Program Overview
“Great, practical tips for sharing important messages and getting people on board with you.”
“I would 100% recommend to any educator or leader to elevate their thinking, narrative storytelling, and be able to apply my new learned knowledge tomorrow if need be.”
In this program, leaders learn and practice communications skills designed to help them inspire the members of their communities to work together to create a better future. From how to connect authentically with their audiences, to how to tell moving personal and community stories, to how to make a compelling call to action – Creating Your Inspiring Narrative is all about driving positive change and achieving meaningful results.
In the safety of a cohort of peers, this program provides leaders with the space to share their leadership challenges and opportunities, discuss how Inspiring Educators’ approach to leadership communications can help them realize their vision, practice new communications skills, and get feedback from the facilitator and their peers. Depending upon an organization’s specific needs, the teaching-and-learning format can blend full-group participation with small-group breakouts and one-on-one coaching.
“I think that it is important to leaders to understand the importance and function of storytelling in calling folks to action. The suggestions and feedback provided in the session were exceptionally helpful to this end.”
Expected Benefits
Participants will learn to:
“This program was helpful in making me think about who my audience is and what I want them to get out of my speech or what I want them to feel. I learned to organize my story in a way that focuses on the target audience I am speaking with.”
create an Empathetic Bridge to their audiences by naming the values, experiences and feelings they share, and naming and honoring the challenges people are facing in their current reality
share a Personal Story that explains who they are and why they do what they do, and demonstrates their ability and commitment to leading change for the community
share a Success Story that captures a student overcoming an obstacle or a community member having a positive impact, and illustrates a part of their vision for all students
create a Motivational Bridge that moves people to a positive emotional state, and makes a specific call to action that motivates people to join them in realizing their vision.
Logistics
Prerequisite: For best results, we recommend first completing Leading With Presence and/or Articulating Your Why.
Group Size: Small (max 10 participants, for both virtual and in person programs)
Duration: 4 hours (presented as a half day program, both in person and virtually)
This program can be offered virtually. Our virtual programming is delivered through Zoom and includes:
An expert IE facilitator, trained for virtual program delivery
A comprehensive slide deck developed for the virtual context
Opportunities for whole group, small group, and 1-on-1 discussion
Option for IE tech host to facilitate smooth implementation
Why do challenging times demand a new approach to communication? During times of crisis, many people revert to their default behaviors of protectionism, risk-avoidance, and comfort-seeking – when, in fact, just the opposite is required. To continue to advance their missions during a crisis, leaders must act quickly to stabilize their organizations. To do that, they must inspire confidence, earn trust and engage stakeholders with clear and consistent communication. Effective communication during challenging times is not only vital to maintaining performance throughout the crisis, but also diminishing the long-term impact of the disruption and recovering quickly when circumstances change.
“This really teaches you to be more relatable/real with your audience which increases your chances to receive what you are requesting.”
“Our facilitator was incredible. So many helpful tips on empathetic bridge-building in storytelling. I especially appreciated the response to my question about organization of story.”
“It was so helpful to get live coaching and practice with trusted colleagues who are in similar positions. I found it very valuable and felt my skills growing over the course of the time. I also gained a lot from watching others practice, and sharing feedback and hearing feedback from the session facilitator.”
“I appreciate being explicitly taught how to speak and convey messages to my school community. Most school leaders have to learn public speaking skills on the fly. I appreciate the investment in us to learn these skills.”
