Live from Austin: During Barack's 2004 Democratic National Convention speech, he spent the first part telling the audience about himself. He told his story. And he continues to tell his story wherever he goes on the campaign trail.He does this because telling our personal story not only can motivate ourselves, but volunteers and the public that we encounter. Through this story we experience the values that call us to act, the urgency of our cause and why we need to act now.Telling our story works in three ways...
A "story of self" tells why we have been called to serve. The key focus is on choice points, moments in our lives when our values are formed when we have to choose in the face of great uncertainty. A "story of us" communicates why our community, organization, movement, campaign has been called to its mission. Just as with a person, the key is choice points in the life of the community and/or those moments that express the values underlying the work your organization does.The "story of Obama for America" is the path our candidate has followed - starting with his roots, and his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, through the South side of Chicago doing community organizing, through his tenure as president of Harvard Law Review, through the Illinois Senate and now as the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States.The "story of now" communicates the urgent challenge we are called upon to face in the coming months, the hope we can face it successfully, and the choices we must make to act now.
As on of the first exercises of today's Camp Obama training session, attendees reflected on their personal stories and worked together to best communicate this to others.
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