Our Rotary story is our most powerful tool. Without an interesting narrative, the motivation that drives others to support our work is lost. Think about your own club, and how your projects and events fit within the bigger story of Rotary. This session will focus on applying storytelling and marketing principles to help you tell your story with more consistency and greater impact — leading to better outcomes for your projects and events.
1. YOUR ROTARY STORY
YOUR SECRET WEAPON
The best way to bring people in
and have them empathise with
others is through storytelling
~ Pixar’s Lee Unkrich
WILL BASSETT
#rotaract19 #rotary19
2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WILL BASSETT
Communications, marketing and events professional
(10+ years)
In Rotaract from 2010, and Rotary from 2018
Currently working for Queensland state government
education department
From a small country town in Australia, where it’s all
about community
4. Five elements to
a good story
2
Applying these to
your projects
3 Common pitfalls
4
Setting the scene:
Rotary, your club,
and you
1
SESSION
OVERVIEW
5. “After nourishment, shelter and
companionship, stories are the thing we
need most in the world.”
~ Phillip Pullman
6. SETTING THE SCENE
All elements of your story must
make sense
Start by doing a stocktake of club
projects and events
Align to Rotary International theme,
and six areas of focus
7. “Structure is the most important thing of all, I
think, in writing. You may think of a marvellous
plot, but unless you know how to structure it,
which bit goes where and where, you won't
get the full impact of it.”
~ Beryl Bainbridge
8. WHOSE POINT OF VIEW?
Who is telling the story?
What is the personality of your club?
Describe it in 5 words.
9. YOUR TURN
Choose a project, and write down:
What do you do?
How do you do it, or get others to
support you?
Why do you do it?
10. NOW FLIP IT AROUND
We bring some hope into the lives of disadvantaged children
at Christmas, and help them realise that somewhere out
there, someone cares about them.
Club members volunteer their time to the charity each year.
We coordinate gift-giving elves, and organises presents to be
wrapped and delivered.
Further viewing: Simon Sinek ‘Why’
11. "Constant reading will pull you into a place
where you can write eagerly and without self
consciousness... look at great examples that
move you, and figure out why.”
~ Stephen King
12. FIVE KEY ELEMENTS TO
A GOOD STORY
CONNECTION CHARACTERS CONFLICT RESOLUTION CALL TO ACTION
21. CONFLICT
A sense of urgency, or something needed
to be fixed
Content that makes readers feel positive /
wonder / awe is more likely to take off
There is a limit to reality that people can cope
with – so keep it proactive, and hopeful
29. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN
Use these five elements for your project/event:
Connection. What is going to make people
care/show interest?
Characters. Who is your champion?
Resolution. What is the desired outcome?
Call to action. What do you want people to do?
Conflict. What is your project trying to solve?
31. 1. Having an over-reliance on data
10 COMMON PITFALLS
OF STORYTELLING
2. No compelling visual
3. No clear reason (the ‘huh?’ factor)
4. No context - link to the larger context
32. 5. No protagonist - organisations can’t be
the hero
6. Slick video doesn’t equal a great story!
7. Solo storytellers - this is the job of
everyone!
10 COMMON PITFALLS
OF STORYTELLING
33. 10 COMMON PITFALLS
OF STORYTELLING
8. Focussing on the tools - ‘OMG, let’s
gram it!’
9. Storytelling isn’t a one-time deal
10.Light touch! Not too heavy or long.
It’s not War and Peace
34. “The whole point of writing is to spread ideas.
To make ourselves better understood. To that end,
we should do all we can do to write simply.
To make our writing plain and easy to understand.”
~ Steve Chatterton
The Science of Simple Writing
35. “Our vision is to bring rebellious mentoring
to every campus in the world, and see
every university student across the earth
mentoring high school kids who are being
left behind.”
BRING IT ALL TOGETHER
Australian Indigenous
Mentoring Experience
37. Five elements to
a good story
2
Applying these to
your projects
3 Common pitfalls
4
Setting the scene:
Rotary, your club,
and you
1
SESSION
OVERVIEW What Next?
38. YOUR ROTARY STORY
YOUR SECRET WEAPON
Don’t forget to
rate this session
in the Rotary
Events mobile
app
WILL BASSETT
#rotaract19 #rotary19
The end…