Introduction
These narrative/story resources including guides, worksheets and templates provide guidance to progressives who are seeking to intervene and shift narratives to support social and ecological justice. Many of these resources are of a general nature, able to be applied to many different issues. For issue specific messaging guides (such as economic justice, climate justice, homelessness, and much more) see Framing Issues for Social Justice Impact: Directory of Messaging Guides.
Reports and Guides
Story Based Strategy 101
Center for Story Based Strategy, [US], 2017, [Overview]
An accessible guide to story-based strategy in movement building.
Re:Imagining Change: How to use story-based strategy to win campaigns, build movements, and change the world
Center for Story Based Strategy, PM Press, [US], 2010, [Book]
A book including tools, pragmatic lessons and case studies on harnessing the power of narrative, culture, and imagination to help our movements win.
Guide to Public Narrative from the Leading Change Network
Leading Change Network, [US], 2022, [Guide]
This is a curated a guide on Public Narrative from the Leading Change Network based on the works of Marshall Ganz. The guide has many resource links to why stories matter and examples of the story of self, us and now. One can also learn public narrative on this online video course by Marshall Ganz.
The Features of Narratives: A Model of Narrative Form for Social Change Efforts
Frameworks Institute, [US], 2021, [Report]
This report introduces a model of narrative form for use in social change work, defining the elements and identifying the patterns in stories that comprise the narrative form.
From Megaphone to Mosaic: Five Principles for Narrative Communications
Thomas Coombes, 2020, [Article]
How can civil society groups and charities apply narrative work in practice? Based on our work with migration groups in the UK during the pandemic, we believe a crucial step is more narrative synergy between organisations that share the same values. Scroll right to the end for practical steps and more information about how you can get involved in collective narrative change.
How Do We Frame Ourselves out of this Mess?
Public Interest Research Centre PIRC, [UK], 2018, [Report]
Social movements across Europe face some common framing challenges. PIRC asked over 200 campaigners—environmentalists, feminists, anti-racists, new economists, and many more—what we’re up against, analysed the trends and pulled together the key lessons.
Messaging this Moment: A Handbook for Progressive Communicators
Anat Shenker Osorio, Center for Community Change, [US], 2017, [Guide]
The rise of Trumpism has challenged progressives and is an existential threat to economic justice, racial and gender equality, a livable planet and global peace. The message and narrative challenges of the moment are critical and foreboding. This handbook is the culmination of a set of trainings, technical support and coaching for a talented array of communications professionals across the progressive landscape. Watch this video [Link not found 21March2022] about the guide.
Storytelling and Social Change: A guide for activists, organizations and social entrepreneurs
Working Narratives, [US], 2016, [Guide]
A guide for organizers, organizations, activists, artists, storytellers, social entrepreneurs, and anyone else who wants to create positive social change. The guide is bookended by an introduction and an afterword. In between, you’ll find thirty-two short chapters divided into four color-coded sections. The strategy section is about how to use storytelling to best effect in service of your cause. The storytelling section offers ideas on how to tell a good story. The methods section covers some techniques in storytelling. And the structure section looks at practical questions of how to incorporate storytelling into your everyday work. Following these sections is a series of case studies of foundation and nonprofit partners from the first edition of the guide.
Vision, Values, and Voice: A Communications Toolkit
The Opportunity Agenda, [US], 2013, [Toolkit]
This kit provides guidance for developing values-based messages that engage core audiences, disrupt dominant narratives, and help shape the public dialogue. In addition to big picture thinking about communications strategy, you will also find tips and examples of a range of tactics, and concrete messaging guidance in the form of “opportunity flashcards” which provide short and easy-to-find advice and sample language on a range of social justice issues. This resource is for those working to influence public thinking about social justice issues over the long-term while also crafting effective short-term campaigns.
Worksheets, Templates and Checklists
Worksheets, templates and checklists produced for specific issues / campaigns that are useful for any narrative project you may be developing.
Worksheets – Butterfly Lab Narrative Design Toolkit
Helpful and well designed worksheet templates from the Butterfly Lab.
- Narrative Pyramid Worksheet: helps you shape, refine, and align your narrative strategy
- Audience Worksheet: helps you get as specific as possible about your audiences
- Goals Worksheet: helps you clarify both your narrative and project goals
- Form Worksheet: helps you brainstorm what form your narrative project will take
- Design Star Strategy Alignment Worksheet: helps you ensure that all of the elements in your narrative project are aligned
- Narrative Hypothesis & Impact Measurement: helps you rationalize and predict the impact you hope your narrative project will have
- Step-by-Step Narrative Project Design Guide: brings all your design elements together, engage a last round of revisions and iterations, and finalize your project details
- Narrative System and Ecosystem: helps you align narratives across an ecosystem
The Story Canvas Template – Digital Storytellers
The Story Canvas is a template and/or online form from the Digital Storytellers which guides you to fill in the right ingredients to make a powerful story.
Rapid Response Worksheet: A framework for advancing narrative strategy in the face of a crisis or breaking news development
The rapid response worksheet from Narrative Initiative enables you to use a strategic communications framework for advancing narrative strategy in the face of a crisis or other breaking news development.
Worksheets – Broke Project
Well designed worksheets from the Broke Project including Self-Care for Storytellers (or, Your Story Is Yours), How to Put Systems in Your Stories, A Rubric for Telling Better Stories: Should You Tell That Story? and Finding Meaningful Calls to Action.
Worksheets – Design your own framing project, PIRC
First in a series of Framing Climate Justice worksheets, designed to support those working for climate justice to run their own framing and communications projects. Take or leave what you need from these, and adapt the process to work for you.
Exercises and Templates – Greenpeace
PDFs of templates and exercises including Story Template, Characters of the Story, Hierarchy of Frames, Exercise: Audience Understanding
Worksheet – Who What How: Narrative Strategy for Issue Campaigns
Use this worksheet from the Narrative Initiative to help ensure that issue campaigns have a strategic, nimble, long-term vision and plan.
Template – System Map
Use this worksheet template from Mobilisation Lab to determine how you will talk about your campaign to inspire and motivate people to take action.
Worksheets – Story of Self
Two worksheets from Campaign Bootcamp UK based on the work of Marshall Ganz.
- Story of Self: My Boundaries
This handout helps you establish your storytelling boundaries. lt will help you be in control of what you share so you can look after yourselves whilst telling empowering and politically useful stories. The inner circle is the full story, including the things that you would only want yourself to know. This might include very personal or emotional details, The middle circle is the level of detail you are happy sharing with people you trust. This might include friends or your campaigning group. The outer circle is the carefully picked details that you don’t mind the world knowing. You might use this in interviews, social media, or other parts of your campaign strategy. - Story of Self, Story of Us, Story of Now
Your “Story of Self” is a story that moves other people to take action It might include things about why you started caring about your campaign issue, your core values, or the world you hope to see. Remember – it’s up to you what parts of your experience you share with who.
Call to Action Worksheet
Use this worksheet template from Mobilisation Lab to determine how you will talk about your campaign to inspire and motivate people to take action.
Checklist – Telling a New Story: A Collaborative Checklist for Social Justice Leaders Using Narrative Strategies for Change
This checklist was developed to provide social justice leaders at every level with a set of guiding principles and a checklist that ensures, above all else, our messaging and framing strategies do not sacrifice each other in the social change process.
Visual Storytelling
Projecting Power: Visual Strategy for Movements
Webinars from PowerLabs on visual strategy to help you make a plan to create the images we need to win. You’ll be ready to tell a bolder story in the street, maximizing threat to power and making actions more welcoming and joyful.
Podcasts
Words to Win By
Words to Win By, formerly called Brave New Words, takes listeners on a journey around the globe with renowned communications researcher and campaign advisor Anat Shenker-Osorio as she unpacks real-world narrative shifts that led to real-world victories.
Shifting the Narrative is a limited podcast series about changing the dominant narrative around critical social and cultural issues. Over five episodes, we examine case studies where individuals worked together to change how society views the death penalty, poverty, and guns. And based on this, what lessons can we learn to apply to other campaigns?
Faces of Change, Leading Change Network
Faces of Change with Marshall Ganz is a podcast that explores the stories of people developing leadership and enabling communities to create change all over the world. Throughout the world people who have accepted responsibility for leadership, their communities, and their allies are stepping up with courage and showing us that change is possible. In Faces of Change, Marshall sits down with those leaders each month to explore how they were called to leadership, how they organize their communities, and how they’re building the power their people need to achieve real change
Explore Further
- Framing Issues for Social Justice Impact: Directory of Messaging Guides
- Frame the Debate: Insights from Don’t Think of an Elephant!
- The Common Cause Handbook: A Guide to Values and Frames
- Narrating Change During ‘Psychic Breaks’
- Encouraging Story Sharing
- Transforming Narrative Waters: Growing the practice of deep narrative change in the UK