Welcome to the new Strategic Narrative platform for ideas exchange. I am delighted to be editor of this forum. I say “editor” and “platform for idea exchange” because mine will not be the dominant voice here and we will not be using the traditional blog format of one-directional communication.
This platform will feature guest contributors, guest book reviewers, and discussion. This will be a multi-sourced, interactive, and dynamic place to share ideas and information about implementing strategic narrative for social change. As Amy says, “Change the story; change the outcome.”
If you have an idea for a guest blog, or a favorite book about strategic narrative that you would like to review, let us know. If you have an upcoming event, send in the link and we will post it here. A QandA section will also be featured so if have questions (or answers) send them in. And keep looking back. We will be adding new perspectives and new ideas continuously.
We are not focused on narrative because narratives are good, nor because narratives are true, but because narratives are powerful.
We are not focused on narrative because narratives are good, nor because narratives are true, but because narratives are powerful. And if you know how to construct a powerful narrative, the specific techniques and mechanisms to employ, then you also know how to deconstruct and dismantle harmful or dangerous narratives.
Narratives are inherently dangerous because if they take hold, they take on a momentum of their own. And very powerful narratives often preclude the telling of alternatives. But not all narratives are powerful. If they are weak, they die upon impact; we never hear about them. On the other hand, if they are very powerful we don’t hear about them either; we live them. We live them as though it is the most natural thing in the world. The narratives we live by disguise their own artifice. The world they represent seems obvious, natural, a reflection of just the way things are. The most persuasive narratives don’t draw attention to themselves.
“People often fight with facts. But trotting out another fact is neither going to win a debate nor influence an audience.”
People often attempt to influence others with facts. People often fight with facts. But trotting out another fact is neither going to win a debate nor influence an audience. If you want to have influence, you need to show your audience how to understand the facts. Narrative is the way meaning is imparted to facts and events. And if you are successfully persuasive, people will experience events through your narrative.
If you want an audience to remember what you said, if you want to teach them something, if you want to move them, don’t tell them facts. Tell them a story. Stories do so much more than get remembered or teach lessons. A well-constructed story can move us to tears. Stories can cause pain or create hope. Stories can resolve conflict or create conflict.
Stories are often dangerous. Some are even deadly. They are never innocent. They are never neutral. Stories are always strategic.