The Magic of Storytelling

Challenge  As an educational leader social entrepreneur, I wanted to organize an international  conference of English language teachers in a small growing town in Nepal. My constituency,  the English language teachers had a great respect and trust for me as I chaired the regional  branch of Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association. This would not only benefit the  local English language teachers, it would also benefit the region due to arrival of  international guests. The challenge was to convince the seven different political parties that  governed the city at a time of political instability.       Selection  Story telling is a powerful tool to convey a message to various stakeholders, when you have  to accomplish something big. Since my challenge was to bring a different element to the  challenge, I had to convey the message that logically as well as emotionally so that the  stakeholders would feel the connection and could see the larger purpose. The “cause” of  uplifting the whole region educationally was of course powerful and would “ignites  people.” My challenge was to tell the story in a way that my audience would understand. So  I first discussed this among my core team and then we invited all stakeholders to tell the  big story. We put forward the situation and opportunity at hand. We asked questions, and  we gave moments of reflection.     Most of them were intrigued by the idea but they has many questions and suspicions. The  compelling nature of our story and the enthusiasm in my core team, eventually inspired the  community. We were able to officially declare the date from that very meeting. For many of  the young people it was a fresh breath of air. We explained why 80% failure rate in English  language is challenging. Then we talked about the opportunity of hundreds of teachers  being benefited by the international conference and the long lasting impact in education,  the idea created energy and passion that led us to think about strategy because we felt that  after some questions and answers the community was in the same page.      Application  Since the idea was that of advancement of whole society together, I tried to build a story  appropriate for different audiences: For local businesses, for local administration, and for  local political leaders. The story of a teacher’s development and the impact of teachers’  professional development in the society through hundreds of students helped me to  connect with the various stakeholders in a relatable way. Not only was I able to mobilize  hundreds of English language teachers toward organizing the event, multiple local  individuals and organizations stepped up, fundraised, and volunteered to make this event a  grand success. It was very effective.

Insight  I had a strong sense that the idea would be compelling to people once the story was told to  everybody. I used the data and hard facts showing dismal performance of teachers. The  challenge was sold. I then explained the opportunity in front of the community and told  them how they could help and showed what we could accomplish together. It worked. The  greatest insight was that when you are trying to accomplish something big, “it takes a  village.” I did know this but going through the experience gave me a new meaning of  storytelling.     Approach  If I were to do this again, I would do three things differently. First of all, everybody that  contributes needs recognition. I gave multiple responsibilities to many, many volunteers  and made sure that they were part of the story. Finally, however, I could have done a better  job if I took a time to profusely recognize people for their contributions. Second, I could  have delegated more and given multiple people a chance to appear in media and tell the  same story to larger public, which would help us to obtain public trust. Finally, I would  make sure that volunteers are well fed. Eventually, I wish I had known the idea of “what is,  what if, what wows, and what works” before the endeavor. A great approach, which will  keep inspiring my future endeavors.

