Hello all!
GPSA and States of Mind are holding a free storytelling webinar series for CSOs and NGOs. Please see the information below, or find it on GPSA’s website, where you can also find more information about registering for the event.
For millennia, storytelling has been one of the most powerful ways to shape collective cultures, evoke emotion, teach morals, educate, or inspire action. Who can forget the story of Theseus and the Minotaur? Or how Odysseus conceived the plan to leave a huge wooden horse outside the gates of Troy? Storytelling has always been a profoundly effective tool for citizens as a means to enhance understanding of issues or build movements around social causes. With the advent of new technologies, stories can be shared far and wide, in real time. This is why the GPSA, the GPSA Knowledge Platform and States of Minds are launching a series of webinars on Storytelling.
By the end of this webinar series, participants will acquire new skills to capture and use their story for social transformation, civic engagement, and expanding their voice in addressing either global issues or issues in their local communities. This will increase civil society’s ability to engage, broaden public debate, and communicate more effectively with the public and private sectors on issues of significance. It will also allow people or organizations to showcase how their outputs are used, and how they add value to people’s lives.
The webinar series will consist of three webinars to be (tentatively) held on January 18, February 15 and April 12 on the GPSA Knowledge Platform. Those attending two out of three webinars and completing a final Storytelling project with the skills acquired in the webinar series will have the opportunity to receive feedback on their project and will get a certificate. The best projects will also be published on the GPSA Knowledge Platform, the GPSA website, and on the States of Minds’ website.
During the first webinar of the series, Lysbeth Sherman, a media and public diplomacy expert based in Washington, DC, and Robin Malloy, a neuropsychologist based in Germany, will touch on the power of storytelling and the profound and real effects that it has on the human brain. During this session, participants will learn the basics of storytelling, including the benefits, elements and emotional experiences that can lead to advocacy and responsible social action. Participants are encouraged to share their stories – whether blogs, feature stories or videos.