Can't Send Short Term Trips: Tip 5: Share Stories

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Can't Send Short Term Trips?

Tip #5 - Share Stories

Big Picture: Stories are powerful and they are what people remember... share them well and often! Sharing a story well brings glory to God.

Stories are powerful things... many refer to stories as the language of the heart. I think we can all relate to hearing someone share some life experiences and all we walk away with are the stories they shared. Stories just work like that. They become anchors for us to recall purpose and meaning.

Well, this is one prime season for you to be capturing and sharing stories! As you work on how you engage your audience during this season, focus your messages around certain stories. We recommend you consider making 80% or more of your messaging focused around your stories. Let’s unpack a few ideas for how to do this well.

  • Ask for Stories - this is a great season to reach out to past participants AND your partners to ask for stories about what’s happened in the past so you can intentionally share about the shared impact you are having.
  • Then & Now - capture stories from the past but also from what’s happening around
  • us right now. Remember you want to keep the fire alive for your global work but also you’re shifting to engaging local as well. Balance these two perspectives.
  • Participants & Partners - it’s great to share stories from both the perspective of your trip participants but also your partners. Both can share impact, lessons learned, and invite others into similar experiences.
  • Give Direction - it’s not just asking people to share stories, it’s also giving them direction on how. Consider giving them some examples, ideal length, and key questions to cover in their story.
  • Pictures - it’s always better to tie a story with a picture so people can feel even more like they are there with the person in that story and experiencing things with them. Pictures also help bring greater visual appeal to the reader.
  • Create a Story Blog - use tools like ServiceReef to build a combined story blog from all of your stories so these populate in one place for people to read. A story blog can be a powerful way for people to explore on their own.
  • Drip Stories - incorporate these into your communication strategy and create some drip schedule (ex: every other week’s stories) to your members. Of course, it’s more information to receive but it’s also encouraging news

 

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