 My name is Kirby Dunn. I'm the executive director of HomeShare Vermont. I'm also the board president of the National Shared Housing Resource Center. And the National Shared Housing Resource Center is a co-sponsor of this training today. And the center is a network of independent home sharing programs around the country. And our goals are to raise awareness of home sharing and the benefits of home sharing to encourage best practices and networking among programs and also to foster the development of new programs. And that's the main reason why we're here today. This is the first ever training for new home sharing programs. And we're really excited to have you here in Burlington, Vermont, today. We did the training because last year we developed a resource guide for new program development with the National Center. We did this because we get dozens of calls each month from around the country. People want information about starting a program. And because we know that home sharing programs are difficult to start and grow, we know that 50% of home sharing programs that open are not around in five years. Home Share Vermont is offering this training to use our 35-plus years of experience to help other programs succeed. I am pleased to report that for the first time in a decade we are seeing a real growth in home sharing programs across the country. California alone has experienced a tripling of programs in just a few years. Across the country, 18 states now have home sharing programs. Home sharing is also growing across the globe. 15 years ago, there were six countries with a home sharing program. At the sixth International Home Share Congress in Belgium this year, team countries were represented. The United Kingdom has developed an amazing national association that provides training and quality assurance standards for home sharing programs. And we hope to try and learn from their success. The resource guide in this training are first step in that direction. We're not going to do individual introductions. A lot of you have met each other in the breakfast time, so that's great. At lunchtime, we will do some introductions and talk a little more detail about the program that's to come for the next two days. But I want to highlight a co-sponsor of ours today. We're here for Media and Democracy. We'll be filming our workshop this morning. And we will make that available to you once it's been edited. Many thanks to Media and Democracy staff and board members who are here today. This evening, we're celebrating their 35th anniversary, a major accomplishment. We're so grateful that they took time out of their busy day to join us for this. Could you raise your hands if you're with Media and Democracy? I also want to give you a sense of everyone who's here. So let's see what we can do with some hand raising. If you're from outside of Vermont, raise your hands. How about if you're from Canada, raise your hand. Do you share a home or have shared a home through Home Share Vermont? Raise your hands. What if you're a board member or a volunteer with a Home Sharing program or a hope-to-be Home Sharing program? For a Home Share program. You're getting paid by a Home Sharing program. And if you are a Home Sharing supporter in one way or another, raise your hands. Just some logistics. If you can put your phones on vibrate, that would be great. The bathrooms are in the hallway. If you need to use them, please feel free. Today's schedule, we're going to have lunch at 12.35. This workshop will go until almost then. Our Home Share hosts are staying for lunch and some of our volunteers and our national program people that are here for the full two days. So welcome. Half of us will probably be leaving after this part of the workshop. They're here as our guests today. Those of you who are staying for the two days, you have a through-and-binder. We'll talk about that over lunch and what's in there. So our role as a Home Sharing program is to offer a comprehensive screening and matching service as well as ongoing support during a match. We're going to go into great detail over the next two days on how to do that. This two-day training is really based on the Home Share Vermont service delivery model and what we have found to work. Use this information as a starting point and modify it according to what works for your organization in developing your Home Share program. But first, we want to talk about storytelling. One of the greatest challenges for any Home Sharing program is to get people to share their homes. You wouldn't think so. You would think if you build it, they will come. But I'm here to tell you they won't. We've got to go out and get them to come. We know from an AARP Vermont survey of Burlington residents age 45 and above, the majority of people don't want to share their homes. And we know from that survey that as people get older, they're less likely to want to share their homes. Counterintuitive, isn't it? But when you think about it, maybe not. When we think about Home Sharing, it's something that is a great idea. Nobody loves it, but it's always sometimes for someone else, not for us. The biggest barriers from that survey we found out, the biggest barriers to Home Sharing for people are things you would think of, but we had to be told this through a survey. People are concerned about privacy, lack of privacy, by sharing their homes. They're concerned about safety and security. And they're concerned about compatibility, and the right person to live with. And those are all things that Home Sharing programs can address. So this is doable, people. This is doable. We have about four times as many people looking for housing as we have homes available, so our greatest challenge is, and continues to be, to find the right home-sharers and to encourage more people to share their homes. So this is why we have invited Andy Goodman here to kick off this training. Part of new program development planning must be focused on how you will gain community support and recruit great Home Share candidates. Not just any Home Share candidates, but we want great Home Share candidates. Today we have with us, hopefully, 10 current and former Home Share hosts who share their homes. We hope to learn from them why they chose to Home Share and how this can help us tell others to do this as well. So because this is storytelling, I know I have to tell my story here, so I will do this, bear my soul a little here. I share my home through the program, and I decided to share my home, maybe, I don't know, a decade ago when I was working for the program and I had an aging mom who lived two towns over and had early Alzheimer's and I was running back and forth, taking care of her and I had just been through a separation, so I was also taking care of a house and pets in the yard and I was trying to do a full-time job and I was really kind of at my wits end. So I decided to share my home to get someone to live with me so that that person can help me with the house and the pets and I could focus on my mom and on my job. And it worked amazingly well. I had that woman living with me for about two and a half years. My mom passed away during that time, but I was able to spend three months sleeping at the congress home in my mom's room every night while she was dying and I was able to get to work during the day and come home for periodic showers once in a while to my own house and really that was a gift in my life that I was able to do that and I don't know how or if I could have done that if I didn't have somebody taking care of the home and the pets. So HomeShare is a minor miracle in my life and continues to be a wonderful experience and I'm telling you this because I'm hoping that by the end of our workshop today you will all become HomeShare ambassadors. You will think about sharing possibly your home or telling someone else about HomeShare. So I heard Andy Goodman speak at a national conference last year and I was blown away. I knew then that I wanted to bring him to Vermont. So with no further ado, I'd like you to welcome Andy Goodman. Good morning everybody. Good morning. So I want to talk to you about the importance of telling stories but before I tell you anything about that or me I want to find out something about you. So I've got a question for you. Right now today when you talk to other people about HomeSharing I'm curious how often are you already telling stories? I appreciate the enthusiasm. I'm going to put four choices up here. Take a look at the four choices and then I'm going to ask you to raise your hands and we'll do a quick survey of the room. So your first choice is rarely or never. You're a data person. If that's who you are that's fine. You can just own that. Second choice is occasionally. You're what I call story curious. Maybe you experimented with it in college. I don't know. Third choice is frequently. You really do tell stories on a pretty regular basis and your fourth choice is all the time and you're thinking do I even need to stay for this session? Right? So given those four choices and please be honest I really do want to get a sense of the room anybody rarely or never just not something I do. Anybody rarely or never? Thank you for your honesty. I appreciate it. How about occasionally? Every once in a while, okay? Who would say frequently? That's a good number. And anybody all the time? Yes, yes. Good. Okay, you all the time people you can go. Just come back at 12.30 for lunch. Well I'm actually I'm gratified to see so many of you in the frequently and the all the time category because the other reason I do that survey is by the time we're done today by the time I leave at 12.30 and you continue on with the rest of the conference I would like everybody in this room to feel like I have to be in the all the time category. That this tool, too powerful, too valuable for me not to be finding a way to use it every day. So that's what I'm shooting for. So now a little bit more about my background because you're probably wondering well that's fine what qualifies you to teach me about storytelling which is a fair question. So here's my CV. I was educated at the Walt Disney Jim Henson School of Storytelling and if you're thinking to yourself gosh I didn't know there was a Walt Disney Jim Henson School of Storytelling there isn't I just made that up. However back in the 90s there was a television show on the ABC network for three seasons that was a Walt Disney Jim Henson co-production and I was a writer on that show for three seasons. So if you want to learn a thing or two about telling stories you could do worse than to work with the Walt Disney and Jim Henson people they know a thing or two about telling a good story. And if you're wondering well what show was that well this was 20 years ago and this being a room full of intelligent thoughtful caring adults you probably never saw it but just for the record it was a show called Dinosaurs on ABC. Anybody remember this show? Yes? Really? Where were you 20 years ago? Somebody's already shouted out but you've proven my point. Here's a funny thing about this show. Like I said I was one of eight writers on this show and we the writers thought we were writing this very witty social satire using dinosaurs to make fun of human foibles but 20 years later when I meet people who remember the show the only thing they seem to remember is that the baby dinosaur that came out of that egg used to refer to its mother as mama and would refer to its father as? See I'm embarrassed for you. For those of you who may not remember here's a quick clip. See like I said witty social satire. So I worked on that. Somebody's getting a call. Sorry it's so loud. So I worked on that show for three seasons learned a lot about telling a story but then I got out of the TV business and I had a chance to run a nonprofit that was started by Norman Lear and some of his friends in Hollywood called Emma the Environmental Media Association and the whole idea behind Emma was to work with, was to be the nexus the link between the environmental community with all the important messes it had to get out and the entertainment industry with its huge megaphone for getting out messes and what our specific strategy at Emma was we worked with writers and producers of TV shows and movies trying to convince them to put environmental messages into their stories so the idea is you're sitting at home watching your favorite prime time show minding your own business and all of a sudden the characters are talking about recycling or global warming or what have you so I ran this organization for five years and that got me into the nonprofit world in Southern California where I started to meet lots of nice people like you people working at nonprofits foundations, government agencies people who had devoted their life to making the world a better place and what I started to find was that these people I was meeting very nice, highly educated passionate about what they did but no one had ever told them how to be a professional communicator so in 1998, 21 years ago this month I started my own company the Goodman Center with the express purpose of helping people at nonprofits foundations, government agencies communicate more effectively primarily through storytelling and over the years we've done 500 workshops like the one you're going to go through today with nonprofits like these foundations and government agencies like these we also work with colleges and universities and we work with some corporate clients as well there they are and the other thing is I've learned a lot from these organizations as I've helped them tell their stories but I've also been very fortunate to be able to work around the world working with First Nations leaders in British Columbia people working on sexual violence in Brazil agriculture in Guatemala all over the world working with different kinds of people learning from them about how they told their stories and what came back again and again and again from all these organizations they said you know what they said when we finally figured out what our stories were and started to tell them consciously, consistently deliberately they said it didn't just incrementally improve our communications they said it transformed our communications and that's what I'd like to see happen for you guys so that's what's taking me all the way from Los Angeles to Burlington, Vermont to be here with you today so that's my story in a nutshell so now let me tell you our story what we're going to do in the three hours we have together because it's going to be a very, believe it or not, a very fast three hours first I believe storytelling is the most powerful tool you have I wish I could show you all the research I've seen over the years that confirms that I don't have time to show all of it so I've picked one research study and one case study that I think say the two most important things about storytelling I'm going to lay that out for you and hopefully by the end of that you'll be nodding your head and saying okay maybe a little more here than I thought so that'll bring us to part two which is all right if it's so powerful how do I do it how do I tell the kind of story about home sharing that actually gets inside someone's head and stays there and maybe changes the way they think and behave and lastly we'll talk about the kinds of stories you should tell and you've already gotten a sneak preview of that by looking at these tables and how they're named but we'll talk more about that and you'll get a chance to work on one of those stories in this room today and hopefully if we do things right you're going to leave today with at least one story in your pocket that you could tell tomorrow so that's what we're going to do is that clear okay good a couple of ground rules along the way if you have a question at any point any point you think like I'm not sure about that I'm confused I'm skeptical whatever don't wait for Q&A we'll stop periodically and take questions but there's something that's bothering you raise your hand and let's deal with it I hate for someone to be stuck while we're racing along my teaching philosophy no adult left behind so let's do this together and secondly if you're wondering should I take notes will I get a copy of the slides where are the slides I'm going to make a copy available to Kirby and she'll make sure that you can all have them so anything you see up here is coming your way okay I think that's everything is that clear okay good then let's dive in why is narrative so powerful like I said two reasons here's the first stories help us remember and just stop and think about this for a second if somebody tells you something and you forget it right in one ear out the other then game over that piece of information has no chance to affect how you think and behave ever again because it's gone but if somebody can tell you something in a way that actually sticks in your brain stays there then that piece of information does have a chance to affect how you think and behave does have a chance to work on you and stories have that quality and I want to tell you about a study that was done by the University of Minnesota with five year olds that illustrates this beautifully and to tell you about this study it would be very helpful if a few people in this room right now had in their life a five year old son look at this son daughter right here very good Paula I have Isabella Gabriela which would be your favorite depends on the time depends on the time well let's just say Isabella since you said that first she's five wonderful is she in preschool or kindergarten so I want you to imagine this everybody but Paula in particular so one day in Isabella's preschool class the teacher says gather around kids we have a special guest today a visitor all the way from the University of Minnesota to come here and she wants to play a game with you and the researcher from the University of Minnesota steps forward and says hi kids I want to play a fun game to test your memories and here's how the game works I'm going to hold up cards as you can see here the two sides two panels and there's going to be pictures of two things like this she holds up the first card and there's a picture of a bar of soap on the left and a shoe on the right and she says to the kids in this game that's our first pair soap goes with shoe I want you to remember that Isabella can you remember that soap and shoe that's right okay I hope so otherwise this game falls apart okay so she says I want you to remember that soap and shoe then she holds up a second card she says and this card has let's say a cloud and a daisy so you remember soap and shoe now I want you to remember this pair cloud and daisy can you remember that too sure okay holds up a third card this one has a baseball bat and a bucket of paint she says I want you to remember soap and shoe then daisy, bat and paint right and she holds up for the kids 21 cards 20 yes right Paul's already shaking her head 21 pairs for the 5 year olds to remember and after she showed them all 21 she says to the kids okay that was a lot to absorb I know that let's take a break everybody go out in the playground and play for an hour 60 minutes later she brings them back in the room she says alright kids gather around again she says now comes the really fun part of the game I'm going to hold up those cards again with the two things but this time one of the things that's going to be missing and you have to tell me what's missing so you get the scenario one hour later 21 pairs how many can the 5 year olds reconstruct Paula one hour later 21 pairs how many think what's that maybe 5? yeah 5 that would make her a genius maybe it's right but in this classroom of normal children it was 1 that's right on average on average yeah so it was 1 okay now we're just getting started we're now going to go to another school on another day so I need another 5 year old name? Violet okay so we go into Violet's class this is another school another day another group of 5 year olds same researcher almost the exact same procedure but here's what she says this time there's a twist this time she says to the kids she has the same 21 pairs but this time she says to the kids as I hold up each pair I'm going to call on one of you to put the words in a sentence for the whole class to hear so she holds up the first pair of soap and shoe would you please put the word soap and shoe in a sentence for the whole class to hear whenever you're ready I went to the store to buy soap and had on my favorite shoes or you're articulate for 5 I I'm sure I went to the store to buy soap and I had on my favorite pair of shoes okay good the kids here 21 sentences you know linking each pair go out and play for an hour and again they test them compared to the first group that only got one how do you think Violet's group did oh almost 8 out of 21 alright one more school one more day someone in the back 5 year old son daughter yes Rudy okay Rudy's a boy she's a girl that's okay alright so we go into Rudy's class same 21 pairs but this time the instruction put the words in a sentence that asks a question so 5 year old Rudy would you please put the word soap and shoe in a sentence that asks a question whenever you're ready why do I need soap with my shoes why do I need soap with my shoes very good the kids here 21 questions go on play for an hour bring them back and test them compared to the first two groups one 8 how do you think Rudy's group did 16 out of 21 pairs remember so everyone look at these results side by side by side and you tell me what did the researchers conclude was happening in these kids brains by virtue of hearing questions was happening not quite as much when they heard a sentence and almost not at all when they just saw the pairs what was happening in their brains what do you think raise your hand if you think you know yes exactly exactly now they don't jump to that what's the first thing that happens when you hear a question you answer it you respond to that why do I need soap why do I need soap with my shoe so Rudy would sit there why do I need soap with my shoe and the other kids would go well if you're going to wash the shoe you need soap and a rag and water and to answer the question they start to construct the rudiments of a exactly this is by the way why so much advertising asks questions did you notice that you're driving down the highway you pass a billboard and it says wouldn't you like to be in Paris right now and you're like yes yes it pulls you in it creates a higher level of engagement so triggered by questions the kids were a little more engaged they had to sort of complete the thought their minds constructed stories to answer the question and when they came back in the room they sat there and thought to herself soap oh I needed the soap to wash my shoe and she had the other half of the pair and they did it 16 out of 21 times so the take away from this study and this is relevant to everybody in this room and really every group that I work with if you have some facts about home sharing that you want people to remember it is much more likely they'll remember those facts if they're contained within a story and if you just give them the facts stories help us remember that's number one second, stories can change people's minds now take a moment and think about this for a second everybody in this room all of us we all walk around with literally thousands of stories in our heads about the way the world works and as we confront every situation or every new person there's not the relevant story to say does this match up? does this person, does this situation meet these expectations of the story I have in my head about the way the world works and if it does, on we go and if it doesn't, all of a sudden alarm bells go off warning, this is different I need to pay attention maybe this is wrong so if you want to change how people think and behave sometimes you have to change the software you have to change the stories that they go to and I want to give you a classic example of a wonderful campaign that was done around the issue of organ donation I know that's not your issue but play along for a second how many people here, show of hands are signed up to be an organ donor if God forbid, look at you that looked like 90% of the room who wants to tell me what the national average is in the US, what would you guess? 12% that's extremely depressing it's about 56 56% 56% will 56% will 44% won't in fact in most countries that do organ donation programs it usually splits right down the middle who can tell me and don't hesitate to guess because you're going to be right the people who say no the people who say sorry, I'm not signing up, can't do it some have medical excuses and cannot and that's fine but other people have a story in their head about the way the world works that gets them to say no, this isn't for me and it's a very strong story and they're very firm in that who wants to guess what some of those stories are? they won't work as hard to save you if you're an organ donor number one answer the doctors or the emergency like if the emergency services will not work as hard to save me it's like I get in a taxi to go back to the airport and God forbid I'm in a car accident and the ambulance comes to get me quick we've got to rush this guy to the hospital quick, oh wait, he's an organ donor? it's like take the long way people believe this it is not true not true at all but people believe it that's one, give me another number two, religious beliefs when I go to meet my maker I have to be all there the world's largest religions all endorse organ donation explicitly endorse organ donation but a lot of people will tell you no, it's contrary to my religion here are the top four, take a look I'm too old you can be as old as 80 in many cases and my favorite that the black market will take over you know, instead of my organs going to the most deserving next person like a Kardashian will jump along you know, that type of thing none of these are true not one of these are true these are the people's heads that keep them from signing up so if we want to change their minds how do we do it well, if you look at the data you would think this is impressive so take a look at some data today in the US right now about 120,000 people are on a waiting list for an organ the need so far exceeds the supply look at this 22 people die every day waiting for an organ that's never coming that's 22 tragedies a day but here's the thing if you go to these people who have those stories in their heads and you hit them with these numbers, do you know what they say? say, that's a shame that's too bad but doctors won't work as hard to save me religious belief, Kardashian, whatever they're sticking to their story the data does not change their minds so how do you change their minds if the data doesn't do it make it personal I know that was an easy one this is a storytelling workshop you've got to give them a more powerful story you need to replace that software that's saying no with another story that's going to let them say yes you've got to give them a more powerful story and this was done and done brilliantly in a campaign in Brazil specifically in the town in the red box pronounced in Portuguese Hecife now whether you've ever been to Hecife you've ever been to Brazil you've ever been to South America or you've never been I'll bet you still know that everybody in Hecife everybody in Brazil really everybody in South America they're all crazy for the same thing just nuts for the same thing what is it? soccer or what they call football football team is called Sport Club do Hecife and this line with the three stars is the logo of the team and that's everywhere that's everywhere you look if you go to New York City and see the NY of the Yankees go to LA, see the LA of the Dodgers that logo is everywhere in town people love this team people would die for this team well hold on there's a thought if they would die for the team would they donate their organs for the team believe it or not this was a genesis of a campaign where they went to the fans of the team and they said if you are truly a fan of this team if you truly love this team we'd like you to sign up for an organ donor card it will look like this emblazoned with the logo of the team to donate your organs on behalf of the team but here's the larger story here's the new narrative they gave them they said if you're a fan of this team and you die but you pass on your organs to someone else a fandom lives on forever right you will become an immortal fan that was the name of the campaign I kid you not and they added another twist they said if you donate your organs and they go into the body of someone who roots for a rival team you turn them into a fan of our team right Red Sox fan becomes Yankee fan that's right holy smokes so look half you go that's cute, that's amusing, that's funny this campaign was wildly successful and I want to show you a short video that should show that take a look there's a black hole and when I donate my organs my lung goes to the guy from the ship, the donor he's going to breathe the sport the campaign reached impressive numbers 51,000 supporters declared donors a higher amount of capacity of the Retiro Island the sport campaign I have no doubt about it that if you see here increasing the offer of donors we can make this list an organ donation campaign sponsored by the sport is helping to save lives of many supporters the video has spent 18 years of diabetes and 5 years almost 90 and my life is getting better I'm reborn for me this is the most probable heart for your mother you can bring her for sure is anybody here from the Pittsburgh area nobody in Pittsburgh they did an organ donation campaign last year where they got sports stars from the Pittsburgh Steelers the Penguins and the Pirates to come forward and to say donate your organs, be a great fan and they got something like I think it was about 1200 people signed up and they were so proud of that 51,000 and counting the waiting list for heart and corneal transplants drops to zero, did you see that this campaign was wildly successful and even better sport clubs from Paris and Barcelona called them up and said how do we do that here so this very clever idea may be radiating around the globe but don't lose a larger point here because we're not talking about organ donation we're not talking about soccer we don't want to make Daniel Kahneman in his book Thinking Fast and Slow he won the Nobel Prize in Economics he's actually a psychologist but he won the Nobel Prize in Economics about how people's minds work and in the book my biggest single take away from this book is this no one ever made a decision because of a number they need a story you've got to change the story in their head the way I like to say it is the business of changing the world for the better I do believe that's everybody in this room if you're in the business of changing the world for the better you are often first in the business of changing the stories in people's heads about the way the world works that's just the way it is and let me bring it home for you think about the people you're trying to reach with home sharing with the idea of home sharing in whatever place you live and here's my point if these are the stories in their heads right now about the way the world works no amount of data is going to change their mind you've got to give them a more powerful, more resonant story that replaces this and allows them to nod their head and go yes this is for me so stories help us remember so it sticks stories change the way we think and behave making them I submit to you the most powerful form of communication you have available to you bar none, let me stop there and say are you with me so far questions, comments, push back any skepticism, anybody want to say I'm not convinced y'all good? alright, you're an easy group alright so then you're ready for part two which is okay if it's so powerful how do I do it? how do I tell the kind of story that is memorable and persuasive and here's the good news you already know this part is in your DNA human beings are natural storytellers you just have to relax and get out of your own way so we're going to do an exercise right now so you can relax and get out of your own way and here's how it works right now I want you to spend two minutes thinking about a time in your life when there's something you really wanted but was difficult to get or achieve now I want you to think broadly when I say something you really wanted this may be something you really wanted like a toy for Christmas this may be some place you really wanted to go this may be some job you really wanted to have this may be some person you really wanted to be with or be rid of either way I don't care something you really wanted but was not easy to do, get, achieve whatever something in your mind's eye find it and once you have it take a good look around at that time and place because the next thing you're going to do after that and I'll have more instructions it's to tell a story about that thing, person, place at your table so right now spend two minutes finding the thing you've got pads in front of you and pens if you want to make some notes about that time and place walk around the room and make sure we have things the way we need them but two minutes find that thing alright okay everybody situated alright does everybody have that thing don't overthink it it's simple doesn't have to be world peace right alright so here's how this works stay with me because I've got some instructions for you at your table each of you is going to have two minutes two minutes to tell a story about that thing to the people at your table okay you'll have two minutes to keep you organized here's how it works I want you to think of each table as a clock okay this is a clock this is six o'clock it's twelve o'clock pj twelve o'clock twelve o'clock the person sitting at noon you will go first alright so when I say go you will tell your story in a clockwise fashion okay so if Susan's first then we'll go to you, you, you etc the person this makes last the person who was last at each table you are the timekeeper so pull out your smart phone or your watch or whatever you're going to keep an eye make sure that everybody does it in two minutes or less now let me tell you something we've done this, I've done this exercise I'm not kidding over five hundred times so I can tell you something two minutes is a lot of time so it's not a race the objective is not to tell your story as fast as possible when it's your turn just take a deep breath and tell your story like you would over coffee or a drink or at the water cooler it's not that hard that said timekeepers if the person is still talking at two minutes flash a two what this means to you if you get this flashed at you does not mean stop dead in the middle of your heartfelt story what it means is your time has expired wrap up as quickly as you can so if you see a two wrap up as quickly as you can if the person finishes in less than two minutes thank you move on to the next person reset the clock and work your way around the table question should we not include the resolution and my answer is I'm not going to answer that question my instructions to you are tell a story the faith that you'll all do do beautifully whatever it means to you you do that alright so we work our way around the table everybody got that person at noon goes first timekeeper is when it's your turn pass the clock to someone else so you're not distracted you tell your story when everyone at your table has told a story when we're all done the person who went first then and only then grab this mysterious envelope that's been sitting in the middle of your table and you will open it up there's a card inside with instructions on how to complete this exercise you're going to lead a little debrief at your table so there's a card inside that tells you what you do next do not wait for me, do not look for me when your table's all done just open the card and get to it and complete the exercise and one more thing even when you've done that when you've completed the exercise please do not get up and leave the room because people generally go oh we're done, I'm going to go to the bathroom now there's something right after that that you need to be here for so please do not leave the room unless it's absolutely an emergency I think that's everything oh one more thing lean in because it's going to get loud and lastly when it's not your turn to talk when you're just listening just listen, no cross talk I don't want to have someone say yes, I want it to go to Paris too no, because then we're just we're having a whole conversation so just listen closely to the stories at your table those are all the instructions is that clear, yes? okay, first storytellers are you ready? time keepers are you ready? this should take us no more than 16 minutes please begin okay, we've had 10 dogs in our life and the last time our dogs died shop called Daiso Pichisa that are shop equivalent in Japan and they only have one shop in Canada I traveled there 2 weeks ago and what I wanted was that I always use to wash my hair when I take shower and I got it and I went to park and the first night the room assigned to me was so noisy so I asked the front to change my room and they moved me to another room but I forgot my hairbrush in the shower stop okay so my mind and the teacher at one point was like why don't you guys go to the junkyard and buy things and make things out of it and I was like oh my god I never thought about this and then I found out there was a junkyard in my city and it's kind of cool and I was like and he said oh you can get in there and I took my parents out and all the time and it was the most beautiful thing in the entire city and I got out and started I guess this is something to finish I was like at least you never heard that there was nobody around so I was like everyone should have a little slip I liked your story you all got one please take it in your hands like right now hold up look at it you want to make this a moment of self affirmation that's fine but here's what I want you to do on your table you just heard 5 6 7 stories other than your own whatever story you just heard that you like the best whatever reasons matter to you please take the slip of paper and hand it to that storyteller right now you may not tear it you may not keep it give it to one person please vote everyone voted all the votes are in alright as a result of the voting does anybody have in their hands now or in front of them 6 or more slips of paper did anybody get 6 votes at their table anybody with 6 nobody nobody 5 anybody have 5 votes at their table I see one hand right here 5 that it one hand sir come forward please congratulations he just realized the dark secret of this game to win is to lose have a seat right there first two hands I see first two hands I see 4 slips of paper anybody got 4 1 and 2 would you two please come forward have a seat over here now are you three comfortable sharing your stories with the whole room what about that not film if you're not no no if if not it's okay are you ready yes technically not my personal story it's about one of our matches so I don't know is it I've written a match story about it so it's in the public you can have there okay so I need to just talk to them for a second to put them in the right order so I need you to just talk among yourselves for a second here it is here's your topic Rhode Island it's neither a road nor an island discuss what is your story yes please alright so I'm asking each of these storytellers to come forward and share their story so we'll start with you sir right here and introduce yourself and just like you did at your table just tell your story my name is Aaron Rathafurd I work for Homeshare Vermont I do outreach and intake for us and I get to do match stories for our newsletters so one of probably my favorite match story is about this single mom she came to us because she's a principal at a high school and she'd get home at six o'clock and she has a special needs son who gets home at three o'clock so she needed basically some child care for three hours of each day and when I saw the application I was kind of worried that we wouldn't be able to find a match because it's not exactly like what we do so basically we had met a guest throughout the process she was moving back up from the south her husband had just passed away she wanted to be back closer to her children she had she used to run a care home for children, people with disabilities and seniors in a similar area to where this house was applying from and the way our program works is that we, our staff were volunteers bring the applicant, the guest to the home because we don't give out addresses and as our volunteer was driving up to the house the guest started crying and no one knew our volunteer had no idea what was going on and it turns out that that same home was where the guest had laid the tenures earlier when that's where she had her care home and her husband had helped build the house and she just felt like her husband was willing her back to that home it's amazing it's cool it's great what's that? I'm Kate Baldwin and I'm on the board of Homeshare Vermont and I want to take my table for the folks so my story is about being a newlywed and loving antiques and going all around Vermont and the countryside looking for great antiques and I found one that was this beautiful armoire and it was at a time when my husband Scott and I were newly married and had no money and this was really such a far reach for me to even think about that I should look at it look at the price and even hold it in my dreams for wanting it and so the other part of this story is that my husband is a pilot in the Vermont Air National Guard and he would go away a lot for deployments and when we were newly married it was always hard to say goodbye to each other and think about the times that he would be away for months at a time weeks at a time and Scott left this one deployment for a deployment and after he left again it was harder this particular time for him for us to say goodbye to each other after he left I started finding money all throughout the house so I would be moving something in a cupboard and there would be money there and then I would be opening the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator and there would be money there and it was just random open a book that I was reading and by the time before he came back I had enough money to buy this armoire that he knew and I loved so much and so I was able to get it and before he got home it was in our bedroom and I was telling my table that you know I look at that piece of furniture and think about how much he cares about me, how tough it was for the times he was away and he did something very magical and special and it just was a great piece of furniture that we still look at and know what it meant for our relationship so that was my start he wasn't hiding that money from the other piece the table is going to go home and tell their husband that's it alright one more Renee before I tell my story I just wanted to say that I was there when we drove up to the house and the woman says oh my lord this is the house I used to live in that was quite a moment when we were there for that match can't hear you I was real close sorry not a good screen what I just said is I was there when that match was made we drove up to the house and the woman said oh my lord this is where my husband and I used to live and we went inside and she couldn't believe it that that was possibly where she was going to do a home share for very nice anyway my story is a love story and I was in college and my roommate and I used to travel around and find places houses where we could live for the summer with our friends and so the second summer we were in East Ham on the Cape and one of our days off we worked at restaurants we hitchhiked up to Provincetown and we're at a beach in Provincetown and there's a very tall handsome young man sitting down at the beach and there was a little boy there and so I went to talk with this little boy and immediately fell in love with this man and he proceeds to tell me that he lives on Westerly Terrace in Huntsville, Alabama so my roommate and I later in the summer we went to Martha's Vineyard and we biked out to Gay Head and I remember buying a postcard for him and I sent it to Westerly Terrace in Huntsville, Alabama and we go back to school at University of Connecticut and I'm in my dorm and that was the days where you had a they phoned up to your hallway and told you you had a visitor and so I said there's a visitor for Rene and I went downstairs and there he was and I was like I thought you lived in Huntsville, Alabama and he said well I really live in Hartford, Connecticut he had borrowed his father's I think he's a bonny bill it was a very nice car and so from that day on I was 19 and he was 22 and we commenced for many years he would show up at my doorstep, he would find where I was and we traveled across the country once, he went to live on Martha's Vineyard and taught school and then I was still in love with him and I never really met anybody else and I decided I'm going to leave the country so I left the country and I traveled overseas for a year and I came back and my mother said oh, David called and I guess he I don't know he really tried to find me that year or maybe he knew I left the country I might have told him I can't remember so I was still in love with this man and I said okay I'll try to find him on Martha's Vineyard so I went to Martha's Vineyard and that started the relationship again and we've got married in 1981 we've been married for 38 years with four wonderful girls and he just recently got diagnosed with lung cancer and I've been caring for him for the past nine weeks it's been very, very hard but we're doing well and we're very positive but the story about Huntsville, Alabama I still remember how he sent that postcard and it never got to him but he showed up anyway Thank you for sharing your stories to do that, I want to give each of you a copy of my book, Storytelling as Best Practice, a $20 value there you go one more round of applause for our storytelling thank you alright oh my goodness so the question that I asked you to consider at your tables and that I asked you to consider now is what did these stories have in common you heard five, six or seven stories at your table you just heard three more here so in the span of less than half an hour you heard as many as ten stories and the premise of this exercise was that you don't need me to tell you how to tell a story that if I just ask you to tell a story you're going to do it and everyone did it and some of you did it quite well but you all tend to do certain things the same way instinctively because we all know how to tell a story so I asked one person at each table who went first to write down for each table at least three things that your table all did the same way so let me start at this table over here and is it April? April, one thing from your list that you noticed just one thing that you noticed at every table kind of did the same way be more what do you mean by a sense of serendipity what do you mean by that? I want to underline the word unexpected because in storytelling if a person tells a story where you know what's going to happen every step of the way that's boring to make stories interesting is the unexpected the stuff that comes up and particularly in a story where it's about you wanting something if you encounter a moment where something stands in the way of you getting it an obstacle, a barrier an antagonist that's where stories get interesting you know if you tell a story where when I was five I wanted a bike I saw this beautiful red bike in the store I asked my parents, boy would I love this for Christmas and next Christmas they got it for me now, thanks everybody it's like nobody at that table is handing a slip of paper to that person because that's just not interesting but if they said when I was five I wanted a bike and I said to my parents boy I really want that red bike and they said yeah, go pay for it yourself that's the moment where people lean in and go oh, well then what'd you do so the unexpected, the surprise the moment where I want, runs into you can't that's where stories get interesting so thank you for that Susan, something on your list that everyone did the same way other than the unexpected well, I kind of like the last thing we did it was before it was everybody had a lot of resolve to make something happen and worked hard I repeat that, everyone had a lot of resolve to make something happen, they worked hard so two things about that number one is if they had to work hard that suggests that there were a lot of barriers in the way that wasn't just handed to them and once again, the things that make stories interesting are the things that stand between the hero and the goal that's what makes it interesting and how they deal with those problems tells you something about the person reveals something about their character when they encounter a barrier do they just fold up and go home do they just give up or do they push on and so that speaks to them or the organization they represent so that's another important aspect so thank you for that Linda, you were taking, no sorry Jean, you were taking notes here something on your list we haven't heard it was a sense, a level of interesting relatability yeah, I'd say I'm going to underline the word relatability, that when we tell stories even if we personally ever want that thing in our life we can relate to the desire the journey, the aspects of the pursuit relatability is important that connects to the word empathy that we emotionally connect with a person and we feel involved in the story and stories are unique in that way you know, you have in your brain whether you know it or not these things called mirror neurons mirror, has anybody ever heard that term mirror neurons? someone person has you know, when someone yawns near you and you start yawning someone starts to cry, you feel like crying your body is wired that way that's mirror neurons, they are reflecting what you're seeing, the action you're seeing so when you tell a story that's relatable where you can go oh I know exactly how you feel, I feel the same way you're actually feeling the feelings and when you feel feelings in your body it leaves a marker in your brain saying remember this, this is important so, relatability empathy, another absolutely critical aspect of stories there's an element of trust and belief that each of us would get what we were striving for when you say trust more like trust in yourself that you could make it happen I see, so that again that sort of relates to what you said earlier about the perseverance, the pushing through PJ did not repeat anything all of our stories had some life changing element to it so there's a fairly dramatic change as well, very good and sometimes change is small and sometimes change is big but there's always change stories are not about the status quo if you start here and end here nothing's happened, there has to be some level of change so that's another good word Karen, you taking notes at your table? do you have some of your lists we haven't heard yet? for our table we always say what we were going to talk about so we gave the intro out and then we'd also give background in the story so intro background context at the beginning no one will do that I didn't say to you, when you start your story please give us your age, the date or geographic location but you all do it give me some type of context I was a newlywed, I was in college one day we were with this single mom you'll set the scene, you'll set the starting line this is a story about me wanting something okay I know that going in, that's the premise but what I don't know is where are you, when are you fix the story in time and space good back table there, who's taking notes? I guess, I think we're personal stories personal, and that sort of comes with the territory I think how about the table in that corner there all of our stories involved buying from other people from our natural support systems so there are other people in the story stories are always about people, that's another thing talking about home sharing you're not going to have a problem with that but people tend to want to tell stories about systems or policies or data and stuff like that, forget it people listen to stories because stories are about people, they want to know what did this human being do, what can I learn from that so stories are always about people Greer, were you taking notes at your table? anything we have in a cupboard? all of our stories are just about learning and education, just about learning, yeah I think that's another thing about storytelling is that in the course of the journey the person who wants something there's some lesson, there's some meaning I think this table here is the only one I haven't called on, Celia were you taking notes at your table? did I call on you guys? okay, is there anybody, any table I missed? I think you've got it all, so let's do this let's look at the parts of story, you've identified all the parts of story, it's all there but these parts have specific names so let's use the right terminology so that we're all using the same language from now on when we talk about the parts of story so here's where we begin all stories start by introducing us to a character that we can follow through the story and we call this person the protagonist at your table when it was your turn to speak it was you, you're the protagonist this is my story, my journey, follow me but the important thing here is that no matter what you're talking about organization, a policy, a procedure, a program people relate to people, so if they're going to listen to your story the first question in your audience's mind is who is this story about is it about you, is it about someone sharing their home is it about someone looking to find a place to live who is the person I'm going to follow through this story and tell me something about her where is she, when is she fix the story in time and space establish what we call her world in balance you know, I'm Kate I'm a newlywed, I love antiques I travel around looking for them this is who I am that's her world in balance she's a newlywed, she loves antiques you got the picture then something has to happen to throw that world out of balance and we call that thing the inciting incident like a bolt from the blue it comes there it is throws her world out of balance and gives our protagonist a goal not something she can just reach out and grab something she's got to work for Kate wants this armoire super expensive, it's not within the ballpark so it's not like she can just buy it it's going to be a journey for her to get there somebody wants something a story is in motion now this is going to sound like a vast oversimplification but bear with me think about a TV show you've been watching lately something you've been binging, movie you've seen, book you're reading the plot, the story does it not basically boil down to who's it about and what do they want yes? it's pretty much it, even if there are multiple characters who's it about, what do they want and once you know that as an audience you're dialed in, you're locked in okay, I know who it's about, I know what they want let's go, let's see if they get it you got me now what happens next is critical you guys mentioned it a few times but this is something we tend to leave out in storytelling way to the goal, there has to be some type of barrier or obstacle that keeps the person from just achieving the goal right away because without it there's no story that's what makes stories interesting this is the uh-oh moment, the moment where the audience goes oh, didn't see that coming so then what'd you do how did you surmount that barrier how did you get around it and I'll tell you something this isn't just me talking this is 100,000 years of evolution talking, we have literally evolved as a species to need this in our stories if we're going to be interested and I'll prove it to you we're going to do a short course in human history let's jump back in time 100,000 years it's 100,000 years ago today it's a Thursday you see these two cavemen you see the bush in the distance between them well 100,000 years ago on this very day the two cavemen turned around and noticed that the bush was shaking now there's no wind blowing there's no reason for it to be shaking but it's shaking the caveman on the left observes this unusual phenomenon and he thinks this the caveman on the right sees the very same thing but he thinks this and unmoved by the unusual event the caveman on the right goes his merry way whistling a merry tune the tiger leaps out of the shaking bush and eats him alive the caveman on the left he survives his DNA gets passed down we are his descendants the caveman on the right not so much so the point is, and this is a serious one human beings, homo sapiens evolved as a species to pay very close attention when something happens that we don't expect and 100,000 years later when we don't have sabertooth tigers jumping out of bushes we're still that same species that needs something unexpected to galvanize our attention so when someone tells you a story there has to be a moment a sort of shaking bush moment where you go oh, didn't see that coming that's interesting, you have my full attention without it, there's no story in storytelling, until I want runs into you can't you don't have a story and if we can surmount that barrier only to run into another and maybe even another after that in storytelling, the more the merrier with every new barrier little more drama, little more tension is she ever gonna get there is he ever gonna do it we call this middle portion the rising action of the story tension, ratcheting up as we wait to see what happens and then finally we surmount the last barrier and maybe we get to the goal, success we want it, it's a success story or maybe we don't maybe we don't get to the goal, something else happens but there's a clear resolution and clear meaning what you're looking at here what you did instinctively with no instructions from me other than tell a story you told the classic three act story act one what people just called the beginning answers the questions in the audience's mind who is the story about and what do they want act two, the middle the pursuit of the thing act three, the end what happened and what it means and this is not my structure this does not belong to any race, creed religion, nationality you can travel anywhere in the globe and talk to people about storytelling and they will connect with this model it's not the only way to tell stories there are other ways of doing it it's not sophisticated but it is the most commonly used way and if you want to tell stories about home sharing all these elements must be present if you want your audience to start nodding their head and go, oh this is a good story you have my full attention any questions about this structure is this clear yes, go ahead I get the structure but I have a couple questions about this process go ahead my first question is about when you, the method of just like jumping into the middle of the story so you get somebody's attention right away how effective is that versus starting with this is a story about and I am that can be very effective that sometimes you give people the red meat, you give them something right up front that is going to just galvanize them and then once you hook them then you can sort of backfill well how do we get to this incredible moment lots of, when you go to movies these days lots of movie, strictly action movies we will start with something very dramatic up front to pull you in and then there will be a pause and the credits will roll and then they will sort of, the story will step back to how do we get to this moment so that is a legitimate way of doing it it is a little harder, a little trickier as a storyteller to pull that off but it is an effective technique great, thanks my second question is we are thinking about telling stories from the perspective of like different personas I guess so you take here is a a not a personal story but a story made up of a collection of actual stories so here is a single divorced woman on fixed income for this here is a young family looking for this and follow them through the process not necessarily true stories but they are true in their meaning and this fact is that also effective yes, let me give you sort of the continuum, best case scenario in storytelling is to tell a story that is completely factual and true, this is a story of Linda she was looking for someone to share her home with and she met Paula and Linda and Paula have both said, yeah tell my story, you can have it so all the facts, all the things are exactly as is that is the best case scenario real facts and full permission second is Linda and Paula say, yeah you can share the story but would you just mind changing my name in a few specifics so that protect privacy and so you do that, so you tell the story of Linda, not her real name and Paula, not her real name and you change a few facts but the story is essentially true and you have disclosed to the audience or the reader, this is a true story names and a few details have been changed to protect privacy now the last choice which is what you have talked about is sometimes people have said our community is so small that even if you change the name in a few facts everyone is going to know who you are talking about so in that case, then you have the option of creating a composite character and you say this is the story of Linda who was looking for a place to live and Paula who had a room to share at the end of the story you say this is actually the story of many different home sharing experiences, Linda represents many different people who have been looking for places to live, Paula represents many different people who had places to give so while these are not actual stories, they are truthful nonetheless, they're all based in truth inspired by a true story but you again, you must disclose that to the audience, you cannot tell a story and not disclose them if you have changed any aspect of it, that's the only thing you can't do good, yes this whole exercise reminded me of something I've heard before people will not remember what they say because they don't remember how you made them feel and this whole exercise just kind of reinforced that because when you're telling your story, they're listening and so forth, but if you say now what do you think about that that's when they make that connection and it's the way you make them feel rather than just your story that's involving them in your story yes, and I saw that in the room Aaron told his story there it is, we told his story in that moment where the woman said I felt like my husband was willing me to be here you could hear in the room physically people going oh, we're all feeling it and there's a biological thing happening here I'm not sure if it's dopamine or oxytocin or what it is but when you feel something there are these chemicals in your brain that leave like markers but let me put it this way if I said to you think about the last time somebody said something to you that was insulting when you insulted can everybody find that? you don't have to search too hard because you felt something if I said tell me about the last time someone said something to you a really good compliment you're going to remember that too because that stuff makes you feel something in your body and leaves a marker in your brain if I said I want to talk to you about some policy about some housing policy it's like I can't remember that but something about how you feel because your body does that that's one of the reasons we tell stories if you can tell a story with real emotion to it we're not trying to be manipulative we're not trying to be melodramatic we're trying to help them remember help them feel it so you're absolutely right my question has to do with this challenge but I think it's unique to the home sharing we have two protagonists and we're trying to develop a story and the barriers that are unique to both the housemaid and the homeowner and tell them in a way that's concise and I find myself often trying to toggle between the background of the story of our student housemaids which have their own barriers and their own victories and they go through this process and then trying to you know dovetail it together so that the resolution, the goal is a successful home share what I would say that and I totally get that there are two key players in the story so what I would ask you is when you tell stories the first question I'm going to ask you and you're going to see this on a template I'm going to pass out is who is your audience if you say I'm talking to a room full of homes to share who have rooms to share I have a room full of potential what do you call them hosts, I have a room full of potential hosts I'm going to tell you a story that's primarily from a host point of view so that they're going to say oh that person is just like me oh and she made the decision to do that for these reasons well that resonates with me I've got it because that's who the audience is most likely to identify with if you're at a college campus and you're talking to a room full of college kids about why they should take advantage of these rooms in their community then I would tell the story from the point of view of the guest right from the student's point of view so in choosing your protagonist the person you focus on ask yourself first who am I talking to and who are they most likely to relate to now if you have a mixed audience then you've got then basically you have to make a judgment call and I think you know as we discuss like homeowners are really the you have to have a homeowner before you get the housemates you know so right if you're going to choose one on the story the homeowner is the one to choose but I find that sometimes the homeowners are actually quite held by the stories of the student do you get that the homeowner is a host or compelled by the stories of the guests it changes the narrative in terms of what is the motivation to solve my problem or to be the solution to something else so it gets very complex when you really have to very strong I'm assuming you're going to get to this but just the I think I've heard that for an ad you need to hear it seven times for it to sink in so storytelling do you repeat the same story to or is it the same element of a story how do you think about that retention and action that it would need from a storytelling versus ad campaign one of the differences we're talking about here is if you're doing like a 30 second radio ad where they say you must repeat the phone number five times the reason you have to do that is because trying to get someone to remember something like digits or something with no emotional content good luck right you'll need to do it three times the thing about a story is if you can tell a story with a strong emotional hook with a moment where people go oh like your job is done that story now you can repeat that story several times because sometimes people enjoy hearing the same story again then after a while depending on you may want to cycle in fresh new stories because if someone says oh god there's that story again it's like they only have this one story to tell then it feels like you only have one story to tell let me move on because I want to keep us on schedule I want to show you an example of this inaction this model inaction is a non-profit organization in Southern California that works with children with autism and their parents they're going to tell their story in this public service announcement in 60 seconds now some of you may have seen this before this has been airing on ESPN for years as part of a campaign they have there but whether you've seen it or not I want you to watch it with new eyes because watch how in 60 seconds they will touch all the bases of the three act structure in order answering the questions that I said have to be answered by your by your story who's it about who's our protagonist what does he want what's the goal what stands in his way to make it interesting the barrier how does he navigate that barrier where do we end up and what does it mean now those questions are not asked and answered explicitly but it's there so take a look and then I'll ask you to show me how it works my name is Izzy Pascoitz and I've been running surf camps for all just the kids for seven years we get them down to the beach the kids are going to scream some of the kids they don't know how to speak the only words that come out of their mouth is screaming for us to see that screaming and the kicking when they go out that when they turn around and ride that way then it's just nothing like it and there's a parent tears in their eyes saying man we've had a lot of tough times but today was just a perfect day isn't that lovely? who's the protagonist of this story as told? kids? not the kids yes the narrator Izzy Pascoitz the kids are important and we care about the kids but we're not seeing it through their eyes we're seeing it through his eyes so if he's our protagonist what is his goal, what's he trying to do there on the beaches of Southern California there's the kids on the surf board we're not curing autism today we're seeing these families and these kids who are facing a difficult series of days and we're just going to have a fun day we're going to share the joy of surfing that's it, that's what we want to do what's the barrier? autism, fear, right we saw the kids literally kicking and screaming on the beach kids don't want to go so how do they overcome that barrier? exactly exactly we're going and the meaning of the story well, hint, this is a public service announcement airs on ESPN, so what meaning do they give? sports right, that sports are not just about who won or lost that a sport, in this case the sport of surfing can have a higher value but I mean, look beautiful visuals, it's nicely put together but what I really want you to see is how it sits on that very solid structure answering the questions that are instinctively in your mind whether you're conscious or not, who's it about? what does he want? what stands in this way to make it interesting? how does he deal with that? where do we end up? and what does it mean? and if your stories can answer all of those questions, then you have a story that touches all the bases any questions about what makes a good story? we'll go in the back here first Kirby mentioned at the beginning it ended up with more of your slides too a lot of times when we tell our stories the response you can get is like wow great, it sounds perfect for someone else so do you have an underappreciated or less obvious kind of tip or trick for how to draw people in and make them feel like no, you actually could be this could be part of your story, not just for someone else I think you have to it's not easy to answer that question but I think if you have a protagonist who is someone who has a home to share whose initial attitude is exactly that, I think there's a lovely program it's just not for someone like me and in the course of your story, that person converts then I think the audience members are sitting there going that's me it's like lovely idea, not for me stories of that conversion I think are what you really have to find yeah, I was wondering where stories where you don't reach the goal and really where that place is the question is where do stories where you don't reach the goal, what's the place of that there is a specific category we call those the nature of our challenge stories sometimes they'll tell a story where things have not worked out you have a story of a student living in a town, looking for a place to live cannot find anything and ends up couch surfing for months on friends' couches because there's just no place to go that's not a happy ending, there's no good resolution there but that story is the kind of story where you say that's why we need this program, it's a story that defines the nature of our challenge so there is a category of stories where the resolution is things are not the way they should be we need your participation to give us a happier outcome does that answer your question? good, other questions? okay, good we are exactly where I want to be I've got 5 of 11, let's take a 15 minute break come back here at 11.10 for our next part 15 minute break so part 3 this is where the rubber meets the rose what kind of stories should you tell? so we've divided the room up into 3 categories each of your tables has a label there I hope you've seen that first category a story showing how people can maintain their privacy when home sharing that can be from the point of view of the host or the guest stories about privacy clearly a big factor a story showing how home sharing promotes safety and security for our participants another major concern so do you have a story that can show now you've got nothing to worry about here you're going to be safe and secure in your home or the guest will be safe and secure and third a story showing how agencies help ensure compatibility for the people participating in home sharing so privacy safety and security compatibility each of you has a table that has one of those as the defining issue for that table so what we want you to do in the next 20 minutes is we want you to take these templates that I've passed out everybody should have one at your table if you haven't there's a stack in the center pass it around you can do you can work as an individual as a small team or as an entire table on a story I don't know what's doing why it's doing that oh is that what happened okay I won't do that again sorry the rest of the workshop will be done like this so again we have a story that for example this table here what's your theme if you have a safety and security story if Susan had one on her own say well I'm going to work on that if you too Paula and Kimberly said we've got one we're going to work on together or if the whole table said let's work on this as a team each table has to produce at least one story along that theme and this template is to help you work through the story so let me walk through the template pencil answer these questions audience to whom would you tell this story are you talking to a room full of potential hosts a room full of potential guests are you talking to legislators because you need funding to move this forward who is your audience even if you have multiple audiences in your travels for the purpose of this exercise pick one you can sort of define a fairly homogeneous group so who would I tell this story to and the second question is the point what one point do you want listeners to take away upon hearing this story well this kind of answers that question this is a story that's going to show how we ensure safety and security this is a story that's going to show how your privacy can be maintained that's basically going to be one of these three points so the idea here is once you know who you're talking to and what point you want to convey to them then you're ready to get into the guts of your story act one, who is the protagonist of this story is it you is it a colleague is it a host, is it a guest who is the person we're going to principally follow through the story tell us something about him or her what is the setting where are we when are we fix the story in time and space we have to know the starting point what is the protagonist's goal I am someone with an extra room in my house I'm looking to find someone to share it where I can be comfortable living with I'm a student, I have very little money I'm looking for a place to live whatever, who's it about what do they want that's what act one should tell us back at the page act two, what is the first barrier standing in the protagonist's way these can be internal or external I'm someone with a home to share I have rooms, I'm scared I think I'm going to get someone who's going to ruin my life take away my privacy or I'm a student I've moved to this new area, I don't know anybody I have no contacts, I don't even know where to start looking what's the first barrier standing in the protagonist's way how does your protagonist pursue the goal how do they respond to that barrier and subsequent barriers that come up there needs to be at least one and act three what is the resolution do we have a happy ending here who finds guest, guest finds host do we have an unhappy ending person looking for a place, never finds one because there's just not enough available and the meaning of the story is we need more places so whatever it is, what's the resolution what's the meaning each of these boxes, each of these spaces can be filled with a sentence or two I am not asking you to write out your entire story on this piece of paper just enough to organize your thoughts so that when we are ready and we can call on volunteers you can come to the front of the room with your thoughts organized and tell us a good three to four minute story about home show okay, again each table has to have at least one story so either you work with a full group or you break up, but there better be at least one so you may want to have to talk to each other about how are we doing this table and then you can go to work those are the instructions questions, yes unhappy ending would not be one that tells us how privacy was not secured yeah, no we don't want to tell failure stories to say this is something you don't want to do an unhappy ending would be the person who has the room to share who is lonely and has not found somebody and can't do all the chores and is stuck those are the unhappy endings we are okay with because that is what clarifies the need for this program an unhappy ending that clarifies the need is fine good question though yes so if there are five different stories individually we all go around sharing stories the question is if there are five different stories how do we decide which one gets shared in the room I will work with your table when it comes to a good time I will help you figure it out generally we don't have a I rarely run into a surf fight is that the right word? an excess of volunteers generally not been a problem Kirby most tables we have a current home share host or a former host so they might provide some inspiration for a story you tap that expertise please any other questions okay ladies and gentlemen I have 11.20 let's take 20 minutes let's go to 11.40 please begin my friend Paul was a good grandson he was trying to be a good grandson to get us back in storytelling mode whenever I see good stories I collect them I always like to share them by watching people tell good stories Andrew Solomon has a TED talk some of you may have seen this I urge you to watch the entire thing it's called how the worst moments in our lives make us who we are in it he tells a story in two parts he tells you the story in the middle of the talk and then he ends by referring back to that story so first I want you to hear the story and I think just the simplicity of it is part of what I want to get across a good story doesn't necessarily talk about capturing a moment so take a look at Andrew Solomon when I was in second grade Bobby Tinko had a birthday party and invited everyone in our class to meet my mother received there some sort of error and she called Mrs. Tinko who said that Bobby didn't like me and didn't want me at his party and that day my mom took me to the zoo on Sunday okay you got that so you know screw about screw about so at the end he comes back to Andy's talk and you can now refer to the story so now that you know it at the end you will have more meaning in October it was my 50th birthday and my family organized a party for me and in the middle of it my son said to my husband I said George you can't make a speech you're four only Grandpa and Uncle David and I are going to make speeches but George insisted and insisted and finally John took him up to the microphone and George said very loudly ladies and gentlemen may I have your attention please and everyone turned around startled and George said I'm glad it's Daddy's birthday I'm glad we all get cake and Daddy if you were little I'd be your friend and I thought thank you I thought that I was indebted even to Bobby Finko because all those earlier experiences were what had propelled me to this moment and I was finally officially grateful for a life I once had done anything to change the gay activist Harvey Milk was once asked by a younger gay man what he could do to help the movement and Harvey Milk said go out and tell someone there's always somebody who wants to confiscate our humanity and there are always stories that restore it if we live out loud we can trans the hatred and expand everyone's lives forge meaning build identity forge meaning build identity and then invite the world to share your joy thank you I encourage you to watch the whole talk it's 20 minutes and he's marvelous but that's some good storytelling right there alright so what I want to do now until we're done is to invite one person to come up and share a story I have five more books left for the first five volunteers as your inducement but let's hear some stories about home sharing based on the three themes we've identified so let's see we'll start with this table right here do we have someone from this table that's needed to be our storyteller Kimberly give her a hand please I think it's the movie Kimberly here take this mic so here's what I want you to do since you're the first one first tell the audience who is the audience for this story who is the specific audience you want to talk to you are a story for prospective hosts ok so you are a room full of prospective hosts you listen with those ideas you have room full of prospective hosts so what I want you to do now is take a deep breath I want you just to tell us a story you can look at your notes you can refer to your notes you're just going to tell us a story ok when she's done you will applaud thunderously to thank her and then you'll stay here and there's two bits of feedback I want you to give her one I want you to tell Kimberly what you liked about the story what she did well based on what you now know makes a good story and any thoughts about how you could make it better the next time she tells it ok so with that Kimberly the floor is yours alright this is a true story but some details have been changed to protect the privacy of the people in the story so we start with man I want to turn this one off go ahead so we start with a man who immigrated to the US years ago and he moved to the US for a while now and he went to college got PhD and is educated and he moved up to Vermont but his family is still out of state he was assigned to Vermont by his job he works for the federal government and he was living in a hotel and that was not a good situation for him he wasn't secure financially and not having any housemates at all he wasn't a very safe comfortable situation so he heard about home share through his job and he went to meet our prospective host and they had a long quite well moved in and they had a good financial situation and they both lived together well and have a much safer life by being together yeah the end alright I'm going to speak with my outside voice so we don't have these microphone problems we have a few bits of feedback for Kimberly tell her what you liked about the story the things she did that helped you get into the story and any way you could help her make it better next time around so let's have some good positive constructive feedback here who's got something they want to share yes I liked that we knew who the character was and what their current situation was and a little bit about their background so I got a sense of their struggles I went to the U.S. job takes them to Vermont works in the federal government that helped us to get a picture of him now I think you identified him as a man yes we never got a name oh yeah sorry we named him Fred okay now so Fred is based on a real character okay so it's important to use a name because if you say Fred or a man or a guest or a client or whatever terminology then you see like a black silhouette you don't see or somebody with a black borrow over their eyes so in storytelling even when you're creating fictional characters use names so you say well man we'll call him Fred it gives us something human to latch on to good what else you know other issues going on but that is family's far away she didn't actually come out and say it I'm not sure she had to but I definitely got that feeling like he was looking for something I was trying to paint that picture and I think maybe a few more details the story needs an emotional people have to connect emotionally so if you want to say that he goes back to his hotel room every night and look there's a bed and a TV and a dresser and it's kind of dreary because it's this poor guy back in his hotel room you don't even have to say he's lonely we'll get it but more visual details because another thing about storytelling when it's just Kimberly and a mic and a message there's no visuals all you're getting is what's coming out of her mouth so it's up to you to provide the visual details that help people see it in their mind's eye if they can see it here they can feel it here and then they're ready to do something other feedback things she did well things she could do better yes April there's a safety and security and you said they felt secure but there wasn't any thing that showed me to begin with that they weren't safe and secure and then how that was actually it was just you simply just said then they felt safe and secure yeah it gets a little bit past meets the host they have a good meeting he moves in it's just it was all good at that point and that's where the story stops being interesting so we need we need more details about Fred's concern going in or the host concern or anything that shows us that there could be some bumps in the road yeah we started from the host point of view and we're trying to flesh out the guest point of view but we had limited details and we're like trying to piece it together but yeah more would have been good and having actual examples for you know how he actually felt like that was been great from the host perspective what were my concerns about safety and security so I'm looking at that from the host perspective like here's some of the things I'm concerned about and then how those resolved need those details anything else? yes go ahead Erin I think I would prefer if you skipped we've changed his name for privacy I just started thinking about like this guy got me thinking about maybe who is he as opposed to just like a good story to connect that's not a bad point that the technique is if you say I want to tell you a story about Fred and you tell the whole story at the end you say by the way we've changed some names for privacy pull people in get them in the story don't just when you say we've changed names and details up front it's a little bit distancing so just tell them the story I want to tell you a story about Fred and we're into it okay good story better next time around Kimberly thank you very much I thank you thank you alright we're going to the back of the room that right there oh I see a hand going up come on up give her a hand please Dottie you are one of our hosts correct yes absolutely so Dottie who is the audience for this story a host okay so we have a room full of hosts and Dottie is going to share a story so Dottie go ahead I'm Dorothy Burns I am a home share provider about ten years my mom Harriet lives would be when this all started ten years ago my mom fell and broke her hip was in the hospital I have prepared then six weeks and three had and then I brought her back home at which time I needed help desperately I had some nurses come in they did not work on my schedule and that was not effective so I needed, I definitely needed the help and I had heard about and shared contacted them and they put a little lady in my home a little Japanese lady named Ryoko who was here to study at the college arts she had was a retired teacher in Japan had raised three sons and so I thought this lady will qualify and Ryoko came and spent a year with me a wonderful, wonderful lady she taught me how to make some Japanese meals and she was eager to learn how to do some American cooking we just had a wonderful relationship well Ryoko had to return back to Japan and so I needed another lady which home share quickly provided me with this lady worked out very well also she was with me three years she helped me with meals, with cleaning up the kitchen with doing the laundry and she also helped me with my mom who needed help with dressing and bathing etc this lady whose name was Joanne she was with me for three years we became like family we had four children they all loved Joanne and hated to see her leave but Joanne went off and did her own thing and then home share replaced Joanne with another lady in my home who is with me still they do home share does an excellent job of matching people they interview me to see what my needs were what my personality was what my likes and dislikes were what my habits were and they also do the same with the potential guest that's going to be in my home which is very good when my mom died I'm alone the first time in my life ever was I alone and very uncomfortable very uncomfortable home share came to my aid again I thought I wouldn't be eligible but they said oh yes you're still eligible as one of our clients so they put a lady in my home which has become a part of my family she's been with me almost 5 years and we just have she is a real blessing and I am more than happy with home share thank you thank you very much so now let's give Dottie feedback what do we like about the story and anyways we can make it better let's start with what you like what did she do well very personal she's telling us her true story and so we're connecting to her we appreciate her honesty yes I really got a sense for the setting and what Dottie's life was like and how home share could come into that life good job on saying the context this is where the need is Aaron there's a lot to back up your claim as far as having a whole decade of successful home share and I wasn't even aware that there would be multiple placements one placement done I got a little lost track here I got three placements the third lady Joanne was the second lady then there's a third lady and then when your mom died was there a fourth was that the third lady is the one okay I had a little trouble was it just me I had a little trouble tracking you guys all followed it so it was just me okay that's right Kimberly were confused Dottie I really liked it probably wasn't intentional but that pause you were kind of collecting your thoughts and I really because there was you were packing in a lot in your story and I really liked how you just had that pause moment as you thought and it let us let a lot of it sink in so sometimes we can think about creating that pause in our stories that lets the information and the emotions stay with us she said that you paused at one point you paused at one point telling the story and that actually helped in terms of conveying the emotions of the story so she appreciated that go ahead one more comment sir I started to lose the thread just a little bit when she started to get into the second placement but then you brought it back together and at the end of it I felt like we got three stories and the real meaning out of that was that this is a very versatile flexible sort of arrangement that has a lot of different uses as you move through life courses and I also liked how after the second segment I guess you say it was only then you briefly like glided into the mechanics of like you started to talk about this is what the program actually does for it but you didn't start with this is what the mechanics of an agreement set up yeah because then that was grounded to like the emotional relevance of what it actually meant I think it's a good story and very good evidence of the success of the program Dottie thank you very much okay we have a volunteer over here good come on up she's next after her are you okay Lee who is the audience of the story we are speaking to a room full of potential hosts at a meeting at the local senior center who you are Lee has a floor so this is Celia's story Celia is a woman approaching 70's she lives in a big rambling house in the suburbs and she's starting to feel like she has maybe a little too much privacy she's got lots of space her room is so far from the her bedroom is so far from the front of the house that you can't even hear the doorbell ring and she doesn't have a dog so she's starting to feel like maybe she'd like a little company in the house but she doesn't want too much company she wants to make sure that her privacy is respected so she starts by having some young people come and stay with her friends of her daughters one of them at some point the advantages she's got with these young people they're not going to need me they want to hang out with me easy peasy one of them however at one point comes and rearranges all the furniture in her living room so that was a little off-putting about privacy and then another one was so in her face and so there all the time that she could never get away from this person so she realizes she wants to find a different arrangement because I need I don't want to be the mom I don't want to be talking to these people all the time I don't want them in my living room all the time I want to just have some different kind of energy in the house and a little bit of company so she goes to home share of Vermont and this is where she starts to begin to look at her ideas about boundaries and privacy what do I really want how do I really want to live what are my goals do I want separate space for food in the kitchen well yes I don't want somebody eating my food do I want somebody rifling through my bills well no I don't want that how much time do I want to spend with somebody how much do I want to give them flexibility in using my garden and in using my living room space so all these issues started coming up and what's wonderful is that she found that home share of Vermont through this interview process helped her really clarify the kind of living arrangement she wants and the kind of person that she wants to live with and they found a great match for her this woman has been with her for three years so great in fact that that woman's daughter is now also living with them and not at all the same kind of teenager as the other ones that she had and she's also solved the privacy issue in the winter by creating a separate space for her to go to so when her guests have guests they can hang out in the living room and she now doesn't have to either go to her workspace or hide in her bed she's actually created now a sitting area in her bedroom where she can go and be by herself without having the guests impinge on her space or her impinging on them so it's turned out to be a very valuable experience she's getting the money she needs to help afford to stay in her house which was one of her big goals and also the company that she needed and the privacy that she really wanted thank you well done so feedback what do we like about the story how we make it better what do you think I like how you explain how her problem how she addressed her problem of trying to understand the contours of what privacy really meant because it means different things to different people so you meant when she went and sat down with home share of Vermont and said how do I define what I want and then I understood that in the larger context the whole thing you said about her that was very good one piece of advice one thing you might do differently sometimes when we tell a story there's a thing called telling and showing telling is saying one guest rearranged all the furniture well you get that but another way of saying that would be there was this one day after these two girls moved in she came down to the living room and the couch that was over there was over there and the recliner was over there and her favorite rocker had been pushed into a corner in other words just show them what happened yes that's rearranged in the furniture but actually let people kind of feel the experience the more detail the more you can just show it and let the audience figure it out for themselves the more they're into the story let them figure it out so that's just like a tiny little tweak what else any other feedback Aaron there's a good balance between managing like the sort of the overall themes with some sharing a little bit of the detail and minutiae that really comes up like what are the things that come up in sharing your home because I want my own sitting area and how did you address that or how did this person address that within the context of the larger while also keeping track of the larger art of this story yep yep all good yes Matt your voice really came here from the 2CS to the topic and the issue and the mission it just was so clear you cared so it was just your voice and your delivery was very strong good delivery too yes it was a really powerful story being a home share story that there was also that element of she tried to solve it herself first and then she went to a home share I don't know if you heard that in the back what Kimberly said she liked the beginning where Celia tries to solve the problem on her own and it does not work out and that's good because that gets our interest it's like oh you're going to try this oh that failed oh interesting but then you said by the way what does she know about home share Vermont when people connect with our organization sometimes we gloss over that I wrote that piece of story that's a piece I want you to go back and get how they find out but other than that I think it's a really good story yes very good thank you come on up yeah thanks for you alright Greer Greer first introduce yourself where are you from I am Greer Hamilton I am from Buffalo New York who is the audience for this story potential home share programs so that's you you are the audience so I'm going to tell the story of Marty Marty is a home share Vermont volunteer as well as she's a home share Vermont host so you all lock your doors and feel comfortable like that's your preferred way of safety a lot of you all prefer to lock your doors however Marty our host is a person who believes her community is safe enough she doesn't have to lock her homes however one day she came home and learned that her guest prefers to lock the house so Marty was locked out of her home and the host and guest provider agreement other security and safety issues had been addressed their definitions of safety did not match up so Marty decided she wanted to have a conversation with this guest to clearly define what it is that safety meant for both of them and so safety and security when it comes to home sharing is not solely about you know the background check references and while that is very important safety and security is also about having conversations especially difficult conversations potentially with the people that you're going to be living with and so Marty took it upon herself to engage in a conversation with her guest before having to return to home share Vermont to handle that and so while home share Vermont could have been the mediator between the host and guest Marty learned a key lesson that communication is one of the first steps in order to create a safe and secure relationship with the guest so thank you well done you must face your fears that's right David I like that she asked a question that most of us could relate to and probably answer in an affirmative way so that it was relatable right how many of you lock your doors so right away we're all thinking we're into the story so it's a good technique asking questions I think we talked about that earlier yes Diane so we did this as a group but I want to say that really you took it to a whole new level we had all these elements but she just really went with it how did she do that we didn't do the question first and we'll laugh about getting locked out but she actually made that the central part which we hadn't quite figured out yet not to denigrate our table I really appreciate it you really made us look good, thank you very good, very good what else, other comments, other things we'd like yes Kimberley and I'll go back you really addressed the topic in a really straight forward way and then asked like one of the questions about it which is that topic was there your talk was all about that topic there's no way you can miss it the safety and security message comes through clear, very good, Kirby I was just curious whether that match was still going on yes one thing I like I just like the specificity of it just a day where you get locked out by your guest it's like we can all relate to that it's a specific moment but it speaks to such a larger issue of safety and security and defining what that is sometimes observing the small moments you'll get larger lessons I particularly like that I love the story I would have loved to hear a little bit more about what that conversation was about, some of the things that they discussed specifics and I'm one of the 50% of people, 30% of people over age 50 who have some hearing loss so I actually missed your first question so I think maybe a tiny bit slower maybe a tiny bit louder sorry April, one more comment and we'll move on I had a hard time tying it back to why home share was important it doesn't speak to the basic importance but this was a story just about the feelings of safety and security and I think that's okay not each story has to carry the burden of telling the entire program I think the stories of home share home sharing are a collection of stories and depending on who you're talking to and what their concerns are you can pull out the right story if an audience is unconvinced you have the story that talks about the basic need if their issue is privacy you've got a privacy story safety and security you have a safety and security story that was the narrow focus of this story and I think that's okay it was two people who were planning to do a program so this is something that could come up that you want to think about when you're thinking about safety and security good, thank you very much okay, I have one more book I have time for one more story, sir come on up alright, would you introduce yourself to the audience please my name is Reggie Melrose my name is Reggie Melrose my wife and I live in Wilson, Vermont closer and we are home share that better? okay we are hosts for the last six months good, so we're doing this who is the audience you want to be telling the story to I'm talking to a group of potential hosts very good, that's who you are Reggie has the floor and one of the issues that you're all going to be asking yourselves is this thing about compatibility how do you know if you're going to get along with that person is that person going to get along with you when we started this process I had no idea what that even meant or how you're supposed to figure that out I could think of things I might ask somebody if you put that ad in the paper roommate wanted or house guest wanted somebody comes to the door and you're talking to them you might think there's some things to ask but nothing like what home share came and as Amy was our representative and she showed up with all this paperwork and I can tell you as I've told folks before we haven't been grown like this since the last time we adopted children and you can't believe when it comes to compatibility it means they asked you for example do you mind if the person is a Republican or a Democrat or independent do you mind if the person smokes do you mind if the person drinks do you mind if the person owns or uses firearms do you mind if the person has company in your home do you mind if the person has an overnight guest in your home okay and I could also share from our experience that compatibility does not always involve just you as a host and a guest what do I mean by that we have a dog the person staying with us has a cat they had their own adjustment period look about 2 weeks they get along fine now but home share really does a great job in taking care of that so you don't have to be intimidated because though you have to now be responsible for entertaining this guest that's in your house and they don't have to figure out a responsible walking on pins and needles in your property compatibility isn't just that compatibility is also something in yourself because all of a sudden now you've been in a home where you're used to having access to the whole house even if you don't use it all you're used to having access to it now all of a sudden you can't just walk in that room anymore that takes adjustment too but they're very good about following up to keep you in line and also the other person so it does all work out thank you stay here, keep the mic same two questions what do you like about Reggie's story any ways to make it even better what do you think there's some good stuff in there I heard some laughs the tone in your voice you used to sound effect you were sort of alliterate with your yeah so this enthusiastic energy of delivery helped to sell the stories that's absolutely a good point the pet issue I have pet chocolate labs I'm a host I said they're under your feet all the time you can love pets but you've got to know when you turn directions in the kitchen they're going to step up or they're going to trick you it's working out well I can leave the house not worry about feeding them at feeding time she loves them I love the humor I think that's so important because it's such a serious issue and we're so serious about it and just being able to speak from your personal experience and put that humor in it makes it so much more relatable humor helps you go to because if you can make people laugh it sets them at ease and they open up and connect and said they did that very well so thank you for highlighting that Kimberly you used descriptions for how people were feeling in the moment and I was visualizing the needles visualizing the needles it really helped the good visual details the explanation you had of how Home Share fit into solving this problem for you guys and you chose do you mind questions that were really different and I got a sense oh well they're really looking at the big picture the specificity of the questions was really good I think that's a very good story Diane last comment there was sort of an amazement in your voice that this actually worked that was just really fun for me to hear that yeah good you were also really clear about what compatibility so the shared meaning I think was also part of what made the story strong and really very good Reggie thank you very much it's for you we only have 10 minutes left and I do want to throw it open for any questions or comments we talked about three things today first we talked about why storytelling is important how it helps us remember how we change how people think and behave we talked about how to tell a good story and you saw the basic structure of the three act story that you guys all do instinctively anyway and then we talked about the kinds of stories you should tell and the three categories and you've seen some great examples there any lingering questions comments concerns leave I have a question about the difference between telling a story and writing a story so this whole collection of stories I'm thinking would make a great series of articles in a newspaper or a column that you have monthly the home sharing column do you have any comments about that my philosophy of stories is first of all you have to gather the raw material it's like mining gold it's like bring back the gold nuggets from out there in the world the real stories of hosts and guests once you bring them back you're going to pound them into different shapes if a story is to be told on your website for example video is your best friend people will click on and watch a two or three minute video much more often than they're going to sit and read 500 words off a screen if you're printing and sending out a newsletter or brochure then a printed story is fine and if you can accompany it with pictures pictures can carry a lot of burden of describing the people and the places etc but if it's just words either on paper or coming out of your mouth then it's incumbent on you to be as visual and specific as possible because you want to conjure the people, the places, the feelings so same story told differently in different ways good question other questions Eric I'm wondering from the perspective of someone trying to start a program what tips you would have for garnering support in that community when there is no like experiential there's no stories from that community yet to share Carbran with the defer to you is this something you heard the question about starting a program is this something you're going to get into later because I think it's above my pay grade we're going to be talking a little bit more about marketing later stories I think are a very important part of all marketing communication but I think you'll get into those details and I think you can use other people's stories from other areas or other places I have a question if you're talking to a larger group or a smaller group and like interactivity or is there a way I don't know to think about telling stories based on the size of the group let's say you have a small group or one person maybe you don't want to talk at them well I mean stories to me stories are kind of an all purpose tool you know you tell stories in your own life you tell stories to individuals you'll tell stories to a dinner table full of people you might tell stories to a room full of people it doesn't really change that much I think in terms of when you're making a presentation if you're actually doing a formal presentation with slides and stuff like that if it's a very small group at a table to stand up with a big screen like that would be very awkward right so you want to be more intimate in that setting but stories I think they travel well I think you're okay let me give you some resources I do a monthly newsletter that's only about best practices in communications in the public interest world in which we all live and work at the goodmancenter.com if today has interested you if you think you're interested in these topics go to our website give us your email address we'll send this to you once a month no cost charge or obligation as they say on TV and we won't do anything else with your email address you just get this we won't spam you with anything else I also wrote two books which you might find useful why bad ads happen to good causes and the stunning sequel why bad presentations happen to good causes both of these books were generously underwritten by foundation so if either title interests you again you can go to our website go to the resources section download either one for free and I highly recommend this website ethicalstorytelling.com more and more as we tell stories of other people or they give us permission to use their stories we want to make sure that we're not abusing that privilege so if you go to this website make sure you tell stories in an ethical way but there's one tool on this website that I want to highlight it says media consent form but it's basically a consent form for using someone else's story to make sure that they're giving you what we call deep consent that they truly understand what they're allowing you to do with their story where and for how long I'll blow it up for you a little bit I understand that my story is my own and grant permission too do these various things um my image is used without being obscured my image is obscured, my real name can be used real specifics about how they're going to be identified where it's going to be used one time only for a month, for a year, etc and any other conditions of use this form is not perfect but it's a great start to make sure that the person is really fully informed on how you're using their story ethicalstorytelling.com if you're going to use other people's stories give them a visit, it's just a wonderful site lots of good resources and could you tell about the last time you told about how things can be out on the web oh yeah one of the examples I think it's on the website was somebody had I think it was a drug addict had been using drugs and had gone to an organization that helped them get back into society and that story was being used on their website and on YouTube and this person ends up going to a job interview and naturally they now job interviews they google your name and stuff and the person was confronted and said well I understand you had trouble with drugs it was like well yeah that was years ago well past that but you see a video, it looks like that was yesterday so that's the kind of ethical issues we're talking about in between newsletters if something breaks you should go watch this newscast or check out this website or you've got to read this report I'll tweet under the name Goodman Center so if you follow people on Twitter and you want to be up on communications issues at Goodman Center is my handle there there were many many details for this morning to go as smoothly as it did for everything to work out these are the organizations that are responsible can we have a moment of thanks for them and my last thought before I turn it back to Kirby if you remember nothing else from this morning I hope you remember this in the long run if you're trying to connect with people change how they think and behave numbers are important but numbers by themselves tend to numb look it's right there in the word and all that jargon we use it just jars and nobody ever marched on Washington because of a pie chart I'm pretty sure stories are different stories by their very nature tend to get stored in our brains so if you can change the story inside someone's head you've taken the first step to changing the world and if you will do that then I say I'm comfortable closing the curtain on today's workshop but this is definitely not the end thank you very much for your kind attention thank you, thank you very much