This is an article by Interreg.no
We often hear that we should promote our projects using “Storytelling” because it is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today. Yes, people are tired of the technical language we often use in reporting, and we do want to promote what we do in a fun and engaging way, but how do we do that? Our projects are complex, with multiple partners and many technical facts that are hard to explain to people who are not experts in that field.
Transforming Complex Projects into Engaging Narratives
What if there was an easy way to structure the information about even most complex projects – Not just an idea, but a template that we could follow? This is exactly what the Storytelling training on Interact Academy offers to Interreg. It is a specialised training that offers templates, examples, and tools to turn even the most complex Interreg projects into interesting stories. Even if you are not a communication expert you are able to create an impressive story that people can easily understand and re-tell.
Nebojsa Nikolic in the Interact program and training instructor for Storytelling for Interreg.
Learning to use AI and graphic design tools in minutes
The participants in the training first take a short online course. The course explains what makes a good story and offers an easy template with ten steps to structure your story. You just have to put one or two sentences in each of the ten slides of the template and you are ready with the basis.
Then there is a short online webinar where the training instructor, Nebojsa Nikolic from Interact, explains how to refine our draft texts. Very often the first drafts are full of bureaucratic language, too much information and unclear problem and solution. At the webinar the participants work on real Interreg project stories and refine the draft texts.
Finaly, the training offers an in-person workshop where the participants learn about how to use free and easy tools, including AI, to finish their stories and turn them into beautiful social media posts and short videos. It was impressive to see how quickly an AI tool can create a profile of a “communication persona” for the target audience. It was even more impressive to see how people with no experience in graphic design creating beautiful social media posts for their stories in Canva, in a matter of minutes.
Participants at the Storytelling training in Tällberg, Sweden
We can get started right away – voices of endorsement
At the training in Tällberg, Sweden, hosted by Interreg Sweden-Norway, several participants expressed that they were very satisfied with the content. They highlighted all the useful tips and tools that they could start using right away – as soon as they got back to the office. Below you will find three satisfied participants who express what they think about the Storytelling training.
Listen to what Monika, Pelle and Jakob ad to say about the Storytelling training:
Monika Willumsen Hansen, Nasjonalparken næringshage communication advisor in the SOURCE project.
Pelle Fredriksson, Mid Sweden University, communication advisor in the project Limitless competence (Gränslös kompetans).
Jakob Ebner, County Administrative Board of Dalarna, Project manager for the project Nature based solutions for climate mitigation in the border region.
Contact: Nebojsa Nikolic Interact Programme, nebojsa.nikolic@interact.eu Communication expert and training instructor for Storytelling for Interreg
