Send board ‘goosebump’ stories to keep them engaged

• Date: 01 August 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30514
• Published date: 01 August 2017

8 Board & Administrator

DOI 10.1002/ban © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

Send board ‘goosebump’ stories

to keep them engaged

How do you keep your board engaged and think-

ing about their mission, even between meetings?

Simple, according to Joan Garry, principal at Joan

Garry Consulting: Tell them a “goosebump” story.

“Ask your staff to write one story each week,”

Garry writes on her blog. The goal is to demonstrate

a real-life example of your organization’s work—

something important that you accomplished, that

hits an emotional note—something that will give a

board member goosebumps, she says.

“Every staff member in your organization needs to

be able to tell a great story. They are your most pow-

erful ambassadors. Each one should be able to back

up the mission with a real-life illustration of how the

work has really touched someone in a really impor-

tant way. This is a skill your staff members need to

learn, so give them the opportunity to practice.”

According to Garry, these should be no more than

about two paragraphs in length—short enough that

a board member can read it on his iPhone in less

than three minutes. You should rotate which staff

member writes the story each week, so everyone gets

practice at honing this critical skill.

Some guidelines for the story, Garry says, include:

• It’s true.

• It’s current.

• It’s personal.

• It’s mission-centric.

• It’s easy to retell.

• It’s easy to remember.

• It clearly shows the impact of the organization.

Once it’s reviewed by leadership, the story

should be sent to board members in the body

of the email, with some introductory language

explaining what you hope they will do with the

story—share it with others.

For more information, visit http://www.joangarry.

com. ■

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