Storytelling to improve government communication skills

Monica Torres

1. Challenge:

I work for the Colombian government since I was 23 years old. What I have seen during  that time is that: (i) State entities in Colombia have little credibility caused by high rates of  corruption and the popular belief that they are inefficient. (ii) people who work for the  government have difficulties to communicate what the government is doing because they  use a technical terminology that common people do not understand. (iii) Government  workers are used to do things in a certain way that allow them to keep their Jobs and get  things done accordingly to the law. Finally, (iv) government entities do not understand the  real problems of citizens.

In this context, we worked identifying a way to face those issues in our office. We decided  to start with the problem within our reach “improve my communication skills and my  colleague’s”. The main challenge was finding a way to change our mindset so we used a  tool that allow us to communicate better among us.

2. Selection:

Driven to improve our communication skills and connect with each other, we decided to  use storytelling as a tool to ease the presentations of our topics. Telling stories in our  presentations make them more interesting for the listener, helping to capture their  attention and empathize with the audience. The stories humanized our communication  and make our colleagues feel closer to topics different from their expertise. It makes them  the center of our presentations.

Taking in to account that our topics and the language we used was considered difficult to  keep up and boring, we decided to use examples and analogies in our personal stories to  connect with values, emotions and character. Like John Kaur, Global Leadership  Development Director from Mars Inc, says “(…) Every great brand has a story and that  story connects to the emotions, the characters, the values of the people (…)”. We wanted  to build the story behind our work, that’s our brand.

3. Application:

We started searching in to our personal repertoire of stories, looking for the key points that  could have a personal connection with our audience as well as with the topics we were  presenting. We chose the stories were there was a strong connection with the speaker but  also had a clear meaning to the listener. The criteria for determining the stories was that it  had to be funny as we realized that our audience was always leaning for this type of  content.

Once the stories were identified, the next step was to build the speech accordingly to what  we wanted to explain. The first story we told had the purpose to explain the “integrated  model of planning and public management” which is the model that determines the  proceedings in public institutions to make them more effective and transparent. In the

past, people who had participated in conferences about this topic said it was boring and  difficult to understand.

The chosen story was the personal experience of my dad who out of nowhere decided he  wanted to build a sheep farm. Using as an example the different planning and  management stages of the project and making a strong emphasis on the different  problems that the project had to overcome, as well as asking the audience for possible  solutions we presented the case, making fun of some experiences he overcome and  discovering useful correlations between the model and my dad´s experience.

At the end of each presentation, the participants expressed that they understood the topic  and could implement the model in their daily routine. They also revealed that they were  entertained during the presentation and that they could replicate the explanation of the  model in a similar way. In a nutshell, the storytelling strategy was effective and we  decided to replicate this tool in other presentations. Now is quite popular to hear  storytelling presentations at the organization, what is helpful to communicate with citizens  as well.

4. Insight:

What we learned out of this experience was: (i) Firstly we need to understand our  audience, their values and interests to match what they find appealing with what they  need to learn. (ii) Using humor as a resource is very efficient to connect with the audience  and retain their attention. (iii) Personal stories are easier to tell for the speaker as they  lived them already. (iv) By opening and telling something personal it is easier to create a  bond with the audience. (v) Through stories, it is easier to find the causes and solutions to  common problems which is useful for design thinking as well, it has been our entrance to  design thinking at the organization.

5. Approach:

Given that storytelling tool has been successfully used for enhance our communication  skills, it is time to explore some others uses. We started our first design thinking exercise  and we want to include story telling tool as a facilitator in this process. Having said that,  perhaps the only thing I would do different is to test the story before doing it with a real  audience to find better analogies and conclusions as well as getting an initial feedback  from your colleagues. Using experimentation as a complement to improve de innovation  exercises at the organization.


Storytelling to improve government communication skills Monica Torres 1 . Challenge : I work for the Colombian government since I was 23 years old . What I have seen during that time is that : ( i ) State entities in Colombia have little credibility caused by high rates of corruption and the popular belief that they are inefficient . ( ii ) people who work for the government have difficulties to communicate what the government is doing because they use a technical terminology that common people do not understand . ( iii ) Government workers are used to do things in a certain way that allow them to keep their Jobs and get things done accordingly to the law . Finally , ( iv ) government entities do not understand the real problems of citizens . In this context , we worked identifying a way to face those issues in our office . We decided to start with the problem within our reach “ improve my communication skills and my colleague ’s ” . The main challenge was finding a way to change our mindset so we used a tool that allow us to communicate better among us . 2 . Selection : Driven to improve our communication skills and connect with each other , we decided to use storytelling as a tool to ease the presentations of our topics . Telling stories in our presentations make them more interesting for the listener , helping to capture their attention and empathize with the audience . The stories humanized our communication and make our colleagues feel closer to topics different from their expertise . It makes them the center of our presentations . Taking in to account that our topics and the language we used was considered difficult to keep up and boring , we decided to use examples and analogies in our personal stories to connect with values , emotions and character . Like John Kaur , Global Leadership Development Director from Mars Inc , says “ ( … ) Every great brand has a story and that story connects to the emotions , the characters , the values of the people ( … ) ” . We wanted to build the story behind our work , that ’s our brand . 3 . Application : We started searching in to our personal repertoire of stories , looking for the key points that could have a personal connection with our audience as well as with the topics we were presenting . We chose the stories were there was a strong connection with the speaker but also had a clear meaning to the listener . The criteria for determining the stories was that it had to be funny as we realized that our audience was always leaning for this type of content . Once the stories were identified , the next step was to build the speech accordingly to what we wanted to explain . The first story we told had the purpose to explain the “ integrated model of planning and public management ” which is the model that determines the proceedings in public institutions to make them more effective and transparent . In the past , people who had participated in conferences about this topic said it was boring and difficult to understand . The chosen story was the personal experience of my dad who out of nowhere decided he wanted to build a sheep farm . Using as an example the different planning and management stages of the project and making a strong emphasis on the different problems that the project had to overcome , as well as asking the audience for possible solutions we presented the case , making fun of some experiences he overcome and discovering useful correlations between the model and my dad´s experience . At the end of each presentation , the participants expressed that they understood the topic and could implement the model in their daily routine . They also revealed that they were entertained during the presentation and that they could replicate the explanation of the model in a similar way . In a nutshell , the storytelling strategy was effective and we decided to replicate this tool in other presentations . Now is quite popular to hear storytelling presentations at the organization , what is helpful to communicate with citizens as well . 4 . Insight : What we learned out of this experience was : ( i ) Firstly we need to understand our audience , their values and interests to match what they find appealing with what they need to learn . ( ii ) Using humor as a resource is very efficient to connect with the audience and retain their attention . ( iii ) Personal stories are easier to tell for the speaker as they lived them already . ( iv ) By opening and telling something personal it is easier to create a bond with the audience . ( v ) Through stories , it is easier to find the causes and solutions to common problems which is useful for design thinking as well , it has been our entrance to design thinking at the organization . 5 . Approach : Given that storytelling tool has been successfully used for enhance our communication skills , it is time to explore some others uses . We started our first design thinking exercise and we want to include story telling tool as a facilitator in this process . Having said that , perhaps the only thing I would do different is to test the story before doing it with a real audience to find better analogies and conclusions as well as getting an initial feedback from your colleagues . Using experimentation as a complement to improve de innovation exercises at the organization .