Custom Trainings for Teams & Communities

I lead trainings to help people strengthen storytelling practices, deepen their sense of community, and effectively message their work. Every training and training series is customized to meet the type of work a group or organization does, their goals and where they are starting from, and the people who will be participating. Below are answers to some FAQs as well as some examples of trainings I’ve conducted in the past. Want to talk more? Book a free 30-minute new client consultation.

Training FAQs

  • I lead trainings for staff at organizations who want to improve their community-centered storytelling practices. I also facilitate workshops with storytellers to help them shape their lived experiences in ways that feel authentic and comfortable for them. Examples of trainings for both groups are shared below.

    For staff at organizations who want to deepen their skills, I train:

    • Whole teams. For when organizations want to bring together folx from different departments and different roles to get on the same page about a topic or develop a common skill.

    • Specific departments. For when a group wants to look at storytelling or communications through the lens of a specific focus or project (e.g., development staff want to focus on fundraising storytelling or advocacy staff want to focus on storytelling practices for policy change.)

    • Individuals. For when your team isn’t ready to get started, but you are. Check out these virtual trainings for all. There are typically 6-8 of these trainings per year. Sign-up for email alerts to be notified when new trainings are scheduled.

  • Most groups choose to have me train virtually. Awesome! I also love training in-person. I’m based in Boston, Massachusetts. I conduct live trainings locally for the same rate as virtual trainings. I’m also happy to travel to other locations for live trainings and build travel costs into the rate.

    • 2-hour “enhanced webinars” introduce information on a specific aspect of storytelling or messaging, get folx to think about and unpack practices at their organization, and discuss some proposed strategies in the context of their work. These trainings typically involve 45 minutes of activities and discussion, 45 minutes of presentation, and 30 minutes of Q&A. Maximum participants: 50.

    • 4-hour skill-building workshops help folx develop and practice a specific storytelling, community-building, or messaging skill. I’ve done workshops to help teams learn how to conduct informed consent conversations, develop empowerment-based interviewing skills, craft empathetic narratives, facilitate story circles, and develop effective presentations. Maximum participants: 20.

    I also work with groups to build custom training series.

Sample storytelling trainings for organizations

  • 2-Hour Enhanced Webinar

    Stories are critical to social change. They show us the human stakes of policy decisions. They offer windows into experiences unlike our own. They make us stop and think, because they first make us feel. For organizations that use storytelling to help change the world, the conversation can’t begin and end with how to tell compelling stories. They need to consider: (1) the impact that sharing can have on the storyteller; (2) how the story is framed; and (3) how people and communities are represented in and affected by those stories. In this webinar, we explore tangible strategies organizations can adopt to partner with the people who use their services to tell whole-person, empathetic narratives that center people with lived experience in their stories and in the organization’s story gathering process. There will be time at the end for participants to ask questions about specific practices at their organizations. Note: If you aren’t sure where to start and are looking for a good introductory training, this is it!

    Perfect for: Front-line staff wrestling with how to find and share stories; Communications and development team members; and any team members responsible for shaping storytelling culture and policy.

  • 2-Hour Enhanced Webinar

    Service-delivery organizations frequently tell stories in response to an immediate need—a reporter calls, an event is coming up, or a funder requests one. And then the organization goes looking for an individual story that matches the request. When this happens, the narrative—and the goal for sharing it—is predetermined before the person at the story’s center was ever involved. In this webinar, we look at ways to move beyond this posture of storytelling and explore ways to involve individuals and communities in setting your organization’s storytelling agenda in more meaningful ways. We touch on creating speakers bureaus and storytelling groups, investing in documentary-style projects, re-allocating funds to support existing storytelling projects in your community, and other ways of ceding storytelling control.

    Perfect for: Any combination of team members. This webinar is about creating a shift in culture; groups will benefit most by having staff from different departments or people with different perspectives in the room together.

  • 4-Hour Workshop*

    The process of asking someone to share their story is the perfect opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of how, when, where, and why they want to share it and how they want to shape it, but that can only happen with an intentional and specific two-way dialogue. During this interactive and skills-based workshop, participants explore what enthusiastic, informed consent means in storytelling. Activities help participants re-imagine consent conversations as a tool for fostering partnership, exploring boundaries, and understanding goals. The workshop also helps participants develop skills for empowerment-based interviewing.

    Perfect for: Anyone working in a position where they directly ask people to share their stories, and anyone who works with those individuals to document their stories.

    *Can do a 2-hour enhanced webinar on consent that covers some of the topics in this workshop.

  • 4-hour workshop*

    Stories that evoke empathy (rather than sympathy) reveal a whole person and don’t reduce someone to a problem or a circumstance. They center the person with lived experience rather than an organization that has provided care or assistance, and they offer context to help the reader or listener understand not just what happened, but why. During this interactive and skills-based workshop, participants explore these ideas in-depth and practice crafting a story that emphasizes each of these elements from a provided interview transcript. After sharing their stories in pairs and small groups, we discuss the ways that participants’ experiences and perspectives led to the creation of different narratives, even when using the same source material, and what this means for working with patients, clients, and community members to document their stories.

    Perfect for: Anyone working in a position where they are writing stories for their organizations or are working directly with clients / patients / community members to document and share their stories.

    *Can do a 2-hour enhanced webinar on empathetic that covers some of the topics in this workshop.

Sample trainings for communities and storytellers

  • 4-Hour Workshop

    Sharing a personal experience publicly is a brave and vulnerable process. You should share your story because it’s something you want and are ready to do. And you should share it in a way that makes you feel seen, heard, and safe. This workshop has two parts. First, participants explore the potential consequences of sharing their story, what they feel comfortable sharing, and what they need to feel supported during the storytelling process. Participants then work to craft a story, poem, photo essay, or other work that feels authentic, true, and powerful to them.

    Perfect for: Anyone who wants to or has been asked to share their personal story.

  • 4-Hour Workshop

    The purpose of a story circle is to build or strengthen a sense of community within a group, to examine differences, and / or to explore social challenges through our own lived experiences. Groups can use story circles to build and strengthen a sense of community between their members and/or between communities, as well as to gain insights and perspectives on social and policy issues that inform services and advocacy work. During this workshop, participants first participate in a story circle and then learn how to facilitate one themselves. Note: Story circles are a community-building and perspective-gathering tool, NOT a tool for gathering stories for marketing purposes.

    Perfect for: Anyone looking for new ways to deepen a sense of community among staff, clients/patients, and/or other community members. It is also great for anyone who wants to explore a new way of gathering perspectives on issues, policies, or services from those same groups to inform their organizations’ priorities and work.

What clients say about trainings

  • “Kate did a 2-hour training for our advocates and communications staff on how to center stories around clients, how to do so in a way that is not exploitative, and how to do so ethically and effectively. It was really helpful to spark reflection about how we tell client stories—in the courtroom, on social media, and with funders, and I received very positive feedback from staff. Kate is really a great trainer—interesting, insightful, engaging, and genuine.”

    Daniel Atkins, Executive Director, Community Legal Aid Society, Inc.

  • "We have an extremely committed board of trustees who have struggled for years with how to effectively communicate with friends, family, and colleagues about our mission; if they couldn't memorize the "perfect" summary of our work, they remained silent. In one hour with our board, Kate taught our trustees how to find and build upon organic moments of communication. I watched in amazement as imagined lightbulbs over trustees' heads turned on and illuminated the meeting. Kate is a marvel."

    Cathy Keenan, Executive Director, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

  • “Kate did two trainings for our Florida legal aid attorneys this year. Attendees really appreciated her fresh, client-centered approach to storytelling and client interviewing/consent. She has given us a lot to think about regarding how we tell client stories and we hope to work with her again!”

    Christie Bhageloe, Director of Statewide Training Initiative, Florida Legal Services, Inc.

  • “Kate’s training on client-centered storytelling was thoughtful, engaging, and effective. Our staff was so enthralled that Kate graciously went over the two-hour window with us to continue answering questions and sharing examples. She empowered our staff to think more holistically about the stories we share and the processes to collect them. As a small nonprofit, we all have a hand in communications and we really needed this training. Now we’re on the same page and excited about spreading the word about VLJ. I highly recommend her!”

    Jaclyn Kramer, Development Director, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice