A Powerful Advocacy Tool
The most important material you have as an advocate for cystic fibrosis is your own story. Learning how to tell your story clearly and concisely will make your message to elected officials even more powerful and ensures you stand out.
The average person will remember a story over a bunch of statistics any day. Policy-makers want to hear about meaningful work they can champion that will really benefit their constituents.
Meetings
Include a story as part of your meeting with target audiences, like legislators or state officials. Connecting the story to the problem you are presenting and solution you need from them will make your requests more relevant and meaningful.
Stories are a quick and effective way to illustrate the impact of cystic fibrosis. Many find it effective to tell a story just after they introduce themselves. From there, a meeting flows more readily and often the person you’re meeting with refers back to the story.
Tips for Creating Stories
As you plan to reach out to your target audiences (directly or through the media), consider using a story (or stories) unique to your community that humanizes your issue.
When developing your story, keep the following tips in mind:
- Speak plainly. This story is not the place for jargon, such as medical or legal terms, or even abbreviations. It is also a good idea to avoid complicated policy language. Tell your story with clear, everyday words.
- Speak to the heart. If the goal of your story is to add life to an otherwise lifeless policy debate, make sure that some elements evoke an emotional response in your audience. This doesn’t mean manipulating your audience—just tapping into the common values and feelings that we all share.
- Point the way to a situation that’s improving. Your story should demonstrate the human side of the debate and how real people will benefit from the solution that you are advocating.
- Keep their interest. Include small but telling details that vividly and concisely paint a picture of what you are describing. Intellectually, your audience will understand a sentence such as, “She felt hostility from the family.” But when you write, “The family wouldn’t look her in the eye,” your audience will see the moment and feel the family’s anger.
- Try to avoid relying on statistics, or issuing a ‘laundry list’ of data—and if you do use statistics, always make sure they are accurate, timely OR recent and relevant to the story you are telling.
Carefully selected, thoughtful statistics can go a long way in lending credibility to your story.
- Personalize your story. Naming the people and places in your story humanizes the debate. If you do not feel comfortable using someone’s full name, try using just a first name or a name you create for the story (just be sure to note that names have been changed).
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