Every storyteller wants to tell a story unlike any other story told before, but seeking originality alone isn’t the key to successful storytelling, especially when it comes to nonprofit storytelling. It’s about learning how to tell good stories that people will remember and take further action. Stories they will recommend to others, again and again, because they want so desperately to talk through its main events with someone they know.

Obviously, memorable stories are well-told, well-thought-out, informative, and entertaining all at once. But there are other elements these works also have in common. Don’t forget them.

The first thing that makes great stories memorable is that they feature an interesting protagonist who you want to follow. They feature relatable characters and events, and these stories resonate with us so well because their characters deal with the same realistic conflicts and experience the same trials and triumphs as we do. They fall in love. They grieve. They try to do good things even when surrounded by not-so-good people. We can all resonate with that. We feel what they feel because we’ve been there, too.

The second thing that makes great stories memorable is that they have a strong narrative arc within them. The narrative arc is a term that describes a story's full progression. A narrative arc is the journey of a story and its characters from one way of life to something completely different. It is defined as the change that takes place between the beginning and the end of a story. It visually evokes the idea that every story has a relatively calm beginning, a middle where tension, character conflict, and narrative momentum builds to a peak and an end where the conflict is resolved. Think of the narrative arc as the spine of your story.  It is the structure that gives your story its shape, moves it along, and makes sure you tell a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. Your story should have a character that goes on an adventurous journey in order to overcome a difficult obstacle. Storytellers use a narrative arc to carefully construct the most compelling story they can. 

So how does the narrative arc work: In Act One, you set the scene and introduce your audience to the characters, the setting, and the seeds of conflict. In Act Two, your characters grow and change in response to conflicts and circumstances. They set about trying to resolve the Big Problem. Usually, the conflict will escalate to a climax. In Act Three, characters resolve the Big Problem and the story ends. Introduce the character(s) in your story in an empathetic and authentic way.  

The third thing that makes great stories memorable is that they feature a unique style and voice.  When you think about it, all stories are based around the same handful of ideas. It’s how you unfold those ideas and shape them into your own unique story that makes it possible to tell/publish something very different from the original story that may have inspired you to write it. Your voice should be authentic, even if you’ve borrowed a sense of style from your favorite author or storyteller. 

The fourth and last thing that makes great stories memorable is that they feature relevant morals.  Think about any story you’ve heard before, that you kept thinking about and can still remember it as if it was told five minutes ago. That story taught you something or lit up a part of your brain that won’t shut off. That didn’t happen by accident. Memorable stories have morals — something to be learned, an essential reminder that spans across distance and time. Therefore, next time you think of sharing your nonprofit’s story, your listeners/readers should always have something to walk away.

I hope these ideas will help and shape you in your nonprofit storytelling. If you do have any further questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I am always ready and willing to help you.

P.S. Put them into action, and remember to ask yourself the following questions...