How Can We Tell More and Better Stories?

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Bryan Haley

Stories are a powerful way to communicate. How do we tell better stories? What can your church do to tell more stories?

Show Notes

In this episode

Storytelling is a powerful communication tool. In this episode, Jeanette and Bryan explore how to tell more and better stories with dignity, and how your church can use the art of storytelling to connect with your community in more and meaningful ways.

Links and resources

Transcript

Jeanette:

We all know that storytelling is a powerful tool, but what if there were ways to make our stories even more effective? Today we explore the idea of storytelling with dignity and how we use it to connect our communities in a deeper way.

Bryan:

Hey there, church communicator. Welcome to the Church Juice podcast, where we are energizing church communications, one 20 minute episode at a time. Whatever your title or role is at your church, this show gives you the communication and marketing tools, resources, and community you need to be successful. I'm Bryan Haley, and I'm joined by my awesome co-host, Jeanette Yates. Hey, Jeanette. What are we diving into today?

Jeanette:

Oh my goodness. I am so excited about today. It's one of my favorite topics as church communicators, God has entrusted us to tell powerful stories. We have the greatest story there is to tell. These kinds of stories move mountains and really get into the lives of the listeners, of the hearers and can change lives. But sometimes in our quest to tell the story, we get caught up in the actual story and forget why we're sharing it. So today we're going to actually dive into the role of storytelling in furthering God's kingdom. We'll discuss general principles of storytelling, just like things you need to know, and then we'll talk about how to use those principles for gospel centered storytelling. Are you ready?

Bryan:

I like it, let's go.

Jeanette:

I know, me too.

Bryan:

Let's just dive in then. It's been a while, so I'm excited to talk about this. We have some other exciting episodes coming up, but I think that to start off with talking about storytelling in a dignified way in churches is important because every church has stories to tell, but every church that I know, struggles to get those stories and share those stories too. So I thought that we would spend some time talking about how to do that and how to do that a little bit better. So yeah, that was kind of my thought.

Jeanette:

And I think too, we talk a lot about content, content creation, how to do this, how to do, and that's great and really all of our content should come from the stories that we have to tell about what God is doing in and through our churches and so, if we start with a good story, that's the content piece, and then we create all these other ways to get it out there, right?

Bryan:

I think let's start with just this statement that the church should tell more and better stories. Do you agree with that?

Jeanette:

I do.

Bryan:

Okay.

Jeanette:

And it should be pretty easy because like I mentioned in the intro, we have the greatest story there is to tell, my friend Van Barrett used to say that all the time, we have the greatest story to tell. There is no better story than the story of Jesus, but then also we have the greatest story in the sense of we have a bunch of people gathering and God is working in and through the people of our church. And so we have their stories that we can tell and we can also encourage them to tell.

Bryan:

I see a lot of churches struggle to collect stories to figure out how to share the stories. I think there's a lot of churches, or not even just churches, but a lot of organizations, they really just want the super compelling, the super dramatic life change stories and to share those, right? But I mean, every person in your church, God is working through them in some way or another. So even if the story's not complete yet, which it never is by the way, even if the story is not complete and it's not a life altering alcoholic turned, whatever, those are still stories that we can share because that is still God working through people. I think that there is a ton of opportunity for us to share those stories and to do that in a better way too.

Jeanette:

I agree. And I think one of the things that people struggle with is, my story's not good enough because it's not... Or we don't have those big, phoenix rising from the ashes, Paul on the Damascus Road, kind of things happening or I don't have a story like that. And so we tend to shy away or maybe when we're trying to get people to tell stories they don't want to, because they're like, "I don't know what to tell you. I love God, Jesus is the Savior." And it's like, no, everybody has a story to tell. And it can be, yes, it can be one of those dramatic stories and it can also be a real simple story that seems like an ordinary story, but God has shown up there. So I think I've probably, in all the times we've been doing this, have told the story of the two ladies at my church that trimmed the candle wicks, have I told you the candle wick story? I think I have. So they come to church every week for the past 30 years, they sit and visit on the bench until the sanctuary gets unlocked, and then they trim the wick so that the candles can light the next week. That doesn't sound very exciting.

Bryan:

Pretty mundane, right?

Jeanette:

Right?

Bryan:

Yeah.

Jeanette:

But when you couch this in, you say it a different way. They have been coming every week for 20 plus 30 years and developing a relationship with each other, connecting with each other, they pray for each other, they encourage each other, they've raised their children together. Well, God has been in every one of those moments with them and encourage them and given them each other to live life together. It's like the smallest small group, right?

Bryan:

Yeah.

Jeanette:

So I think there are stories to tell, but one of the things that I know that we were talking about offline before we started recording was that sometimes we are trying to pull teeth to get stories out of other people. Why don't people want to share their story? Why is it so hard?

Bryan:

Yeah, I see two reasons and maybe there are more, but these are just kind of what I came up with. I believe that we need to do a better job of building trust. And I think every story that we tell needs to start with a foundation of trust, that goes to, it's not your story, it's theirs and how we share that matters. That means not everyone is comfortable in front of a camera. So what are some different ways that you can share a story or that they can be involved in the process of creating and sharing that story? So really building the trust and starting with that foundation. The relationship matters, and I think that's important. I think that we just expect people to automatically trust us as church staff or whatever, but that's not the case, especially when you're sharing something so vulnerable as your own testimony, your own story or what God is doing through you.

It's important to take the time and build that trust. And I think one of the ways that you can do that, I've mentioned a couple already, but one other way that you can do that is instead of just going in and recording the story and going from there, take time to build the relationship. Maybe it takes two or three meetings or maybe it takes two or three months to build that rapport with the person that you're trying to share their story, because you want to know them and you want to make sure that that trust is there. So I think that's one thing. The other thing that I was thinking about is we often, I see a lot of churches ask people to share their story. They put it even on their homepage, on their website. If you have a story to share, we want to share it.

Jeanette:

Fill out this form.

Bryan:

Fill out this form, right. But what's the purpose? Why are we doing this? What are we doing with these stories? So there's a lack of purpose or a lack of clarity a lot of times. So you need to be super clear about what you're doing with the stories that you're sharing. You need to be incredibly clear and focused and share the purpose of how you are going to share it and why you are going to share it. And just sharing as clear and as concise and as repeated as possible, what the purpose of these stories are and what it's going to do, why should they tell their story? I think those are two really, really key things that I think we often overlook because we make assumptions when we kind of dive into communication or ministry as whole.

Jeanette:

Yeah, I think too, I was thinking about this with my other duties and things that I have, I can tell if I'm the leader of something or if I'm the parent, let's say, so I'm the parent and I can tell my kid, don't do that thing, it's bad for you, or don't eat that as bad for you, or don't stay up too late, it's bad for you and they're like, "Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh." But then if a friend says, "Hey, don't do that because one time I did it and I twisted my ankle and I couldn't run for a month." And they're like, "Oh, well now I understand." And it's like the difference is, well, first of all, they trust their friends sometimes more than they trust your... Because they're just like, "Your parents are just telling you no because..." So there's trust there, but also that friend told them a story. Yeah, I did that once and I hurt myself. So don't do that. And so it's just a real basic example.

So when you're thinking about the pastor from the pulpit or somebody can get up there and they can say, your life will be transformed by Christ. And one of the things that we can do as churches is say, and here are all these stories that talk about that. So it's not just the pastor telling his story, which usually a pastor does, but they only have so many stories. So let's help them out and give more stories. So I do think allowing people to see that your story matters and not everybody's going to be able to relate to your specific story, but someone will. And that is one person that's a reason enough, which I guess leads me us to the next part.

Bryan:

I mean, telling more stories means that you are impacting more people. The pastor, which obviously his story, his character, his demeanor should matter and should connect with people but the more stories that you tell, the more people that you involve in the entire ministry of the church, because that's what it is. That's what storytelling is involving people in ministry. The more you do that, the more you have the opportunity to connect with more people. So I think that's important and I totally agree.

Jeanette:

So do we have any tips for our people to just like, what are some quick ways to get story, what are some... Let's say we've convinced people to tell us their story, they're ready to tell it, how do we make sure that we are representing that well? So how can we tell as the communicator then now we've got this story, we've gotten people to tell us a story, how can we make sure that we're broadcasting that story? We usually are like, don't just broadcast, but that's part of getting the message out, you got to broadcast it. So how do we make sure that we're telling that story with dignity, with representing them well, right?

Bryan:

Yeah.

Jeanette:

So what are some things that you've come up with?

Bryan:

That's a good question. There's a few websites that you and I have been looking at that we're going to include in the show notes because I think that they do a ton better job explaining-

Jeanette:

Yes.

Bryan:

... Some of these principles, like dignified storytelling is one of them, and they have 10 principles that they use as an organization or as a nonprofit, as they talk about dignified storytelling, these 10 principles are kind of what guide how to tell good stories or how to tell ethical stories. So I think there are tons of resources like that available that we'll include, but I think there are a few things that we need to consider specifically in churches that may be a little bit different than other types of organizations.

So I would say that it really starts with trust. It starts with realizing that it's not my story, it is their story to tell. So we need to build that trust. I think that's key and that's number one, like I mentioned a few minutes ago. And so that means involving them in the process too. That includes building the relationship with them, but that also might mean that, hey, if it's a written story, you include them in the editing and production process of that.

Jeanette:

Yes.

Bryan:

Let them-

Jeanette:

They get the final say.

Bryan:

Yeah, it is their story, right? It's not mine. It is not the church's. And to go along with that, one thing that you and I had talked about before we started recording too, is the focus of the story. The focus should always be what God is doing through this person.

Jeanette:

Yes.

Bryan:

I don't think the focus of any story we tell should ever be the church or should ever be a ministry leader or a ministry or program of the church, it should always be what God is doing through this person. And that needs to be absolutely essential in how we tell our stories and the way that we share them, all of that. So I would say that that's two quick things. I think that we need to do a great job alongside that building trust of making sure that we are protecting that person too. And that goes along with that trust. So their information, maybe you want to change their name or maybe you don't want to use their real picture or maybe the information that's there, you should protect it and make sure that you are doing everything you can to protect that person too. So that all just goes back to that core principle of it is their story to tell. And I think that's important too. I think there's a few others, but I want to hand it over to you and see what you would add.

Jeanette:

Well, just to go along with that real quick, one of the things that will happen is when you start to share these stories that you're hearing from your members and people that are involved with your church and you are establishing the sense of trust and clarity on this is how we're going to use this information, you have control over where we share this information, those kind of things. I think then you have this blueprint where people can say, "Oh, I see that I can trust them with my story too." And so I think it opens the door for more stories. So I did just want to say that.

And then also I think, sometimes in the communications world, I was thinking about this as you were talking, in my head, I'm thinking, we want this on video and we want to do social media posts because that's how my brain works, or we want to interview them on a podcast or whatever. But sometimes it's enough to just have somebody share their story on a Sunday morning during a non-recorded portion of your service or in a small group that's relevant to that person's story or something like that. So telling stories, yes, we do want to get them out and the more people that can hear them, the more... But also there are those times where it may just be a smaller situation where you can allow that person to share their story in a way that makes them feel comfortable. And maybe that's it, maybe that's all they're going to feel comfortable doing, but then they might feel more and more comfortable sharing their story in more places. So that would be my suggestion.

But again, to your point, this was something that I always hammered home when I was working with my church, and then when I was working with my mama's church, I would say, "Hey, I don't want to tell your story, I want to tell your story plus what God is doing through your story, what God is doing through you." When I was getting started in church communications, a lot of people didn't even understand what that was, they're like, "What are you doing?" And it's like, well, my job is to share the story of what God is doing in and through the people of this church and so I think if you can just let people know that that's what you're trying to do, that goes a long way in them understanding why it's important, why their story's important, why the church's story is important, because it's really God's story.

Bryan:

So that's one tip. That was a few minutes on one tip because I think it's so big, but it's so important. The second tip that I would say for most churches to consider or church leaders to consider is that I have bias. And you have bias.

Jeanette:

Yes.

Bryan:

And we all have biases that we are bringing into every conversation. So we need to A, be aware of that, but also try to not just be aware of it, but overcome those biases or invite others into the process too. What does that look like? I know that I have certain biases, and I know that I'm not aware of all the biases that I carry. So that means that we should have guided or consistent questions that we ask people.

Jeanette:

That's a good point.

Bryan:

I think that's one way point to help, because when we ask the same questions time and time again, then those things that we're not really thinking about have a way to come out or to stay hidden. And that's something that we want to make sure that we are consistent and we are giving everyone the dignity that they deserve. I think those guided questions are important. Another way that you can help overcome biases is to invite other people into the process too. So you have yourself as the interviewer, you have the person that you're sharing their story, but invite others into the process as well. Let them overlook some of the content production that you're doing, the writing of the story or the recording. Have them take a look and see what's missing, or to make sure that everything is on track and that you haven't overlooked something or missed something entirely.

And the other thing with that too, is that you should both be seeking out people and asking them if you can share their story, but you should also allow others to seek you, to come after you. So if you are only asking people that you know or that are in your circles of influence, then that means that you're sharing a lot of the same type of stories or the same type of people, because those are the people that you interact with. So it needs to be a both and of we are going after stories, but we're also allowing people the opportunity to come to us, and that's another way that we can kind of overcome some of those blind spots that we often have, I think. So I think that's important and something that we need to be aware of in a lot of areas of church, but storytelling is a great place to start with that.

Jeanette:

Go tell more stories. Go tell better stories. That's your action plan. Practice makes better.

Bryan:

Yeah. Tell more stories, tell better stories. This week we will put out a few resources for you around this same topic. We'll create a resource where we'll create for you a resource of interview questions. I think that might be helpful for a lot of churches as they kind of dig into this a little bit more and some more kind of how to, and we'll dive in a little bit deeper in our Facebook community too. So make sure that you are subscribing not only to the podcast, but to Church Juice. Yeah, and we'll get you connected and help you dive into sharing more stories. I think that's a wrap on today's show. You got anything else there?

Jeanette:

That's a wrap.

Bryan:

All right. All right. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to listen to the Church Juice podcast. But listening is just the start to take today's topic to the next level and hear from other church communicators, head to the Church Juice Insiders Facebook group, you can find a link to the group along with today's show notes churchjuice.com/podcast.

Jeanette:

The Church Juice podcast is a listener, supporter, production of ReFrame Ministries, a family of programs designed to help you see your whole life reframed by God's gospel story. Church Juice is produced by Bryan Haley with Post-production by Minimal Media Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For more information about Church Juice, visit churchjuice.com. For information on Reframe Ministries and our family of programs, visit reframeministries.org.