Interestingly, while working with those kids I found myself re-framing my own story and my own life. This was both vocation and identity. I have spent the years since then working with communities and individuals, for nonprofit organizations, educators, ministers and lawyers to help them identify what their story is and to help them tell it more effectively. So, when I am asked why storytelling should be of interest to anyone, I begin with the fact that storytelling is the fundamental way in which human beings organize the world. Stories give not only a frame, a context to our lives and work but also texture to the content.
Stories provide presence.
Stories bring the data to life. It's not that facts are bad, of course. The trouble is that by themselves facts generally do little to move a politician, a funder or the public to understanding, connection or action. Story, on the other hand, can be an effective tool to illustrate what the lack of services means in the lives of low-income families. Story, as narrative or as direct testimony, shifts the audience's basis for interpreting information.