Tell the Story
Yesterday, I had the privilege of listening to one of the founders of a Cornwall based community interest company tell the story of how they came into being and how they've got to where they are now. The company aims to reduce plastic waste on Cornwall's beaches. To accompany the talk, I had written a lengthy blog on our corporate intranet site explaining why plastic is useful, why its properties also mean it is harmful when it gets into the environment, and what can be done to solve the problem. It had a few likes but it didn't get the engagement I had hoped for. Unlike other blogs there were virtually no comments.
The young lady from the CIC started off in a similar manner, albeit briefly. She explained the six pillars that the company was founded on: collaboration with the community, education, business engagement, policy, healthcare and research. Then she launched into countless stories: growing up by a beach, an influential art project at school, beach litter-pickers competing to find a Lego octopus, ladies from the Women's Institute unravelling tangles of rope. It was incredibly engaging and inspiring. And that's when it hit me. By writing that blog in that manner I had missed the opportunity to engage the reader, to take them on a journey, to show what was possible rather than throwing them a seemingly insurmountable task.
On my screen I now have a post-it note saying "TELL THE STORY". I've completely rewritten my corporate intranet blog about humanism for World Humanist Day on 21 June. I've told my story, and I hope it gets more engagement than the blog about plastic pollution.
UPDATE: My blog post got nineteen unsolicited likes and four "engaged" comments, i.e. comments where other people told their own stories. I was very pleased with the result.
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