+ACUMEN Storytelling for Change

Module 1 Workshop
WORKSHOP LOGISTICS
We have a few suggested logistics you should consider before you get started with your first
Storytelling Workshop.

Time Commitment

We suggest scheduling 1.5-2 hours to complete this first workshop if you are part of a team. If
you are taking this course on your own, it depends on how much work you want to put into each
activity suggested in this guide.

Share Your Work

Don’t forget that you’re part of a global learning community! Share what you/your team learns
back on the NovoEd platform in the discussion forums.

What to bring

Everyone needs to bring the following for this workshop:

• Personal reflections on the questions listed in the readings for Module 1

• Your Life Map Exercise

Facilitation

If you’re planning to complete the activities as a team, it will work best if one person takes the
lead as the facilitator. He or she should be responsible for reviewing the materials in advance,
reminding everyone of the meeting, having the supplies ready, and keeping track of time as your
team moves through the activities.

Recommended Supplies

• We recommend that you have the following materials for this workshop:

• A printed or electronic copy of this guide

• Something to keep time with

• (Optional) A camera or a phone with camera to capture your team’s meeting

WORKSHOP 1 ACTIVITIES
Curious about what you’ll be doing in this workshop? Here’s a preview of the activities and how
you should allocate your time.

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE COMMUNITY (30 MINUTES)

You’ll get to know your fellow learners and familiarize yourself with the structure of the course.
You’ll learn more about why others have joined this course and what they are hoping to achieve.
By taking this course, you’ll have an opportunity to get to know someone new or discover new
things about old friends and coworkers.

SHARING YOUR LIFE MAPS (30-60 MINUTES)

You’ll share your Life Map with your peers. You’ll learn from each others’ work and reflect on
your own. You may want to update your Life Map or add more details before submitting your
Assignment 1 as a result of this exercise. This will prepare you for the next module in which you
will start to identify a specific story to work on throughout this course.

SHARING YOUR PRESENTATION PLAN (15-30 MINUTES)

You’ll gain more insights on your own strengths and weaknesses as a storyteller by receiving
appropriate feedback from your peers. You will describe the situations in which you plan to use
the storytelling skills that you will work on in this course.

WRAPPING UP + NEXT STEPS (10 MINUTES)

TIP FOR TEAMS

The most successful teams block time on their calendar now to complete all 6 workshops for this
course. If you haven’t already, take a few minutes to schedule your next workshop sessions as a
team. Each workshop also takes approximately 1.5–2 hours.
INTRO TO THE COURSE COMMUNITY

Brief Introduction

Take a moment to introduce each other:

• Name

• Organization (if appropriate)

• Location (if appropriate)

• How you heard about the course

• How you plan to make time for this course

• Things you are passionate about

• (any questions of the team’s choice that is fun and engaging for the team)

You will learn more about each other when you share your Life Maps in the later activity so
make sure the facilitator is on track with time.

In particular, spend time as a team now to determine a) when/how to conduct the remaining
workshops, and b) who the facilitator should be for each of them.

Setting your Team Norms

Lastly, we recommend that your team takes a moment to set a few rules or norms for how you
would like the team to function throughout the course.

How can you structure your team meetings to ensure that an environment of mutual trust and
respect is created?

How should feedback (both positive and negative) be communicated so that each individual
derives the greatest benefit?
SHARING YOUR PRESENTATION PLAN
What is your Presentation Plan? (5 minutes)

Stories are used to effectively deliver key messages within a presentation. Let’s think about your
presentation plan before ending today’s Workshop. Spend 5 minutes individually pondering
these questions. Do you have a presentation to make in the near future?

If yes...

• Who will be your audience? (this could just be a single person) When is it?

• Why will they be listening to you and what will they want to hear?

• What will be the key message of your presentation? (share your current ideas)

• What outcome would you like to achieve as a result of this presentation?

If no...

• Identify a hypothetical presentation that you might have to deliver in the future. Define
your audience, key message, and expected outcomes.

• Remember, there are many different presentations you can plan: You can talk about
yourself or about your organization, teach a lesson, motivate change or change the frame.

Discuss together

Share your ideas with your the team and exchange feedback and suggestions. Show the parts of
your Life Map that will be connected to the key messages of your presentation.
WRAPPING UP AND NEXT STEPS
Nice work! Finish up this workshop with a moment for ‘Ahas’ and prepare for your next
workshop.

AHAS (5-10 minutes)

At Acumen, we have a practice of sharing “Ahas” on a regular basis. These are the moments of
insight or new understanding that we gained as a result of the previous activity or discussion.
Sharing Ahas is a way to gain more insight into the world and yourself.

• Take 1-2 minutes to think and write down your Aha from Module 1: a key take-away, a
new perspective, a memorable comment or questions, or a parting thought

• If you are struggling to come up with an Aha, here’s a question

to help you: If you were to tell your friend about this experience tomorrow, what would
you tell them?

• Share your Ahas in your team

• (Optional) Take your team photo

Preparing for the next workshop

Reminders:

• Make sure your next Storytelling Workshop is on the calendar and that all team members
can attend (approximately 1.5 -2 hours needed)

• Appoint a team leader who can be the facilitator. That person should review the
following page before the next workshop.

Don’t forget to submit Assignment 1 before moving onto the Module 2 Lecture!

Pres

Present

Relationships

Emotion
Self Knowing