Proof of concept
Field Guide to Facilitating With Story
Stories are not decoration. They are a way of putting people inside a decision before they have to make it themselves. This guide is a workbench: eight tabs, real writing space, and a scored test that tells you whether a story is worth telling.
Start here
Find the sentence that sounds like you right now, and go straight to that tab.
“I know what I'm teaching, but I don't have a story.”
“I have several stories and don't know which one to use.”
“I remember something interesting, but I don't know whether it is really a story.”
“My story rambles.”
“My story is interesting, but I'm not sure it helps anyone learn.”
“I tell the story and then explain what everyone was supposed to learn.”
“My story sounds better in my head than when I say it aloud.”
“I keep forgetting stories until three hours after the course ends.”
The eight tabs
1. Find stories worth telling
FIND
Discover experiences worth exploring.
2. Give the story a job
INTENT
Decide what the story needs to accomplish.
3. Find what actually happened
MAP
Find the events, causes, consequences, and change.
4. Turn the experience into a story
SHAPE
Give the experience a structure that serves your intent.
5. Is this the right story?
TEST
Determine whether the story is a strong facilitation tool.
6. Stop telling. Start facilitating.
FACILITATE
Turn the telling into a shared learning experience.
7. Help us see it
PERFORM
Bring the experience to life authentically.
8. Build a story cache
SAVE
Build a reusable cache of stories.