Tell your Story
why it matters
Even the best-designed data projects can fall short if others outside of the project team are unaware of the project, unclear about its goals, or are disinterested entirely. Crafting a compelling narrative that conveys what your team is trying to achieve and why it is important will help build awareness and buy-in from key decision makers, stakeholders, and members of the broader organization. This narrative, in turn, will empower others to advocate on your behalf and bring others on board.
Checklist
Identify key stakeholder groups you will need to communicate with by revisiting previous stakeholder mapping work your team has conducted.
Identify the role, motivation, and influence of each stakeholder to determine what will resonate most with them and what support they can provide.
Tailor the narrative to describe what the project is, why it is being implemented, who the project is for, and how it will positively benefit them.
Meet with stakeholders and update the project narrative accordingly.
Key Questions
What are your communication goals? Are you trying to inspire, empower, inform, mobilize, influence, convince, et cetera?
Who is the primary audience for the end product or solution? Ask yourself, “whose life changes if this goes well?”
How do your communication goals differ based on audience? Do they require slightly different narratives to be effective? What does the team need from stakeholders?
Why this project and why now? What is the impact the team hopes to achieve? What is the return on investment for addressing this challenge?
Tools + Resources
Foundation of a Successful Data Project: Telling Your Project Story (Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation)
Mastering the Art of the Narrative: Using Stories to Shape Public Policy (The London School of Economics and Public Policy)
Digital Storytelling for Social Impact (The Rockefeller Foundation)
About the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation
The Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University brings together students, expert practitioners, and extended networks to work on projects that solve societal challenges using data, design, technology, and policy. Our projects test new ways for public and private institutions to leverage data and analytics, digital technologies, and service design to help more people.
About the national governors association
The National Governors Association is the voice of the leaders of 55 states, territories, and commonwealths and supports governors in their work to develop innovative solutions to today’s problems. Through the NGA Center for Best Practices, Governors work with policy teams to identify priority issues and deal with matters of public policy and governance at the state, national and global levels.