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An Infopeople Online Learning Course

Start:
April 16th, 2019 12:00 PM
End:
May 13th, 2019 4:30 PM
All attendees $200.00

Special note: This course is a collaboration between EveryLibrary and Infopeople, the continuing education arm of Califa. We are happy to announce that 25% of each registration will go to support the work of the EveryLibrary Institute, a 501c3 non-profit organization with a research and training agenda focused on the funding future for libraries.

rance greeneInstructor: Rance Greene

Have you ever felt moved to action by a story you read or heard? Do you recognize the power of story, but are daunted by the process of creating one? Would you like to learn how to use stories about your library’s value and impact to inspire your community to engagement, volunteerism and political support? In this course, instructor Rance Greene, Founder of needastory.com, will teach you a method called Story Design. At its core, Story Design has a simple goal -- to move a specific audience to take action on new skills, new knowledge and new attitudes by using story's power to connect with people's emotions.

Throughout the four weeks of the course you will use a Story Design worksheet, timely feedback and guidance from the instructor, and two live interactive meetings, to help you build a compelling story for your library and specific audience. As part of the course you will also hear from John Chrastka (Executive Director, EveryLibrary) about how storytelling can be used for library advocacy.

During the course, you will learn to:

  • Recognize the components of an effective story
  • Clarify the value proposition of your library’s services in story form
  • Describe the audience you are trying to reach and what you want them to do
  • Define what engages your audience
  • Develop relatable characters for your audience
  • Learn and document a practical methodology that demonstrates your library’s value through storytelling

At the completion of the course, you will walk away with your own fully designed story specific to your audience.

Course Description: This four-week online course will provide weekly readings, online meetings, practical assignments, and discussion forums for sharing ideas and experiences. You will also utilize a Story Design Worksheet to build your story over the four weeks. The instructor will provide essential resources, best practices, and useful tips and techniques that can be applied immediately in your library. As part of the course, you will be encouraged to ask questions and participate in discussions with others.

Course Outline:

  • Week 1: Your audience and why they should care about your message
    • Identify the benefits of storytelling for community relationships
    • Clarify the value proposition of your library’s services in story form
  • Week 2: Engagement that inspires action
    • Define what engages your audience
    • Use the SUCCESs model to inspire engagement
  • Week 3: Characters in conflict
    • Create characters your audience can respond to
    • Design a story for your audience with a clear call to action
  • Week 4: Constraints that inspire creativity
    • Develop a story within the constraints of your resources
    • Select the best method of delivery for your story

Online Meetings:

  • Meeting 1: Wednesday, April 17, 2019 at 11:00 am PST.
  • Meeting 2: Monday, May 6, 2019 at 11:00 am PST.

Note: Please make every effort to ensure that you are able to attend these two meetings. If this is not possible, archived recordings will be made available.

Pre-course Assignment: Before the course begins please take time to complete this short survey.

Time Required: To complete this course, you can expect to spend 2 ½ hours per week, for a total of ten course hours. Each week's module contains a reading and various options for assignments, discussions, or online meetings. You can choose the options most relevant to your work and interests. Although you can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.

Who Should Take This Course: Library staff at any level who need to communicate the value of their organization to their community, government officials and users in a way that touches their audience, encourages participation, and inspires action on their part. Though the examples provided in this course are specific to libraries, the Story Design process is universally applicable to any organization who is trying to define their value proposition through stories.

Online Learning Details and System Requirements may be found at: infopeople.org/training/online_learning_details.

Learner Requirements: None.

Keywords: communication, community engagement, marketing and publicity, outreach