21. How to get your stories to press?
Tip 1: Be opportunistic…but not disorganized
Tip 2: Choose the right outlet for your story and story-teller
Tip 3: Look online, offline and under-the-line for great stories
Tip 4: Use the 5 factors in your pitch (and the 3-finger rule)
Tip 5: Think of your story-tellers as ‘clients’ or ‘bosses’
22. How to get your stories to press?
Tip 1: Be opportunistic…but not disorganized
Tip 2: Choose the right outlet for your story and story-teller
Tip 3: Look online, offline and under-the-line for great stories
Tip 4: Use the 5 factors in your pitch (and the 3-finger rule)
Tip 5: Think of your story-tellers as ‘clients’ or ‘bosses’
25. How to get your stories to press?
Tip 1: Be opportunistic…but not disorganized
Tip 2: Choose the right outlet for your story and story-teller
Tip 3: Look online, offline and under-the-line for great stories
Tip 4: Use the 5 factors in your pitch (and the 3-finger rule)
Tip 5: Think of your story-tellers as ‘clients’ or ‘bosses’
26. Tip 2: Choose the right outlet for your
story and story-teller
27. Which tip do you want to learn about?
Tip 3: Look online, offline and under-the-line for great stories
Tip 4: Use the 5 factors in your pitch (and the 3-finger rule)
Tip 5: Think of your story-tellers as ‘clients’ or ‘bosses’
28. Tip 4: Write a catchy email pitch
(202-478-6120)
29. Tip 4: Write a catchy email pitch
Personal
(202-478-6120)
30. Tip 4: Write a catchy email pitch
Relatable
(202-478-6120)
31. Tip 4: Write a catchy email pitch
Surprising
(202-478-6120)
32. Tip 4: Write a catchy email pitch
Relevant
(202-478-6120)
33. Tip 4: Write a catchy email pitch
Timely
(202-478-6120)
There’s a lot of talk about Storytelling these days…
These are all interesting resources…but…
….we get it! Storytelling matters! But how can we actually and practically use stories to win our campaigns? That’s what we’re here to talk about today.
Getting your organization or campaign’s stories in the media is a powerful use of a story. The process of choosing press-worthy stories and then pitching the stories to reporters can be daunting. So today we’re going to dig our heels in and answer these two important questions.
5 factors of a newsy story
Backdrop of Wednesday’s newspaper with arrows going out from the flower to articles that match the 5 elements
Backdrop of Wednesday’s newspaper with arrows going out from the flower to articles that match the 5 elements
Backdrop of Wednesday’s newspaper with arrows going out from the flower to articles that match the 5 elements
Backdrop of Wednesday’s newspaper with arrows going out from the flower to articles that match the 5 elements
Backdrop of Wednesday’s newspaper with arrows going out from the flower to articles that match the 5 elements
A for SUCCESS: Jewish Chaplains Memorial at ArlingtonA couple years ago we worked with the Jewish Federations of North America to pressure Congress to allow the installation of a memorial to fallen Jewish military chaplains. There were memorials to chaplains of other faiths but rabbi chaplains were noticeably missing. We worked with living Jewish chaplains to share their personal stories of service in the chaplaincy with the press. We also leaned on stories of survivors of an infamous WWII shipwreck. Four chaplains were on board the USS Dorchester in 1943 when it was torpedoed by a German U-Boat. All four chaplains on board drowned in the attack. But only 3 were memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery. The fourth chaplain was Jewish.Photo caption: Carole Minninger kisses Ernie Heaton, 88, of Vero Beach, Fla., at the ceremony. Heaton survived the sinking of the USS Dorchester in World War II. “It only took 20 minutes for the ship to go down,” he said. The four chaplains who went down with the ship, including Rabbi Alexander Goode, had given up their life jackets to the soldiers.
B for FAILURE:When working with the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, we came across Jim Crawford. For decades Jim was a dam project leader with the Army Corps of Engineers in the Northeast US. His team’s work protected New England communities from flooding in major storms.
Quiz Audience: Story A vs Story B
The A’s have it!
Why did A succeed? Let’s look at the story through the 5 factors…Personal: The sacrifice of the fallen chaplains is overwhelmingly personalRelatable: Americans have a close emotional connection with service members…it’s part of our national psycheSurprising: It was very surprising that Arlington would be missing a Jewish Chaplains memorialRelevant: 150th anniversary of the Chaplaincy in the US military (started in the Civil War)Timely: Pitches were timely both around the time of the votes on the Hill and around the installation ceremony at Arlington ceremonyUltimate result…Hundreds of newspapers covered this story and the new Jewish Chaplains memorial at Arlington. Washington Post even had a photo spread that took up most of the front page of the Metro section.
Now we know what kind of stories reporters like to receive. Now how can we cross the finish line and get our stories into the newspaper?To help answer this question, we’ve selected a couple key tips….and we’ll explore those now.Then we want to get interactive and get your input about what you’re curious to hear more about.
Quiz audience on GoToWebinar about which Storytelling + Media tip they’re most curious to learn about.
Quiz audience on GoToWebinar about which Storytelling + Media tip they’re most curious to learn about.
Even if your story is born for media, it doesn’t mean your story-teller is. We work with a lot of amazing individuals who don’t have much media experience. To prepare them…Rockefeller wind….ALA congressional hearing….ricochet storiesPrepare storyteller and have your storybank ready to go….move readyIntegratedExample…
Even if your story is born for media, it doesn’t mean your story-teller is. We work with a lot of amazing individuals who don’t have much media experience. To prepare them…Rockefeller wind….ALA congressional hearing….ricochet storiesPrepare storyteller and have your storybank ready to go….move readyIntegratedExample…
Quiz audience on GoToWebinar about which Storytelling + Media tip they’re most curious to learn about.
One big tip is to be strategic about which outlets you’re pitching. Newspaper/TV? Feature story / op-ed? USA Today / Kansas City Star?USA2 wanted Oprah…but wasn’t cutting it.George and Trish – couldn’t get national press….but got Washingtonian…and everybody in DC read it and that’s actually more strategicHelped lead to other USA2 opportunities down the road
Quiz audience on GoToWebinar about which Storytelling + Media tip they’re most curious to learn about.
AARONTip 3: Pitch – circle timely and point to pitch …..what are the 3 key things to get in a pitch and how do you follow through to make sure the rest of the 5 factors come through to the reporter….that’s the relationship building
AARONThe big issue is the Food Safety Modernization Act, which sounds cold and has data to support it – but it’s this photo of Paul’s dad that personalizes it and makes it come to life
AARONThis incident could (and does) happen to any family
AARONThis food safety victim has 2 purple hearts. But it’s a cantaloupe that killed him.
AARONThis issue is relevant and matters because there’s a big discussion happening around it for the first time in almost a century
AARONThe story is especially timely because the FDA had put out new rules that day around Food Safety protections
LK’s mop-up…If you take 1 thing from today’s Storytelling webinar it’s that you’ve gotta be dogged in getting and using stories to advance your cause.
