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You are here: Home / Featured Post / My 3 Best Pieces of Storytelling Advice
My 3 Best Pieces of Storytelling Advice

Featured Post Non-Profit Storytelling Tips

My 3 Best Pieces of Storytelling Advice

Over the last 4 years, I’ve written over 400 blog posts on storytelling, fundraising, and communications. I’ve written a book, I teach a Master Class on storytelling, and have done scores of research. There really is so much information out there about storytelling. And if I had to boil it down to my 3 best pieces of advice, here’s what I would share with you.

Understand Storytelling as a Process

One of the mistakes that I made early on in my understanding of storytelling was to understand it as a goal or outcome. The reality is that storytelling is a process.

Storytelling is a series of many, on-going steps that we engage that result in stories. The more we focus on storytelling as a goal, the more frustrated we become. It’s not a point we arrive at where things are magically going well and stories are coming out of the woodwork. It’s something we have to be constantly doing.

And – the good news is – you can start taking small steps today to engage in the process and be a storyteller.

Storytelling is a process, not a goal.

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What’s a good first step? Getting everyone at your organization on the same page about storytelling. Then it’s about understanding storytelling as a process. Read more.

 

Learn How to Interview Someone for Their Story

Interviewing someone for their story is a real art. It’s both the most rewarding and most challenging part of storytelling. Early on in my career, I found story interviews to be really stressful. As an introvert, I wasn’t always good at impromptu conversation with people I didn’t know well. Over the years, this is a skill that I’ve had to build up.

Additionally, what I often found most frustrating is that I would spend a lot of time interviewing someone about their story, only to get back to my desk to find that I didn’t really have any useful information for the story. I had to work to find a better way of capturing information during interviews and ask the right questions.

A great skill to cultivate – learn how to interview someone for their story

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Doing your research, carefully preparing questions, being curious, and relaxing during the conversation will help you conduct a better interview. Read more. 

Develop Time & Resource Management Habits for Storytelling

Improving my time management skills over the last few years has been a game changer. It’s helped me prioritize what’s most important and actually do those tasks. As a fundraiser, making time for storytelling and stewardship is key.

Don’t let storytelling fall by the wayside. Use these time management tips to help your organization.

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I found these four hacks most helpful: blocking my time, recycling and reusing content, focusing on one thing, and doing more of what works. Read more about these tips here.

 

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About Vanessa Chase Lockshin

My name is Vanessa Chase Lockshin, and I want to empower you to tell your story. In my personal life, finding ways to tell my stories has been a transformational practice. In my fundraising life, I’ve helped hundreds of organizations tell their stories to engage and inspire their donors. To date, my work has helped non-profits raise over $10 million.

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Hi there!

My name is Vanessa Chase Lockshin and I've helped non-profits raise over $10 million by telling stories that engage and inspire donors. I'm the author of The Storytelling Non-Profit: A practical guide to telling stories that raise money and awareness, and the creator of immersive online training programs that have trained thousands of non-profit professionals. Read More…

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