By Christina Kennedy, Flow Communications senior writer and editor
With so many deserving causes in the world, it’s hard for development agencies and non-profits to cut through the information clutter and get their message across. But between the manipulative AI-generated slop on social media and ineffective “pity poverty” campaigns, there is a happy medium: emotive storytelling that grabs attention and delivers results.
There are multiple aid organisations doing transformative work around the world, ranging from UNICEF and the World Food Programme to our very own Gift of the Givers. But even aid agencies risk getting bogged down in strategies, charts and budgets, causing them to inadvertently under-communicate the impact felt by people on the ground.
Combating ‘compassion fatigue’
Besides palpably changing lives for the better, these agencies also have to demonstrate tangible impact to their funders and principals. And the best way to communicate that is to connect with people’s hearts and minds – in a way that fosters genuine empathy, not “compassion fatigue”.
This is not pie-in-the-sky thinking: according to Stanford, people are 22 times more likely to retain facts when they are presented in story form.
In other words, getting audiences to engage with your message is far more effective than telling them about it. You move from telling to storytelling.
Says Thrishni Subramoney, senior communications specialist at Flow Communications, “Apart from striking an emotional chord with audiences, storytelling also helps decode complicated solutions. Many of the clients we work with in development and philanthropy have strategic, nuanced solutions that are far more effective than knee-jerk, superficial aid. But conveying these solutions to an audience can be tricky if you stick to the theory.
“A well-told story can cut through the clutter and illustrate how a particular approach works in practice, and can help an audience understand and buy into it.”
Creating impact through citizen storytelling
A good case in point is the Resilience Through Our Eyes photography project, driven by the Resilience Initiative Africa and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
Twelve budding photographers from across sub-Saharan Africa were trained in visual storytelling to capture how residents of informal settlements are innovating in the face of climate-related impacts, such as flooding. Thereafter, their evocative images were showcased to African decision-makers at an exhibition.
This is an excellent example of humanising and contextualising the cold data of climate change through citizen storytelling – moving beyond a dry, figures-based case study to touch the viewer’s emotional core.
Checklist: how to tell stories of impact
- Ditch the jargon
Speak human. Shelve the technical terms and don’t get entangled in incomprehensible acronyms (or “alphabet soup”). Keep it conversational and understandable to the average person.
- Consider your audience
Journalists might be looking for a very different type of narrative than the financial director of your funding entity. Think about their priorities and craft a story arc that resonates with them.
- Tell human-centred stories
Statistics and graphs don’t have a heartbeat. At the heart of every development story lies people whose lives have been profoundly improved. Speak to them and use their words to bring to life the effect your work has had on their community.
- Make it interactive
People have short attention spans. Your audience will sit up and take notice if you move away from “death by PowerPoint”. Visualise your data with innovative infographics and videos. Be creative with technology. Get people talking and thinking. Get them excited. Remember Benjamin Franklin’s adage: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
- Show examples
Resist the urge to speak only in broad brushstrokes. Your work might be having a profound impact, and you’ll want to showcase those numbers, but also give real-world context. People will remember the individual stories, and how they made them feel.
- Speak to the heart and the head
It’s a fact: human beings are biologically wired towards narratives. Stories trigger an emotional response in the brain that is absent when it is presented with data or statistics alone. And once you’ve captured the heart, you’re more likely to capture the mind – and leave a lasting impression.
