Telling Your Story

Inspired to Serve in Action

Social media training, part of the Inspired to Serve pilot project
Telling your interfaith service-learning stories is important for a number of reasons:

  • It gives young people opportunities to demonstrate their learning and growth.
  • It raises the profile of interfaith service-learning in the community, creating opportunities to expand commitments to pluralism and the common good.
  • It raises the profile of your efforts in ways that can generate additional support.
  • It reinforces the commitments of participants and partners.

In fact, storytelling is a fundamental part of interfaith dialogue and encounter. Through storytelling, youth give voice to their own experience and identity, and they also hear and respond to the stories of other young people from other traditions. (See more about storytelling as part of interfaith work from an Interfaith Youth Core article in the Journal of Ecumenical Studies [PDF].)

Gathering and Shaping Your Stories

If you have been reflecting and documenting your interfaith service-learning projects all along, you will have ample material to use to tell your story. (However, don’t wait until after the projects or program to contact the media to tell them what you did. You’ll need to invite them in advance, as they will want to come to observe and photograph the activities.)

  • As you think about how to tell your story, ask these kinds of questions: What are your goals in telling our stories? Are you hoping primarily to reinforce the experiences and rekindle your own passion and energy? Are you hoping to influence others’ attitudes toward youth, other religions, or interfaith action? Or do you hope to generate additional support for your programs by sharing your stories?
  • Develop stories that reflect the goals of your efforts, including goals for service, growth, and learning. Use stories to show the impact of your efforts.
  • Practice telling stories. It’s not an easy task for many people. Tell them to each other, then ask questions and give feedback. You’ll learn what aspects of stories are compelling and which elements are unnecessary.
  • Include basic facts in your story. Include who is involved, how many people, the range of religious traditions, the scope of the work, and other details. It’s easy to forget this kind of basic information, but it provides an important context for the stories of impact.
  • Remember that there are lots of creative ways to tell your story. It could be through a photo exhibit, a mural, poetry, music, video, and many other means. Tap the skills and interests of the youth involve to tell the stories in authentic, creative, and meaningful ways.

Telling Your Stories in Your Community

Interfaith and intergenerational teams can present about your interfaith service-learning efforts to various audiences in your community. These experiences not only get the word out about what you’re doing, but they also highlight the potential of religious pluralism and give young people opportunities to develop their presentation skills. Some audiences to consider:

  • Families and friends.
  • Community partner organizations.
  • Religious institutions (both those that have partnered and those that might in the future).
  • Other supporters of your efforts.
  • School groups.
  • Community leaders, neighborhood groups, and activist groups.
  • Social service, business, or other groups in the community.

Telling Your Story to the Movement

The fields of service learning, volunteering, interfaith engagement, and youth development all have networks that would be interested in your stories of interfaith service-learning. Many are eager to have stories submitted for posting on Web sites. This gives opportunities to tell your story at no cost. Here are potential outlets:

  • The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse collects and publishes online success stories, photographs, case studies, and other tools from throughout the service-learning world, including faith-based service-learning.
  • The federal government’s United We Serve initiative has a registry of projects that can give visibility to your efforts in the national service world.
  • Interfaith Youth Core collects and shared stories of youth interfaith action around the world.

Using Social Media to Tell Your Story

  • Create and post on YouTube videos of your interfaith service-learning efforts. (Most of the video in this tool kit was created by youth in the Inspired to Serve pilot cities.)
  • Post blogs, comments, photos, and links about your interfaith service-learning activities on social media-sharing sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, and others.
  • Ask participating religious institutions and community partners to link to your online postings.

Telling Your Story in the Media

  • Traditional print, radio, and television media are all potential outlets for telling your story. At this time, the perceived novelty of youth engaged in interfaith service-learning can pique a reporter’s interest, particularly if he or she can see service in action and if young people are spokespeople for the efforts.
  • While it is exciting to have an article in a major newspaper or on television, don’t forget community newspapers and other smaller news outlets. They are often read widely by community members.
  • Don’t forget about religious and other specialty periodicals and broadcast news outlets. They may be particularly interested in the interfaith component of your efforts, particularly if youth from their religious tradition are part of the initiative.
  • The resources below give tips on reaching and working with the media. If you can access a media professional (such as a communications coordinator or a public relations specialist), they can be invaluable in helping you link to the right media contact at the right time.

Focus Publicity on Days of Service

Consider using one of the "named" days of service and volunteering as a time peg to get media attention. (The vast majority of these days do not have an interfaith emphasis, so that can be a unique angle to your story.) These include:

More Resources