Jun 09 2009
How to lend your voice to a cause, Part 2
Which of these sentences pulls at your heart?
Ten-year-old Sean walked excitedly to the door of the music room with his new violin in hand and was very sad to find a note on the door stating that the program had been canceled.
The district cut the music class because of lack of funding.
One of the things that bothers me most about charity events is that people spend so much time on speeches! We want to hear from the people doing the work and we want to hear about what they are doing. However, what we want to know most is that what we are doing is meaningful. The most effective way to reach others is by reminding them of themselves, and the best way to do that is through storytelling. Therefore, the second rule for speaking up for a cause is to tell some stories.
We tell stories because your story reminds me of my own and creates a connection between us. That connection is what moves me to support your cause, not the story itself.
What is a story? A story has a beginning, a middle and an end. A great story has a complication that evokes an emotional response. A great story is always about people. And it doesn’t have to be long.
A good story has an emotional component, and an obstacle that has to be overcome. Our story about Sean has this. Using color words like “excitedly”, and “new,” and”sad” create an emotional component. Using some action that is thwarted creates the obstacle: he walked up only to find that the class was canceled.
In fundraising, you can use a story with an obstacle to be overcome, and create a need within others to help solve that problem. OR you can use a good story to show how the work that is being done is helping to overcome the obstacle. Either way is effective, especially if you remember the first rule of lending your voice to a cause which is to speak from the heart.
