The power of human stories: how to be an authentic storyteller
Corporate Partners: £225+vat
Small charity (income up to £1m) and freelancers: £200+vat
Medium charity (income £1-5m): £250+vat
Large charity (income £5m - 10m): £285+vat
Super large charity (income £10m+): £315+vat
Corporate/Public sector: £400+vat
This venue is wheelchair accessible.
This conference is now fully booked. To be added to the waiting list, please email Sarah Cutress.
From the beginnings of language, stories have helped us understand ourselves and the world around us. They have a place in every culture and create a sense of community among listeners and tellers.
Charities have an abundance of incredible stories, that if told well, can spark imagination, passion and the most loyal support. They can also help charities to bring people together and solidify abstract concepts and complex messages.
However, behind every story is a person with real fears, hopes, vulnerabilities and futures. As charity comms professionals we must tell stories honestly, openly and authentically, all the while protecting the people who lend us their stories.
With a range of talks, workshops and peer discussions this conference will explore the ethical considerations and practical techniques for finding, crafting and telling your stories. See below for the full agenda.
Refreshments and snacks will be provided during the breaks and there’ll be a two-course networking lunch.
Who is this for?
This conference will suit most comms professionals looking to develop their storytelling skills. Especially useful for anyone newish to finding and representing human stories in their communications. Also relevant to anyone wishing to evaluate their charity’s overall approach to finding and protecting their case studies. Relevant job titles include press managers, copywriters, case study writers or content and comms officers and managers.
Have a question about the content? Please get in touch with Emma. Have a question about the event in general? Please get in touch with Harri.
On the agenda
Streams:
- The psychology of storytelling: the principles and techniques that help us connect
- The people behind your stories: how to discover, protect and develop relationships
- Content and channels: choosing and using different mediums for storytelling
- Brand: developing the story of your organisation
09.30 - 10.00 | Registration, refreshments and advice surgeries |
10.00 - 10.10 | Welcome and introduction Location: Illuminate Suite
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10.10 - 11.15 | Insights from the people whose stories we borrow Location: Illuminate Suite Real human stories are what bring our content to life and allow audiences to understand and connect with the causes we care about. In this session, we’ll hear directly from the people whose stories we borrow. We’ll hear about their experiences, challenges and perceptions and learn how we can better support them. Telling their stories:
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11.15 - 11.20 | Peer discussions Location: Illuminate Suite |
11.20 - 11.45 | Refreshments and advice surgeries
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11.45 - 12.25 | Breakout session one |
The people behind your stories | 1a. The people behind your pictures- telling complete stories Location: Illuminate Suite Every photograph or piece of film is a snapshot of someone’s life – it captures a unique part of the person, forever held at a moment in time. These images can cut through the noise and tell a complete story, humanising a whole issue. But when charities get imagery wrong, it can have a deep and lasting impact on public perception, cause and the people behind the images. Join this session for some fascinating insights and practical advice for creating impactful and ethical imagery.
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The psychology of storytelling | 1b. The psychology of storytelling Location: Smile 1 Stories aren’t just fun – they’re essential to what makes us human. The right story can shift attitudes, sell products and swing elections. By understanding the role storytelling has played in human evolution, we can learn how to identify and craft highly effective messages. This session will show you how, give you practical tips and include four, maybe five, good jokes.
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Brand | 1c. Creating and activating Scope’s brand story Location: Smile 2 Scope became Disability Gamechangers in the summer of 2018, with a new brand to achieve equality for all disabled people. This included giving the charity a new brand story and personality, inspired by brand archetypes and challenger brand narratives. Then bringing the story to life with individual human stories of inequality and empowerment. Danielle will share the tale of how they created and brought Scope’s new brand story to life.
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Content and channels | 1d. Reaching new audiences with storytelling on Instagram and IGTV Location: Smile 3 Not only is Instagram a complete powerhouse in the social world, it is the perfect medium for charities to tell their stories and engage new audiences. In this session, Oscar will share insights about the great storytelling work WaterAid is doing on Instagram Stories and IGTV. From the technical aspects of using this platform to how they opened it up to their field officers from around the world to tell the real stories of the communities they work with. There will also be an opportunity to discuss Instagram with your peers.
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12.35 - 13.15 | Breakout session two |
The psychology of storytelling | 2a. Who cares anyway? Developing shareable content Location: Illuminate Suite Your story is worth telling, so why does no one care? Connecting with audiences has never been so tough with complete fragmentation of media and a world in flux. It’s not enough just to have a good story – you have to tell it in a way that will grab attention and encourage action. This talk looks to explore best practice for engaging storytelling; outlining top tips and inclusions to hook new audiences, reconnect with old ones and ultimately cut through the noise. There will also be an opportunity to work in groups on your own ideas.
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The people behind your stories | 2b. Co-creating content with the real people in your stories Location: Smile 1 Amputation. Blindness. Both potential complications of Diabetes that are hard to engage with. Diabetes UK needed to develop sensitive and hard-hitting content without turning people off. From user testing to handing over video cameras to people with Diabetes, in this session, we’ll learn how they develop their content with real people at every stage. There will be an opportunity for you to discuss the challenges of co-creation with your peers. Jemma Sullivan, senior brand manager, Diabetes UK
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Content and channels | 2c. Finding new ways to tell vulnerable young people’s stories Location: Smile 2 The Children’s Society helps some of the most vulnerable people in our communities – young people in crisis. In this session, we’ll learn how the team find and fiercely protect the young people that feature in their campaigns. From finding the right stories and developing a robust consent process to ensuring anonymity while preserving authenticity– we will hear the inside story. David and Rachel will offer their advice for other organisations walking the fine balance between developing hard-hitting content and protecting the people who lend us their stories.
Rachel Reay,content editor, The Children's Society |
Brand | 2d. Bringing your brand to life: helping people to tell their stories honestly Location: Smile 3 In 2017, Arthritis Research UK and Arthritis Care joined forces to become Versus Arthritis. One of the charity’s priorities is to change the public perception and dialogue about arthritis, so that people living with daily pain, fatigue and isolation get the support they need. As they built the new brand and first campaign, the comms team realised that people with arthritis found it difficult to tell their stories honestly, because they were so used to their condition being dismissed. In this session, Shree will share their challenges and successes as they co-created powerful and authentic content with the people whose stories they borrowed to bring their new brand to life.
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13.15 - 14.15 | Lunch and advice surgeries
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14.15 - 15.15 | Breakout three |
The psychology of storytelling | 3a. From raw content to stand out stories Location: Illuminate Suite Storytelling is one of the most important skills for charities there is. But where do you begin? How do you take your raw content and turn it into a simple story that resonates with your audience? This practical workshop provides some tried and tested techniques to get you started with storytelling. And to help you create stories that are persuasive, easily understood, and remembered.
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Content and channels | 3b. How to tell stories on social media Location: Smile 1 There are plenty of social tools that can help you convey emotion, authenticity and immediacy in a short period of time. From Snapchat to Facebook, most social channels now offer a stories format. In this session, we’ll hear how the RNLI is creating effective storytelling campaigns on social media using a combination of both shorter and longer formats, plus Rich will offer his top tips for how your charity can do the same. There will also be an opportunity for group discussions with your peers.
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Brand | 3c. Brand personality: a chance to develop your own brand story Location: Smile 2 Strong brands should have a clear point of difference to stand out from the crowd. One way to differentiate your brand is via your personality. In this workshop, we’ll be building on the earlier session (breakout one with Scope) giving you the opportunity to learn about the theory of brand archetypes and challenger brand narratives. You’ll also have the chance to apply the theory with some practical exercises which will see you developing your own brand personality and story to compete with the market leaders. Watch out Goliath!
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The people behind your stories | 3d. Supporting people with lived experience to tell their own stories Location: Smile 3 As charity comms and marketing people we often tell our beneficiaries’ stories on their behalf. But in the right situation, it can be so much more powerful for people with lived experience to tell their story themselves. In this session, we’ll learn how as comms professionals we can help increase the confidence and skills of often vulnerable people to share their stories in a way that is going to be empowering and beneficial to them as well as impactful for your charity.
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15.25 - 16.10 | Breakout four |
The psychology of storytelling | 4a. How to unleash your inner storyteller – tips from the arts Location: Illuminate Suite Join this interactive workshop run by narrative coach and playwright – Robert Holtom. From plot to character to world-building, you’ll learn the fundamentals of storytelling, and be shown how to apply these skills to your work in communications. Robert will also show you some simple techniques for unleashing your creative side.
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The people behind your stories | 4b. Channelling stories up from the frontline – establishing lines of communication Location: Smile 1 In this session, we’ll hear from the amazing storytellers at Anthony Nolan. Beth and Hayley will showcase some extraordinary films and give us the lowdown on the work behind the scenes – how they found their stories from the frontline and developed relationships with the people they belong to. We’ll also hear how they’re getting staff at Anthony Nolan to buy into storytelling to ensure the communications and fundraising teams have incredible stories to inspire and move people to action.
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The people behind your stories | 4c. Photography: staying on the right side of the law and protecting your subjects Location: Smile 2 With little information about the impact of GDPR on photography, it can be tricky to know whether we’re taking unnecessary steps, missing steps completely or have all bases covered. Girlguiding has done extensive work around this topic. In this session, we’ll hear about how GDPR has changed the way their organisation approaches photoshoots, how they interpreted GDPR and some different approaches that can be taken to be GDPR compliant. We’ll also hear about their logistical considerations on the day and how they store images and consent forms post-shoot. You’ll come away armed with an action sheet to fill in for your own charity.
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Content and channels | 4d. How can we bring authentic stories to life on-screen? Location: Smile 3 Charities have access to a goldmine of authentic stories. Morever will share their experience of working with contributors to find those stories. We will explore the different techniques we can employ to tell those authentic stories… taking in film, mixed media approaches and stop frame animation. Join us for a fun and thoughtful session.
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16.10 - 16.35 | Refreshments and advice surgeries
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16.35 - 17.15 | Panel session: Creating a culture of storytelling within your organisation Location: Illuminate Suite Telling powerful stories about its work is essential for any charity. Whether it’s to drive donation, communicate impact or highlight help and support available, storytelling should be a focus for the whole organisation. Too often, it’s a real struggle and becomes the remit of a department or person. In this interactive panel discussion, we’ll hear from charities who’ve made storytelling a part of their culture and gain practical tips on how to embed storytelling as a skillset and priority within your organisation.
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17.15 | Close |