Storytelling

I am a student of African Leadership in Taiwan.

We are running a recruitment for TEDxNA 2014. We organize an annual event

every year and there are also some small workshops throughout the year. Our aim is to  bring people’s ideas together, whether it’s about technology, education, medical,  entertainment, or simply just a great idea.

Our team ran smoothly until six months ago, our curators had some serious

misunderstanding between them and led to a crisis of dismissing the team. It was a  huge relief that our academic officer took up the responsibility. The worst thing is, a  majority of our teammates left because of conflict. And we are also seriously behind

schedule for almost everything. To recruit on December for an event that will take  place in May is a challenge. We need to do everything in less than six months, winter  vacation included, what normal teams should do in ten to twelve months. So we need  people, who are not only interested in us but also willing to take up the challenge once  and for all, to become our partners to rebuild TEDxNTHU.

I chose the storytelling tool, as I feel that telling my audience, who are obviously

here for recruitment, the situation we are in and the story behind it can help find those  who are really willing to be a part of us. The story isn’t a good one. It’s about failure  and ending up in a pile of mess. As the person striving to fix the mess, I know it’s not  an easy task. The team needs people who are not afraid of this setback.

The storytelling tool is all about knowing your audience, make clear sequence of

event and give moments of reflection. We made it clear that the coming challenge is  going to be rough and bumpy. Those who are truly devoted will surely stay and those

who aren’t will simply go. On the other hand, we also showed our expected timelines  and schedules. And asked for their advice and feedbacks. This made them see that the  challenge is there and the tight schedule is reality. But it also gives people a complete  map of what we are currently doing and what we need to do in the future.

This worked really well as it turned out, after the recruitment, we got exactly the

people we wanted and the team was fabulous. We used half the time and achieved  something far better than our previous ones.

I will want to use the storytelling tool if I get a public relations intern. I suppose it’s

all about negotiating and making people trust us. After all, every great brand has a  good story behind it.

