We arrived at Storytelling after many years of struggling with evaluation. Too often, we found ourselves wasting time collecting data that didn’t help us to learn and got in the way of the work. Storytelling, on the other hand, offered something new.

Instead of relying on tick-box feedback forms or rating experiences on a scale of 1-10, Storytelling invites people to sit down for an hour or two and tell their own story of being involved in a project. These conversations are recorded, transcribed, and edited into two-page documents that preserve the storytellers’ own voice and words. Once we have a collection of stories, we facilitate a group discussion to identify what can be learned from them.

Storytelling helps us to do justice to the messiness of people’s lives in a way that tick boxes and feedback forms never can. It helps us to listen, it’s a meaningful and collaborative process, and it brings to light rich, human stories that we can learn from.

Since 2017 we’ve worked with over 70 partners and collected 120 stories and counting. https://www.storytellingevaluation.co.uk/

Join us for this two-part Storytelling training in Autumn.

PART 1: Introduction to Storytelling training 28 September, 2-5pm, online

A step-by-step introduction to the Storytelling methodology and how to put it into practice in the context of your own work.

PART 2: Story Collecting training 5 October, 2-5pm, online

Building on part one, an in-depth and practical look at story collecting, including how to set-up, structure and guide conversation which lead to rich and insightful stories in the voice and words of the storyteller.

In order to participate you must be able to attend both parts of the training. The price covers the cost of both sessions.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with will.long@oldfirestation.org.uk