About the Workshop

As nonprofit organizations have become more active storytellers, we have observed many
examples of stories that fall into distinct ethical traps. This highly interactive 3-hour workshop
will cover the following topics to help individuals and organizations recognize and avoid these
traps going forward:

Part One – The Structure and Qualities of Memorable and Persuasive Stories
• Review of the three-act structure of dramatic narrative
• The 7 qualities that make stories memorable and persuasive
• How dramatic narrative differs from journalistic storytelling
• Homework: create an outline for your story

Part Two – Guidelines for Asset Framing and Storytelling Workshop
• Recognizing the “Broken Person” model of storytelling
• Deficit framing versus asset framing
• Case studies of successful asset framing
• Workshop: participants share stories at tables and as a full group
• Resource: a tool for obtaining “deep consent” for story subjects