June 22, 2016
Articulating ideas effectively is crucial to the success of a school district in any capacity. However, many districts’ communication strategies struggle to reach the public. Rhetorical experts suggest that traditional strategies of facts followed by statistics have become outdated and end up falling silent to today’s audiences. So how can a school district be more engaging? Well, audiences have always learned lessons the best when they come in the form of a story. Storytelling is now being utilized by politicians, city leaders, and the like to better articulate new ideas, grab the attention of their public, and appeal to their emotions.
Turning basic data into a story allows school districts an avenue to relay information in a more interesting and detailed way. With an influx of information coming from new technology and more districts vying for attention, its necessary to present ideas using a more gripping and impressive method. By telling these ideas through stories, a district is more likely to gain support from staff, students, parents, and the public. This is especially effective when the stories themselves relate to the audience. For example, parents and students are likely to be moved by the story of a student who went through the school district them self; the public may be more moved to vote in support of a levy if they see the story of how improving the school district has benefitted the community before.