Developing your story practice: a six-week programme to review and improve

This six-week small group programme is for anyone responsible for setting up or managing a story function. The cohort will run with six to ten people and you will work alongside peers through expert-led training and coaching.

Our weekly two-hour sessions will combine teaching with time to apply the learning directly to your organisation, with cohort discussion and problem solving. After each session, you will receive a toolkit to help you put the learning into practice and a one-hour one-to-one coaching session is included. A follow-up group clinic in March 2027 will provide an opportunity to review progress together.

Week one: the foundations (Tuesday 3rd November, 1000 - 1200pm)

·      What does a successful story gathering function look like?

·      How to develop your charity’s storytelling values.

·      What needs to be included in a story strategy?

·      How to identify and engage internal clients and stakeholders.

·      How to audit your stories and conduct a needs analysis.

Week two: planning and pipeline (Tuesday 10th November, 1000 - 1200pm)

·      Systems for planning including briefing templates, project planning protocols, and service level agreements.

·      Mapping and prioritising requests.

·      How to develop and nurture the relationships that secure your story pipeline.

·      How to find storytellers when you do not have a service delivery function.

Week three: readiness, risk and safeguarding (Tuesday 17th November, 1000 - 1200pm)

·      Assessing storyteller readiness, motivation and expectations.

·      Identifying and assessing risks before, during and after participation.

·      Planning appropriate support, limits of organisation support and external help if needed.

·      Responding to disclosures and escalation.

·      Maintaining professional boundaries and supporting story gatherer wellbeing

Week four: consent and storage (Tuesday 24th November, 1000 - 1200pm)

·      The law (GDPR) of consent and the ethics of consent and why it is important to recognise the difference.

·      What should be included in your consent process.

·      How to manage the sign off process, internally and with your storytellers.

·      Protocol for storing and circulating stories

Week five: storyteller stewardship (Tuesday 1st December, 1000 - 1200pm)

·      How to set expectations with your storyteller and agree the terms of their involvement.

·      Paying storytellers and other ways to recognise them.

·      How to support storytellers when something goes wrong.

·      When and how to retire storytellers.

Week six: monitoring and reporting your impact (Tuesday 8th December, 1000 - 1200pm)

·      How to educate colleagues on what goes into story gathering.

·      Tips for monitoring and measuring your impact.

·      The importance of feeding back to your storytellers.

·      How to do your own internal PR.