How to Motivate Others to Action
“Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower, and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity.” ~ Chimamanda Adichie
Keys to Public Narrative
Here are our main keys to public narrative:
- Remember Maya Angelou’s quote, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” One of the best ways to make your audience feel is to tell them a story.
- Break down your story into three key pieces: Story of Self, Story of Us, and The Story of Now.
- Break down each of the three stories into challenge, choice, and outcome.
- Remember the importance of telling vivid details, particularly when describing your choice moment (e.g., what you said, what you felt, what you saw, etc.).
The Importance of Storytelling
One of the best ways to make your audience feel and ready to act is to tell them a story.
The Organizing: People, Power, and Change Guide notes, “Storytelling allows us to communicate our values, and in organizing, we use stories to articulate our shared values.” Motivating others to act requires making people feel.
Marshall Ganz writes about how focusing on values, rather than just issues, helps people break out of their issue silos to work together.
The Public Narrative Framework
Marshall Ganz writes “Public narrative is how we communicate our values through stories, bringing alive the motivation that is a necessary precondition for changing the world.”
Below is a summary of Marshall Ganz’s Public Narrative framework.
Story of Self
Your Story of Self is the narrative of your values and why you made key choices in your life. You can tell foundational stories from your family and upbringing or from recent experiences that help people know who you are. Basically, why are you doing what you do?
Story of Us
Your Story of Us focuses on the audiences with whom you are speaking. What are your shared challenges, choices, and outcomes, and what values bind you all together?
Story of Now
Your Story of Now focuses on getting people to act. What is your ask of people? After hearing your story, what do you want them to do? Why is it urgent that they act?
Tips
- Remember each section of Story of Self/Us/Now should have its own: Challenge, Choice, and Outcome.
- Focus on the “choice moment” (e.g., what you said, what you felt, what you saw, etc.).
- Make people feel like they are there with you (e.g., give vivid details).
Understanding Challenge, Choice, and Outcome
Overview
Marshall Ganz breaks down each part of the public narrative into three additional pieces: challenge, choice, and outcome. Focus first on identifying the core “choice moments” that help others understand more about you or the community with whom you are speaking. Why did you make those choices?
Remember, your public narrative is not just a description of events, it is a description of you and the decisions you have made throughout your life, big or small (e.g., why I decided to volunteer, why I wanted to become a nurse, etc.).
Here is more on each piece:
- Challenge – What was difficult for you? How did it feel to be challenged in this way?
- Choice – What choice(s) did you make either in the short or long term (e.g., my family taught me the value of helping people, but I never knew where to apply my passions. Then when a school nurse helped my child I decided I wanted to become a nurse)? How did it feel? What did you say at that moment? Make sure your audience feels like they are there with you.
- Outcome – What was the result of that choice? Whether right after or many years later how did that choice impact your life? How does it connect back to your values?
Challenge Does Not Have to Equal Misfortune
Marshall Ganz reminds us that our challenges can be of our choosing (e.g., taking on a new role, embarking on a new issue campaign, climbing a mountain). They do not have to be a tale of woe. The challenge is supposed to motivate others (i.e., I heard your story of how you confronted your challenge, so maybe I can as well).
Additional Focus on Choice Moments
Remember the key parts of your narrative will revolve around the “choice moments” (i.e., when you made a decision, rather than just describing what happened to you). What are those moments where you chose one path, but you could have gone down another? These moments illustrate who you are as a person and help people understand what you value.