how to tell your story -...

How to Tell Your StoryHoning your message

Takeaways

2

A draft message and audience list.1

The importance of audience to your message.2

What ISC can do for dissemination.3

3

“

”

I want you to think

of the United

States, the entire

country, as your

stakeholders…

think big, and take

what you’ve been

working on way

beyond your

context.

Elaine Ulrich

Why Messaging?

Why Messaging?

01 Consistency

Messaging ensures you

hit the high notes every

time, so that nobody is

left behind. It also

means an entire team

can speak with one

voice.

02 Audience First

Messaging begins with

your audience. Starting

with their context

rather than your own

helps them quickly see

relevance.

03 Drives Materials

A developed

message makes it

easier to create

dissemination

products and

reports.

4

Message development

5

Create a message

Determine Audiences

Focus Group It

Internal/External

Revise/Develop Supporting Arguments

Message development

6

Create a message

Determine Audiences

Focus Group It

Internal/External

Revise/Develop Supporting Arguments

7

“

”

Some of these

things are like a

fish swimming in

water, we don’t

know it’s water, so

sometimes we

need someone to

tell us.

Cal Broomhead

Why start with audience?

Supporting Arguments

• Form a narrative – this is where you tell your

story.

• Use different rhetorical devices to achieve

your goal of supporting and communicating

your message. Match your approach to your

audience.

8

Tips to Broadening Your Context

• Focus on process over product.

• Find what you’d expect to be common ground.

• Failure can be as valuable a teaching tool as

success.

• Go back to what inspired you in the first place.

• Tell an anecdote.

9

Talk to ISC for

10

A Sounding Board/Review

Dissemination Strategy Help

Some Outreach Assistance

Clinic Instructions

• Use the worksheet and spend 20-25 minutes

developing a basic topline message and

brainstorming audiences, which you can share

with the group.

• We’ll break and review.

• Pick one audience and spend another 10

minutes on 1-3 potential supporting

arguments for your messaging.

• Break for review and Q&A11

Thank you!

Elliott Bent

ebent@iscvt.org 802-225-2949