Tag Archives: Social Entrepreneurs

2 weeks left for NYC half-day workshop: Advancing your mission through better storytelling

This one is going to be extra special. Our original film series, Let’s Get Street Smart, is approaching half a million views, and we are looking forward to sharing how we did that and how you can get your stories in front of huge audiences too.

If the first 6 years of Micro-Documentaries was about pioneering this genre of micro-length films for social innovators, our current focus is how to get those films seen so that they can increase the likelihood of having the impact you want.

Come join us in Manhattan.

We have a great spot reserved, but if you have a beautiful venue for 20-30 people and would like to host us, we would be happy to exchange tuition for that. Let us know here.

Inspire like Pope Francis

The spotlight follows Pope Francis no matter where he goes, but when he came to the American continent last month, it shined especially brightly. It was impossible to ignore his presence; you would have had to turn off all TVs and radios at all times of day, avoid blogs and news sites online, plus plug your ears whenever you went out on the street, given the frequency with which people were talking about him, mostly in inspirational terms.

This is the sort of traction that all social innovators crave and something that many of them deserve given the importance of their message. Wouldn’t it be grand to have 1.2 billion people pledged to your cause?

I was pleased to read this article by our client Nancy Duarte on LinkedIn’s Pulse Blog that broke down why Pope Francis’s visit, and his speech to Congress in particular, was so persuasive. Turns out that the highest Catholic in the world uses some basic techniques that we all can learn from in inspiring others. Here’s the lowdown:

  • Make your audience the hero

You don’t matter. Seriously. Your audience is everything. They’re the focal point, since it’s their allegiance that will make or break your movement. Pope Francis, renowned for his humility, emphasized the importance of the people he addressed.

  • Connect with what they care about most

To inspire a movement around yourself, you need to insinuate yourself into the deepest parts of a person’s beliefs. You need to get into their soul, fire them up and make them believe. In the US, Pope Francis used the language of the American dream and espoused other values that are held in high regard in this country.

  • Link their cares to your own

Get into their soul, then show them that their soul is your soul. You are aligned. Pope Francis did this in relation to political divisiveness and immigration, and was compelling because of it. He channeled Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the process. It was a virtuoso performance and thus deeply inspiring.

I encourage you to read Duarte’s full article here.