Tell Me a Story-a new reader opinion series

By Ray Schultz

Want to engage your audience? Scrap the flow charts and tell a story. So says Stephen Denning, the author of "The Leader's Guide to Storytelling." In an interview with Child Advocacy 360, Denning said that people are so overwhelmed with information that little of it sinks in. Yet there is a way of breaking through the clutter.

"When I finally abandoned my charts, factoids, and bullet points, and instead relied on telling stories to make my point ( 'Let me tell you something that happened in our community'), I found that I got eager anticipation as a reaction … instead of glazed eyes, confusion, and the distant sound of snoring," Denning says. Read More Does that mean that info graphics are passé?

"Today-much too often-we use overstuffed graphics that, in their attempt to convey complex situations, serve mostly to confuse an audience," the article says, paraphrasing Denning. "As a result, our efforts and accomplishments often go unrecognized."

Denning added that "the human animal is a narrative animal. Long before the invention of writing, storytellers were the ones who gave us the earliest details of human life, and passed them down around the camp fire."

Want more on effective storytelling? Go to the Child Advocacy 360 Web site.

Founded by Hershel Sarbin, the Child Advocacy 360 Foundation is devoted to closing the gap between good works and good communications. It reports on who's doing what that works to improve the lives of children. www.childadvocacy360.org

Other contributions to CA 360 By Ray Schultz---ASK ME

“Kid-Powered”: Turning a County-Owned Farm into an Earth School

December 3—Concerned that young people were increasingly disconnected from the real (read: natural) world, actress and teacher Barbara Sarbin turned a county farm into a hands-on Earth School. Here’s a look at how she did it.

Who's Doing What That Works

The Tow Foundation On The Scene: Keeping Communication Front and Forward for Grantee Success

While The Tow Foundation, based in Connecticut, provides grants that revolve around issues like juvenile justice, child advocacy, life skills and more, the foundation's executives see communication as a linchpin - no matter the initiative.

100 Best Communities for Young People Success Stories 2012-- First Up: Coatesville PA

As announced last month, we begin our 2012 series of stories on the 100 Best Communities For Young People, sponsored jointly by America's Promise Alliance and the ING Foundation.

Many of the communities derive additional impact from memorable messaging on results within the community; and by maintaining the kind of continuing scorecard advocated by CA 360. We celebrate the example they set, and take great pride in their outcomes.

Who's Doing What That Works

Coatesville PA Wins "100 Best" Award with Major After School Initiative.

Surprisingly, the city of Coatesville (population 23,500; with surrounding communities, 45,000) entered the winner's circle in 2011 with its very first try in the 100 Best Communities for Young People national competition sponsored by Americas Promise Alliance and the ING foundation.

In a 3-year effort called the Coatesville Youth Initiative, the town put together an action program that focused on four key areas:

• Improving graduation rates and post-graduate readiness;
• Engaging parents;
• Creating more and better mentoring opportunities; and
• Improving program coordination.

The 100 Best application was made by a community foundation called Coatesville Community Education Foundation CCEF) that recruited teachers, community educators, and volunteers to work in after school programs. The main goal was to provide enrichment for out-of-school time activities. Its other missions include: mini-grants to teachers, scholarships, and summer programs.

"The big news," said John Hall, a school psychologist in Coatesville who also serves as vice president of the CCEF, "is that kids who come to after school programs consistently do better in terms of improved attendance and achievement. With higher achievement more students, especially minority students, are taking AP courses in high school and the District benchmark tests results have improved for the last six years."

Leveraging the Award Through Smart Scorekeeping and Spreading the Word.

Among the most visible outcomes of the 100 Best award, says Hall, has been getting the message out about Coatesville's good news. "The award," he says, "has helped to get a lot of the community players on the same team."

Coatesville sees the 100 Best award as a huge step toward a new image for the city. "This award," says Hall, "has given us new stature in the community so we can bring more attention to being creative about what we do next."

In fact, says Hall, when the award was announced, one woman approached him and said, "I'm a teacher in another school district; people are always being negative about Coatesville but now you're getting the recognition you deserve."