2. Storytelling Conversation Guide (45 minutes) A strong story will help persuade more people to sign and share your petition In this conversation you’ll be able to work together to update the story in your petition. 1. Catch up! (10 minutes) ❏ Any new developments on your petition since you last spoke? ❏ Did you manage to get 5 friends to sign it? 2. Find your story (20 minutes)
A good movie grabs and holds our attention because it includes all the elements of successful storytelling. Petitions are no different! Who are the “Characters” involved in the petition? And what are their goals? This might be yourself, but could also be people you know, people that would benefit most from the change, or other people involved? Make a quick list of the main characters: ______________________ / ______________________ / ______________________ People are most interested in characters who strive to achieve something when it is difficult for them. Discussion: What do your characters want for the future? What obstacles are standing in their way? Example: Jasmine is 6 years‐old. When she grows up she wants to be an athlete. But she doesn’t even have a local park to run around in now.
Here’s some space for you to write your ideas. You may wish to change the character your petition focuses on if you think they have a more engaging goal or story: How high are the stakes? ”Stakes” are: what we hope for, and what we fear. The higher and more concrete the stakes, the more compelling the story.
Example: There are hundreds of kids like Jasmine in the area, and traffic on our main roads is increasing. If we don’t get a park, we’ll continue to see children playing on dangerous roads.
What would happen for your main character if your petition wins? What would happen for your main character if your petition doesn’t win? Now take a few minutes to bring your character, goal and stakes together into a full Petition Story. Example: Watch how Laura has shaped her story on this petition: change.org/righttotry
When you’re done, update the section “Why is this important?” on your petition on Change.org
3. Review your image! ( 5 minutes) Now your have updated your story, you may want to think about changing your image.
Along with your headline, your image will be the first thing that readers see. Your image is also the image that will be seen when people share your petition on social media. Find one of your own photos that captures the emotion of your petition. Photos of people or animals work well. I f you don’t have one to hand, use sites like Flickr or Google Images .
Before your next conversation... ❏ Share your petition on your own social media pages, or ask 5 friends to share on theirs ❏ Try to find the email address of the DecisionMaker Next time: We’ll come up with some ideas about how to grow your petition and get it seen widely!