How storytelling changed my volunteer experience for the better

Finding the story behind an element is creating a brand new opportunity to connect with  an audience, making them see what you need them to see and leave them thinking  about endless possibilities to keep their attention going strong, that’s what storytelling is  all about. I volunteer at an online community where people from all ages, backgrounds  and genders reach out to qualified listeners like me when they need a helping hand to  hear them out and put everything into perspective. Their situations covers an infinite  number of topics, some of them with higher sensitivity levels than others that can make  us refer them to institutions such as the crisis hotline. Being online and anonymous  gives us little to no room to try and get the attendees to open up tu us, which can be  vital when it comes to saving someone’s life.

The platform is completely voluntary, giving the member the choice to log out whenever  they feel like it and this is where maintaining their undivided attention as well as giving  them mine comes in. If a member feels like they are not being cared for they are going  to log out, ending all possibilities for future chats and help. This can be one of the main  problems listeners face because making a member feel like they have your undivided  attention is not keeping your eyes on the screen, asking and answering questions about  their lives like a robot would, it all comes down to human connection, making them feel  like you understand and relate to them and not everyone is capable of doing it.

There is absolutely no way a member can tell us their whole life in a short amount of  time unless he uses a story to do so and I’ve become quite used to it, but what I had not  tried was using my life experiences as ways of connection. So that they could  understand they were not the first ones to go through a specific situation. When starting  a conversation there are 2 types of members, the outgoing ones that open up as soon  as you ask them how they are doing and the more difficult and introverted ones that  tend to stick to yes or no answers. I’ve found out that when it comes to quiet  uncomfortable members, launching the conversation by sharing a story about a similar  situation to theirs with a positive outcome creates the first step towards human  connection, willingness from both sides to understand one another. I try to make sure  the stories talk at some point about the person opening up not being judged and it often  helps the members to stay calm and talk freely throughout the entire conversation.

The results were eye-opening. The members felt so comfortable talking to me, they  started leaving excellent reviews about me on the platform so that when other members  tried to find a listener that suited them, the more reserved people were redirected to my  profile. Old members starting scheduling appointments to keep talking and new member  requests increased by the second. The other day, I read some reviews both old and new  and compared them to one another, the new ones are much more deep because the  members writing them make sure to portray how they felt throughout our whole  conversation.

I made sure to share my discovery with the listener community through group chats and  forums and fellow listeners with much more experience than me have reached out to tell

me how storytelling has changed the way the communicate with members. So, I think  based on the reactions I have gotten not only from the members but from the listeners  as well, I would say the tool was a pretty big success that I will definitely keep using.  There is always room for improvement and I believe in this case it has to do with the  tone, even if we are talking about written intonation. Intonation can help the person you  are talking to understand both how you felt at the time of the situation, and how you are  feeling right now reliving it by telling it. For future occasions, I have to make sure I work  on my tone because the last thing a listener wants is for a member to get the wrong  idea.


How storytelling changed my volunteer experience for the better Finding the story behind an element is creating a brand new opportunity to connect with an audience , making them see what you need them to see and leave them thinking about endless possibilities to keep their attention going strong , that ’s what storytelling is all about . I volunteer at an online community where people from all ages , backgrounds and genders reach out to qualified listeners like me when they need a helping hand to hear them out and put everything into perspective . Their situations covers an infinite number of topics , some of them with higher sensitivity levels than others that can make us refer them to institutions such as the crisis hotline . Being online and anonymous gives us little to no room to try and get the attendees to open up tu us , which can be vital when it comes to saving someone ’s life . The platform is completely voluntary , giving the member the choice to log out whenever they feel like it and this is where maintaining their undivided attention as well as giving them mine comes in . If a member feels like they are not being cared for they are going to log out , ending all possibilities for future chats and help . This can be one of the main problems listeners face because making a member feel like they have your undivided attention is not keeping your eyes on the screen , asking and answering questions about their lives like a robot would , it all comes down to human connection , making them feel like you understand and relate to them and not everyone is capable of doing it . There is absolutely no way a member can tell us their whole life in a short amount of time unless he uses a story to do so and I ’ve become quite used to it , but what I had not tried was using my life experiences as ways of connection . So that they could understand they were not the first ones to go through a specific situation . When starting a conversation there are 2 types of members , the outgoing ones that open up as soon as you ask them how they are doing and the more difficult and introverted ones that tend to stick to yes or no answers . I ’ve found out that when it comes to quiet uncomfortable members , launching the conversation by sharing a story about a similar situation to theirs with a positive outcome creates the first step towards human connection , willingness from both sides to understand one another . I try to make sure the stories talk at some point about the person opening up not being judged and it often helps the members to stay calm and talk freely throughout the entire conversation . The results were eye - opening . The members felt so comfortable talking to me , they started leaving excellent reviews about me on the platform so that when other members tried to find a listener that suited them , the more reserved people were redirected to my profile . Old members starting scheduling appointments to keep talking and new member requests increased by the second . The other day , I read some reviews both old and new and compared them to one another , the new ones are much more deep because the members writing them make sure to portray how they felt throughout our whole conversation . I made sure to share my discovery with the listener community through group chats and forums and fellow listeners with much more experience than me have reached out to tell me how storytelling has changed the way the communicate with members . So , I think based on the reactions I have gotten not only from the members but from the listeners as well , I would say the tool was a pretty big success that I will definitely keep using . There is always room for improvement and I believe in this case it has to do with the tone , even if we are talking about written intonation . Intonation can help the person you are talking to understand both how you felt at the time of the situation , and how you are feeling right now reliving it by telling it . For future occasions , I have to make sure I work on my tone because the last thing a listener wants is for a member to get the wrong idea .