Title reads 'Encouraging story sharing'. Logo of Global Grassroots Support Network' is on bottom right. Outline of person's head with a speech bubble.

Encouraging Story Sharing

By

Introduction

How do we make it accessible and support individuals to share their stories, especially if they do not feel safe doing so?

The above question was posed to members of the Global Grassroots Support Network (GGSN) and they have generously shared their insights with you below.

Community Answers

1. Identify the Purpose for Sharing and Risks Involved

I think it is helpful to firstly be clear on what people want to get out of it e.g. you can’t promise they’ll get a policy change from sharing their lived experience. You need to provide a high level of support with a focus appropriate to what the person wants to get out of it.

They’ll need different support (like comms training for the first one, or therapeutic support for the second one).

Don’t underestimate how emotional it might be even if they don’t expect it, include aftercare as part of the package.

Make sure there is a clear risk assessment and do it with the person so they can think through the risks and safety plan/ decide not to share their story.

Make sure they know there are options like being anonymous, using a fake name, using an animation or illustration rather than a photo or doing something creative that conveys the emotion of the event but not the details.

My old work made a video to help young people think about boundaries and sharing stories here: SOS – amplifying the voices of young people | Safelives. 

2. Increase Accessibility with Options and Templates

Provide lots of options and templates to increase accessibility. I have 2 thoughts that I hope will be helpful.

Accessibility

The first one is around accessibility. Accessibility and storytelling, I find, is often synonymous with having options. You can submit a video, or you can create art, or you can write a reflection piece. Have multiple entry points into what it means to be telling your story.

Everyone tells stories differently, especially when it’s something that’s very personal for them. Some of those things might feel safe, while others don’t. That lets people self-select which avenue they will pursue.

Say for my child to convey how they felt in a moment, when they might not have the words to totally capture it, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Additionally, some people might feel safe to have their personhood connected to that story, while others might not. So, being able to select yes, you can share this with my name. Yes, you can share this without my name… give them this option as well.

Templates

The other thought that I was having is if you’re trying to support people to tell their story, I often find that helping people with templates of how they might start approaching their story is helpful. There’s one template in the sustainability world in Canada, that has this beautiful impact storytelling template for how you make it personal. This is how you connect it to the outcome that you want. And this is how you make it succinct.

Having that ability to support them can be really empowering for people in a storytelling space that might otherwise be really overwhelming.

In sum: Accessibility means having options; take a photo, draw a picture, write an account, etc. It means offering different avenues for conveying experience.

Some people feel safe having personhood attached but some not, being anonymous should be an option. Offering templates is helpful when trying to get folks to share. There are ‘impact storytelling’ templates online that can be empowering for people. 

One important element when sharing someone else’s story is having their free and informed consent, making sure people understand why and how their stories might be shared and what the impact might be.

Ensuring they’re completely happy and comfortable, and that consent can be withdrawn at any point (but pointing out that anything published could live even if removed from social media/website/new printing). 

Use consent forms, but how it is explained in the form is crucial. There is a written version that can be explained/adapted to each situation.

See this example: Sharing your story with Amnesty International

Attribution 

Input and resources for this guide were provided by: 

  1. Safe Lives
  2. Amnesty International

About Knowledge Round Ups

Knowledge roundups are created in response to questions raised by members of the Global Grassroots Support Network (GGSN). The GGSN is an initiative building upon the Blueprints for Change* project. The GGSN is building a community of practice that brings together projects supporting grassroots justice-oriented** activist groups in multiple regions and continents. The objective is to share knowledge around common challenges that these groups face, and how each project has solved for them. Questions are raised to other GGSN members to compile the knowledge and resources we have to respond. 

Explore Further

Share Resource

Share on LinkedIn

Topics:

Collection:

Tags:

Format:


image Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND

Contact a Commons librarian if you would like to connect with the author

Topics