December 12, 2008
I Love to Tell the Story: E-Training the Trainers
Saturday, January 17, 2009
1:00 pm–4:00 pm Central Standard Time
Wherever_you_are, Earth
[Please note: this training was previously scheduled to take place on December 6. The event was rescheduled to January 17 in order not to conflict with the extraordinary ordination of Jay Wilson at First United Lutheran in San Francisco on December 6.]
Storytelling happens wherever two or more are gathered. But on January 17, 2009, from 1:00–4:00 pm CST, storytelling training can happen anywhere, too – wherever three are gathered.
Lutherans Concerned / North America (LC/NA) is offering a free "webinar" to train scores of people all over the United States and Canada to tell their own stories strategically, compellingly, and efficiently, honing stories into powerful, two-minute instruments for persuasion – and then train others to do the same. This webinar will focus on integrating your own stories with talking points and positive frames for engaging the church to achieve the full welcome and inclusion of all. You will then be able to take these skills to train others to tell their stories at congregation and synod events. For those preparing for the 2009 ELCIC National Convention and the ELCA Synod Assemblies and Churchwide Assembly, this training will give you a powerful tool to get your message out.
Strategic storytelling is one of the most powerful methods of faith-based community organizing. It is the lynchpin of our campaign to get the "movable middle" moving toward full inclusion. LC/NA will prepare 1,000 storytellers all across the United States and Canada to tell their stories. Participants will learn to:
- put faces on abstract concepts, making them personal
- begin new relationships
- communicate values through emotions
- teach, inspire, and motivate others to action
- present one training session in their own synod between now and the end of synod assembly season 2009
The training on January 17 will be a "webinar." All you need is a computer equipped with a DVD player, email access, a telephone, and two storytelling partners (that's you and two others). The only cost will be for your long-distance phone minutes; if you have unlimited long distance, you pay nothing more.
Each participant, working in groups of three, will be voice-connected with trainer Emily Eastwood via teleconference and will follow a PowerPoint presentation and recorded video links via a DVD sent to you in advance. Each group will then practice and critique stories, sending questions via email to Emily as the training progresses.
Strategic story telling practice happens in groups of three. So, start organizing people now! Get three, six, or nine people together, find a good meeting place with broadband internet (and a large screen attached to a DVD player, if you are able), and you're all set.
Even if you've already been trained in storytelling, as many were at Hearts on Fire, please consider participating. The January 17 training will give you further opportunity to practice and will be focused specifically toward LC/NA's legislative and policy goals.
When we tell our stories to even one other person, the Holy Spirit is most certainly present. When we inspire that person to tell two or three others, justice begins to roll.
Please register today by contacting Dylan Flunker at dylanf@lcna.org or 651-665-0861. Remember, you will need to do the training in groups of three. If you don't know of others in your synod who might be interested, please let us know so we can help.