Tell me a story...? It's National Storytelling Week

Stories. From fairytale forests to Finding Nemo, medieval mystery plays to the Moomins, Sherlock Holmes to Stranger Things, stories are threaded through all our lives and learning. Whether stories are based in fact or fiction, sharing tales of lives lived, or exploring ideas, they have been with us for millenia, first shared orally, then captured in art and later writing, and now on camera in films, tv and video.

Stories are how we learn, how we share experience, how we build culture and they are a mirror in which we see ourselves. Heroes and villains - we can recognise them a mile off and none of us want to be the bad guy - do we?

At 92 Minutes, we understand the power of stories. Ours have fewer fairytales and more facts. The stories we tell are about our clients, their work, their impact. We believe that by simply telling the people you want to connect with about what you do, you demonstrate your work, your values, your impact. Details matter - you might think that ‘everyone knows what we do’ but the reality is even your best customers, clients, services users probably only really know about 15% of what you do - the bit that they engage with.

Stories can be told in writing, with video, with a picture or an animation. Infographics are stories, impact reports are stories - Instagram reels are stories. We are surrounded by them, every day.

What’s YOUR story?

Your charity might work with 4000 women who have experienced domestic abuse each year - by telling the story of one woman, and her experience, that huge number is humanised and people understand the experience behind the headlines.

Your co-op might stock 400 ethical products - by talking about the people who make them, where and how, we can help your potential customers understand the impact they can make by shopping with you.

National Storytelling Week starts today. We’ll be telling our clients stories, as we always do - but we’re also attending some storytelling events, online. We’d encourage you to look out for stories this week - even if you don’t attend a storytelling event (and there are LOTS to choose from, this week and all year round) notice the stories around you today. Think about how they shape your view of the world - what stories did you tell yourself about how your day would be?

And if you need some help telling your organisational story, get in touch. We’d love to help.