Storytelling in global health: what types of stories to use
Telling your stories makes you an effective communicator and influencer
In the last blog, I told you about my process for using storytelling in global health. This week, I want share with you the main three types of stories I use in my work. They are personal, global, and results stories. In fact, I keep a file organized by these three topics with all the stories I use.
I suggest you also start a notebook or a computer file to keep track of what stories you use. You can then practice and “tweak” them to get better at communicating your ideas or the making important points about your global health work.
Personal stories are about you and your work. They can be about a career choice or turning point or just a decision you made. These stories help inspire and motivate action because they make a point, and your audience can relate to similar situations. Below are some examples of personal stories I use when coaching global health professionals to help them advance in their career:
- How I decided to become a doctor
- How I decided to work in internationally and became a global health consultant
- How I decided to start my own global health consulting company
Global stories help your audience understand the big picture about a healthcare service delivery or public health program topic. Here are a few examples of global stories:
- Hospital in Mozambique to make the point that there has to be written standard operating procedures.
- A clinic in Haiti to make the point that checklists improve quality of care.
- Program in Ecuador to make the point that continuous monitoring and training based on monitoring information improves healthcare provider performance.
Stories can be real or fiction. I have a number of real experience stories and also a number of what I call fictional reality that are based on real experience but the characters and the circumstances are combined to help make a point. For example the stories I tell in my book “Health for All NOW” are based on real people and real places, they just did not happen at the same place. Despite that, these stores help me make a point and facilitate learning and action.
Results stories are my favorite because they show how to be effective. I will talk more about these in the next blog.
To learn more, download to the Storytelling Podcast series on iTunes or visit our website.
Keep telling stories, and doing good and effective work.
