When I think back to all the tools that have helped me to become a successful advocate, one of the most important is how to tell my story.
When delivering a story to a crowd, it’s up to you what the crowd takes away from it. Have you ever heard someone give a presentation, speech or testimony and by the time he or she was finished you had no idea what it was about? To makes matters even worse, the presenter was boring. It kind of makes you feel like Charlie Brown in class listening to the teacher. Wonk, wonk, wonk.
A boring presenter can literally put you to sleep.
I’ve been telling my story of advocacy for more than 20 years and to my surprise, I’ve gotten pretty good at it. My mission is to always leave the audience with a sense of disability empowerment. If you had to tell or even relate a story of a person with a disability in a positive light, could you?
Giving presentations is no easy task. But, when you think about advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities and their drive to accomplish life, it should make you want to shout their positive stories from the rooftop whenever the opportunity presents itself.
So you ask, what are a few tips for advocates to remember when telling their story?
*always look good, for all eyes will be on you
*make sure you’ve got what you need in order to give a successful presentation; podium, microphone, notes, etc…
*know your story; take ownership of what you’re speaking about
*have a sense of humor when delivering your story – no one wants to listen to a boring presenter
I had the opportunity to host my very own webinar on this topic, thanks to Loopohio.org. There are many more tips at the link below;
https://loopohio.org/events/how-to-tell-your-story-of-advocacy/watch
Now that you have some of Shari’s tools to help you present your positive story of advocacy, go tell the world how awesome people with disabilities is and how others can assist by opening doors of opportunity!