Storytelling…

Engaging hearts and minds with real-life stories

Today

To allow you to tell your own story about your involvement and activity with Eden, whether it’s

a Big Lunch or perhaps a community initiative

What is a story?

• A story is fact or fiction

• It is written or said and

talks about experiences

• It is sometimes news

• A story is told to engage

someone with the content

• Engagement is about finding value and worth

Your audience

• Knowing your audience or your community is one of the biggest opportunities to engage them

• If you don’t know them, it’s about time you did!

Task!

• Let’s try and profile the people within your community, to better understand them

Is it news? Will it be relevant?

What are you trying ‘do’?

A story always has a beginning, middle and end.

Think of your story and write down the beginning in one sentence, the middle and the end in one sentence.

Value

• What you’ve just written is from your own point of view.

• What value does it add to those who read it?

• A story must carry a value to others. Otherwise no-one will care!

• Write down why people should care about your story

Where can you place your story?

• Will the paper want my story?

• Journalists don’t always want your stories. Journalists can also be quite harsh about they consider to appeal to their audience.

• The beauty about modern day storytelling is that you don’t need a journalist to tell a story! Everyone’s a journalist nowadays with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand Snapchat.

Your audience

• What impact will your story have on your audience?

• What do you want them to think?

• What do you want them to do as a result of reading or seeing your story?

Proof

• You can’t make claims

• You can’t create ‘fake news’ – you need to back up your story

The format of a story

Let’s rethink what you wrote initially…

• When we write press releases the important things to get across immediately are all in the first paragraph. Who, where, what, when and why.

• Beginning – re-write your beginning

• Middle - explain a bit more, giving some facts and giving the viewer/reader a cause to get involved

• End - summarise briefly and remind them what to do

• What’s your headline?• Sometimes it’s easier to leave this until the end.

What is the main story in one short phrase?Tips: • If you’re writing anything, ensure everything is on

one page only• Always have a great image, professionally taken,

to support your story. • If possible, have a video to support• Be human! We’re all human!

So, how do we put stories together online?

Channels/tools:

• Video /YouTube

• Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram posts

• Insta stories

• Facebook, Instagram Live, or Periscope for Twitter live streaming

Our phones are our biggest asset!

Develop a story, using the method discussed, which tells a beginning, middle and an end to

your Big Lunch.

Check out @aurapr_scotland on Instagram. Look at the story I’ve been telling over the last 24

hrs

Where else can we use this content?

• We need to maximise any content you produce

• The Big Lunch Facebook, Twitter and Instagrampages.

• The Big Lunch blog.

• Start your own blog! It’s going to be the easiest place to have information about your event! You could even go one step back and just start an Eventbrite event for your own specific event.

Let’s chat about your events

• We’ll help you with ideas for how to tell your story