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THE POWER OF STORYTELLING
WHY DO STORIES MATTER?
“It is easy to forget how mysterious and mighty stories are. They do their work in silence, invisibly. They work with all the internal materials of the mind and self. They become part of you while changing you. Beware the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world.”
Ben Okri, Author
Stories matter because human beings
are meaning seeking creatures and
telling stories allows us to make sense
and find meaning in the world. Stories
are without doubt the oldest form of
advanced human communication. We
have been using stories to explain the
world for thousands of years, from the
first cave paintings to now.
Every culture has stories that it tells its
children from birth to explain how the
world works and to help people
understand why we exist, why society is
the way it is, and what we should
believe, think and feel.
Our brains are ‘programmed’ to
respond to stories, and this
instinctive hardwiring means
stories are our most powerful
form of communication. They
are easier for us to process than
facts and figures, logic,
argument or analysis.
1. STORIES SHAPE ATTITUDES, BELIEFS AND BEHAVIOURS.
Stories therefore are incredibly powerful.They can shape people’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. Part of our job at ADD International is to challenge the stories that get told about disability and to tell our own, alternative story.
2. STORIES CAN BRING OUR WORK TO LIFE.
The work we do at ADD International can
be confusing to explain. Terms like GBV,
WASH, log-frames and capacity building
can be meaningless.
Yet it’s critical to our success that we can
speak to ordinary people about what we
do and why.
Only when people understand, will
attitudes about disability change. Stories
can help us do that by humanising
complex issues and bringing our work to
life.
GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
LOG FRAMES
CAPACITY BUILDING
WASH
3. STORIES BUILD CONNECTION AND SUPPORT
When we told our UK supporters about
Amina, a Tanzanian grandmother who
carries her disabled granddaughter to
school every day, her story inspired 9 year
old Eve (right) to do her own sponsored
walk, raising £600 for ADD International.
Stories take our imaginations on a journey
and allow people of different ages,
backgrounds and cultures, to form bonds
across geographical locations.
Stories can transport us from our lived
realities to share, for a moment, someone
else’s situation.
OUR TOP TIPS
1. YOU ARE ALREADY A STORYTELLER!TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS.
Every day you will be collecting stories,
reflecting on stories and telling your own.
It may be with your children, with your
colleagues, but how you make sense of
experiences, situations and people is by
telling yourself a story of what is
happening or has happened.
We don’t think collecting stories for work
should be that different from collecting
stories in your personal life.
The same things matter: Attention.
Emotion. Information. Connection. Really
it’s all about feeling something.
Scientists have been studying stories and the brain for years and found two things to be critical:
Attention
If we do not ‘attend’ to a story, it will not pull us into its narrative, we will not care about what is
happening and we will move onto something else. Paying attention actually uses up a lot of our
brains’ energy, so unless we are truly grabbed by something, our brains will look for something
more worthy of our energy to focus attention on. This is why it’s so important when you are
gathering stories to trust your own attention - when it has been sparked by something then
chances are you are onto a good potential story.
Emotional Engagement
So once you have grabbed someone’s attention, you need to keep them interested. How? With
emotionally compelling stories. Stories that are personal and emotional, engage more of the
brain and we remember them better. So stories stay in the brain when they touch the heart.
Simply ask yourself:
What gave you goosebumps or a lump in your throat, or made the hairs on the back
of your neck stand up?
What grabbed your attention?
What made you smile?
What made you think?
What made you feel inspired?
What moved you?
THINK OF A STORY YOU HEARD RECENTLY THAT HELD YOUR ATTENTION AND EMOTIONALLY ENGAGED YOU. WHY?
2. LET INDIVIDUAL VOICES SPEAK OUT.
We all have a unique way of seeing the
world and a unique way of expressing
ourselves. This is what makes us individual
and our stories interesting and
compelling. When people express their
truth, in their own voice, using their own
words, it can create a very moving portrait
of their reality that can seize attention and
emotionally engage.
EXAMPLE.
Mariam Ahmed Elgali, a hearing impaired woman from Gedarif in Sudan, describing the isolation of a deaf friend who was left at home after finishing basic school.
“She told me how hard and miserable it was to be sitting days and nights at home not able to communicate even with family members…Sitting like a piece of furniture in the corner of the house, with people talking, shouting and laughing around her!I call my deaf fellows and deaf women in particular: get out of the grave you have been buried in alive… Get out and scream: I am here… I am alive!”
In this story we hear Mariam’s unique and powerful voice. Her way of comparing being deaf to being a piece of furniture, and her passionate cry for deaf people to awaken from their graves, are incredibly moving and striking because her words are unique and her own.
REMEMBER.
We want to hear each individual’s unique voice and thoughts.
We want to know what it’s like to live in their shoes.
We want to hear what they believe is needed to change their circumstances.
REMEMBER YOU ARE A DIRECT CHANNEL FOR DISABLED PEOPLE’S VOICES. Part of your job is to bring the unique, raw
and real voices of disabled people out into the
spotlight. Capture these unusual voices and
encourage people to speak their own truth,
freely, openly and passionately!
3. EVERY STORY NEEDS A MAIN CHARACTER.
DISCUSSION. HOW DO YOU CURRENTLY FIND POTENTIAL STORIES?
HOW TO FIND CASE STUDIES.
DPO leaders, project support team, wellbeing interviews
Once you have interviewed a disabled person, just think: is there anyone around
them who could also bring an interesting perspective? Family members, neighbours
and friends can speak about the changes they’ve seen in that individual and how it
has changed them as well. This additional perspective will make the story richer and
intimate.
REMEMBER.
You want to find people who are memorable.
Who have had unusual journeys
Or who are particularly charismatic and articulate.
4. TELL STORIES OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE.
TELL STORIES OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE.
When you are gathering stories don’t shy away from failure or bury mistakes, instead
lay them out in the open and capture negative as well as positive feedback.
We build trust with donors, partners and the public when we are honest about
our failings, our learnings and our achievements.
Don’t underestimate how much people want to hear about how we have learned
from things that go wrong, how we’ve made adjustments to approaches or
programmes, or the urgent needs that still remain.
Development work is complex. Whilst we may have achieved progress in certain
areas, gather feedback on the obstacles and challenges that still remain.
5. BE AUTHENTIC
Your job is not to gather stories that
paint a pretty picture of success and
happiness but stories that express
authentic portraits of people’s reality.
As a story gatherer, you are providing
people with a window into an unseen
world. Paint accurate pictures about
what the problems are, how they impact
lives, how best to respond, what’s
worked and what’s still needed.
Knowing these allows us to also see
people’s potential, talents and strength.
Stories of people expressing resilience,
hope, courage and defiance to overcome
brutal circumstances are very inspiring,
even when the outcome isn’t positive.
6. GATHER STORIES FROMDIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
WE ARE SUCCESSFUL WHEN WE GET NON-DISABLED PEOPLE TO CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES TOO.
Gathering stories from non-disabled people who’ve been touched by our work is
therefore crucial to demonstrating our impact.
In the same way that the sun is orbited by planets, our work is orbited by lots of key
people including DPO members, their parents, partners, friends, children,
teachers, community leaders etc…
When collecting stories try to get input from as many perspectives as possible as it
gives a bigger view of the story.
CASE STUDY:GENDER BASED VIOLENCE PROJECT,GULU REGION, UGANDA
TEDDY, BENEFICARY AND DPO MEMBERWhen I married my first husband, his
family shunned me. They would ask,
“Why would you want to marry a
disabled girl?”
I was severely abused. It began
affecting my mind, my health.
DOROTHY, PROJECT MANAGERSometimes I get overwhelmed.
When you try to put yourself in someone
else’s shoes it can be painful.
Knowing that a woman is living this way,
that they are going through these traumas
every day, because they have a disability.
RICHARD, LOCAL POLICEMANBefore ADD’s training we didn’t know how
to handle disabled people. We just
neglected them. We would not even bother
to listen to them.
(Now) when we hear a disabled person is
being tortured we come in very fast.”
DISCUSS:READ THE FOLLOWING QUOTES. WHY ARE THEY GREAT STORIES?
Interviewer describing first impressions of
Margaret a disabled woman living with
HIV, Uganda.
‘We met Margaret in a village in Masaka; she is
a joyous, warm and welcoming lady, with a big
personality and an even bigger laugh.’
Interviewer describing the context of when
they met Faith, a visually impaired girl
from Uganda.
‘Faith lives in the slums of Gulu. She uses her
cane to navigate through narrow corridors of
open sewage and strewn rubbish, to her
single room with space enough for a mattress
and a scattering of personal belongings.’
Interviewer met Sam Sambeth, from
Cambodia, and asked her to describe school
life after becoming disabled.
‘Imagine that you are in the same class, doing the
same thing, but now, no one talks or plays with
you. I felt so lonely.
They saw me as a monster. Sometimes my tears
dropped. I told myself I will make a change in my
life someday.’
Interviewer met Eric, a blind boy from
Tanzania. It’s often hard to interview children,
but you can get a lot from just meeting them.
“The school year will start in January. Not for Eric
though, who is visually impaired. is able to enrol
him, because he needs extra support, trained
teachers and books in Braille.
Eric spends the day at his mother’s phone shop,
while she attends to customers, hoping that one
day his mum will tell him ‘Eric, you can go to
school now.’
But that day never comes.”
ADD International’s Country Director in Bangladesh,
Shafiqul Islam, recalls a chilling story of a young boy
neglected by his community.
‘I was in a village in a very rural area and I saw a boy who
had covered himself with a cloth and sat down in the yard
of his thatched house. I went to him and when I sat near
him I smelled a bad smell. His condition was very bad. It
seemed like he was near death. He couldn’t understand
anything, couldn’t hear anyone and if someone touched
him he felt pain and shouted. He was becoming raw-
boned and in a moribund state.
We roamed around the area of his village home. Many of
the villagers said that the house was caught by jinn (a bad
spirit).
No one goes to their house. The villagers think that if they
mix with the boy or with his family the jinn will catch their
children too. ADD International was able to show the
village that this was superstition. After getting him a
wheelchair, the boy was able to open a shop which
completely changed how he was perceived in the village.’