moves others to action. We all have stories of challenge and hope; otherwise, we wouldn’t think the world needed changing—or believe that we could change it. The task is to articulate a story that communicates the values that call us to leadership, the values that unite us, and the challenges we must overcome together. In this section, we explore a storytelling framework called Public Narrative that revolves around three elements: a Story of Self, a Story of Us, and a Story of Now.

Emotions

Action Motivators and their corresponding Action Inhibitors

The key to motivation is understanding that values inspire action through emotion. Stories enable us to communicate how we feel about what matters, so compelling stories are not overly abstract or purely intellectual; they are grounded in real experiences that can move others.

Because storytelling in organizing is about inspiring action, leaders must learn to mobilize emotions that make agency possible. Some emotions inhibit action—such as inertia, apathy, fear, isolation, and self-doubt—while others facilitate action—such as urgency, anger, hope, solidarity, and the sense that “you can make a difference” (You Can Make A Difference, or YCMAD).

For instance, fear can paralyze us and lead us to rationalize inaction. Amplified by self-doubt and isolation, fear can produce despair. Hope can counter fear, and, together with self-esteem (YCMAD) and love (solidarity), can move us to act.

One way to evoke emotion in stories is to show rather than tell. Where possible, paint a picture—describe the details of what you experienced and felt—instead of just stating facts. Notice the difference:

“When I heard the election result, I was really upset.”
“I was sitting on the couch in my living room with my partner, watching the results on my laptop. When the news announcer called the election and that red banner came across the screen, I felt a little sick. I turned to my partner, and they had a shell-shocked expression on their face.”

The second statement helps listeners empathize and feel what the storyteller felt.

Effective storytellers adapt their stories to different audiences by tuning into what listeners are feeling and then evoking timely, relevant, action-motivating emotions. That said, while action-motivating emotions can help someone resist action-inhibiting emotions, they do not erase them—especially when the issue involves ongoing marginalization. Storytelling can help people act despite those emotional barriers; it doesn’t make them disappear.

Structure: Challenge, Choice, Outcome

Stories that stick often share similar structural elements: plot, character, and moral. What makes a story a story—rather than a mere recounting of events—is the sequence of challenge, choice, and outcome. A story begins when a character confronts a challenge that demands a choice; that choice yields an outcome. We lean in when a character faces tension, uncertainty, or the unknown.

Our stories are about people. A storyteller engages an audience by helping them identify with the character. The goal is to create empathy so listeners consider their own challenges and choices—and, ideally, feel the outcome of the character’s choices (a “lesson of the heart”), not just understand it intellectually (a “lesson of the head”). The choices in our stories communicate the values held by the characters.

Public Narrative

The Public Narrative framework is rooted in the stories told by social movement leaders for generations. Through public narrative, leaders and participants mobilize motivation, construct shared individual and collective identities, and find the courage to act.

Public Narrative consists of three components: a Story of Self, a Story of Us, and a Story of Now. A Story of Self communicates the values that have called you to leadership; a Story of Us communicates the values shared by those taking action; and a Story of Now communicates an urgent challenge to those values that demands action now and explains how you will act.

Simply put: “Here’s who I am; here’s what we have in common; and here’s what we’re going to do about our problem.” Mastering a narrative that bridges Self, Us, and Now enhances your efficacy and builds trust and solidarity with your community. In short: Story of Self (purpose, call to leadership), Story of Us (community, shared values and experience), Story of Now (urgency, strategy, action).

Story of Self

Telling your Story of Self communicates who you are, the choices that have shaped your identity, and the values that influenced those choices. Learning to tell a compelling, emotive Story of Self takes the courage of introspection—and even more courage to share what you discover.

We construct our Stories of Self around “choice points”—moments when we faced a challenge, made a choice, experienced an outcome, and learned a lesson. Ask yourself: When did I first care about being heard? When did I first experience injustice? When did I feel I had to act, and what did I do? Once you identify a specific, relevant choice point, dig deeper: What was the outcome of this choice, and how did it feel? What did it teach me?

Some of us may think our personal stories don’t matter or that others won’t care. Yet if we do community or social change work, sharing our stories can be a powerful way to communicate our values and call others to join us—where we come from, why we do what we do, and where we think we’re going. What’s more, if we don’t author our own stories, others might do it for us (in ways we may not like).

In developing your Story of Self, reflect on these questions in relation to the issue or campaign you are working on:

Why am I called to leadership?
Why did I decide to tackle this specific injustice or problem and work on this organizing effort?
What values move me to act? Have these values always been important to me? If not, when did that change? How might these values inspire others to act?
What stories from my own life—about specific people or events—can show, rather than tell, how I learned or acted on those values?

For more help with developing your Story of Self and full Public Narrative, see the “Developing Your Public Narrative” worksheet.

Story of Us

A Story of Us expresses the values and shared experiences of the “us” you want to move to action. Your “Us” can change depending on whom you’re addressing. The goal is to create a sense of unity and highlight the shared values of your listeners.

A Story of Us brings those shared values to life.

While there may be obvious commonalities among your Us (e.g., living in the same community, working for the same employer, sharing a gender), the Story of Us goes deeper: What shared values and experiences does this Us hold? Those values and experiences may be shaped by those commonalities (for example, a community facing an affordability crisis will likely share common experiences). Ultimately, it’s about experiencing shared values with others “in the room.”

For example, an organizer giving a rally speech may ask, “What values unite this audience? What experiences have we shared that embody those values? As a community, what choices have we made to enact those values?” An organizer in a one-to-one (1:1) meeting with a new volunteer may ask questions to discover shared values and experiences, and then tell a story from their life that connects to the volunteer’s values. In a house meeting, an organizer might ask each person to share why the campaign matters to them. While listening, the organizer can ask, “What values connect these stories? What experiences has our community shared that embody these values? As a community, what choices have we made to enact them?” Then, when the organizer tells their story, they can craft a Story of Us that weaves in those answers.

Like a Story of Self, a Story of Us also centers on choice points—but the character is the community you’re motivating to act. It traces origins, challenges faced, choices made, outcomes, and lessons learned. A compelling Story of Us doesn’t only highlight challenges; it also lifts up successes to give people hope. As Ganz writes, “Hope is one of the most precious gifts we can give each other and the people we work with to make change.”3

We each participate in many Us’s. Each time you craft a Public Narrative, the Us may change, and your Story of Us should reflect the values and experiences of that specific audience.

In developing your Story of Us, reflect on these questions:

What values do you share with this community (the “us” in your story)?
What experiences have had the greatest impact on this community?
What challenges has this community faced?
What challenge is this community facing now, and what choice must it make?

For more help with developing your Story of Us and full Public Narrative, see the “Developing Your Public Narrative” worksheet.

Story of Now

A Story of Now articulates the urgent challenge your Us faces and the threat to your shared values that demands immediate action. Paint the picture of the future if we fail to act (the “nightmare”) and the future if we act together (the “dream”).

A Story of Now also bridges from story—why we should act—to strategy—how we can act. It should end with a clear “hard ask.” It’s your job to motivate listeners to act and to offer a specific, concrete way to do so.

In developing your Story of Now, reflect on these questions:

What urgent challenge does your Us face?
What change does this community hope for, and why? What would the future look like if the change is made? What would it look like if it isn’t?
What choice are you asking people to make, and why now?
What action are you asking them to take, and what impact will it have on the bigger picture? What’s the risk if we fail to act?

For more help with developing your Story of Now and full Public Narrative, see the “Developing your Public Narrative” worksheet.

When woven together, your Public Narrative should present a plan to overcome the challenge at hand and offer listeners a meaningful opportunity to join you in action. Remember: storytelling in organizing is, above all, a leadership practice—a way to connect, inspire, and motivate one another to create change.

As you listen to others’ Public Narratives, consider:

What values did the speaker’s story convey?
What details reflected those values?
What were the challenge, choice, and outcome in each part of the story?
What did the character learn from those outcomes?
What was the speaker motivating people to do?

For a more comprehensive guide to listening to and coaching others in telling stories, see the “Coaching Stories” worksheet in the Appendix.

Icebergs

When telling our personal stories, there may be parts of our lives we don’t feel safe sharing.

Think of your life as an iceberg. Some memories, events, and relationships are above the waterline—safe to share and open to questions (for example, faith, school, nature, siblings, children). Below the waterline are parts we don’t feel safe sharing (for example, parents, hometown, mental health). There can be power in keeping those parts to yourself and sharing them only with people you trust to honor and respect them.

Everyone’s iceberg is different, and it can change depending on the audience, the day, the mood, and more. You may feel safer sharing certain parts of your story in some situations and not others. As storytellers, we don’t have to share anything from the bottom of our iceberg if we don’t want to.

As listeners and coaches, keep each storyteller’s iceberg in mind. As we ask questions and dig deeper, remember that some parts are off-limits. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go deeper; it means we should do so thoughtfully and with care. It also means that the stories about what lights us up are constantly changing.

This page adapts material from “Organizing: People, Power, Change,” Version 5.0 (August 2017). Credits: Originally adapted from the work of Dr. Marshall Ganz (Harvard University), the Leading Change Network, the New Organizing Institute; revised by contributors from Dogwood Initiative, Leadnow, One Cowichan, David Suzuki Foundation, Stonehouse Institute, and genius (Organize BC & Organize Ontario). Design/photography: Shelby Tay. See Rights and Use for the full terms (non‑sale, attribution required, include these restrictions, send significant modifications, and grant back a royalty‑free license).