I still remember a story about evacuee children in the second world war that my history teacher told me back in year 9. That was over 20 years ago! The children in the story were same age as me, and through that story I could see the world through their eyes.
Now, not only did that shift my world view; giving me greater understanding of the challenges faced by families during a world war; but it also made information highly memorable.
Stories are powerful. And you can use stories to create momentum and change for your organisation.
Here is The Stretched Team’s Guide to Storytelling. Four simple steps to get started to make storytelling part of your strategy…
1. Find your stories 🔍
Firstly, you don’t need to “create” stories - just uncover them. They’re already happening all across your organisation and with all of the stakeholders you impact.
Look in places like:
- Staff conversations - What are people proud of this week?
- Client feedback - What changed for someone because of your work?
- Casual moments - A volunteer’s first day. A happy tear. An overheard thank you.
TRY THIS: Ask your team in your next meeting / or in a weekly reflection as, “What’s one thing that made you smile this week?” That’s a fantastic story seed.
2. Elicit great stories 🪄
Stories do not have to be great epic tales. A seemingly every day insight can spark a story, and often it’s these ones that are the most relatable. But it’s not just what you ask, it’s how you ask it.
Great stories come from safe, open questions:
- “Tell me about a moment that stood out to you.”
- “What surprised you?”
- “What’s something you’ll remember for a long time?”
- “What was the biggest mistake you’ve made recently, and how has that impacted you?”
TRY THIS: In a check-in or interview, ask “What changed because of this?”- you’ll get gold.
3. Tell your stories well 💚
Keep it simple and make it human. Here’s an easy structure to follow: CART*
- C: Context: Who is the character, and what is their situation
- A: Adversity: What’s is the challenge they are experiencing
- R: Resolution: What happens to shift things?
- T: Takeaway: What is different now?
TRY THIS: Once you’ve finished, read it through and find the hook. It’ll be something surprising or intriguing. Now use a snippet of this at the start. It’s what will make people want to read on…
4. Create a system to keep the stories flowing 🔧
I often work with organisations who a teeming with stories but struggle to create the structure to capture and tell them.
TRY THIS: Start a weekly “storytime”. Pick one of the questions above and respond using the CART framework. It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.
See? Storytelling is simple, and it should be part of your strategy.
It’s about noticing and sharing the impact of your work and sharing it in a way that is relatable to your audience.
When stretched teams tell stories consistently, it builds energy, alignment, and real-world impact. I hope this helps you to do exactly that.
I run storytelling workshops, so if you're looking to get your team on board with finding a sharing stories, I'd love to help!
