How to Tell Your Story With Authenticity - Insights from The Outdoor Connection 2024
How do you communicate what you and your organisation are doing in a way that is transparent and authentic to your values? In this new series of articles, we’re sharing key takeaways from some of the sessions at The Outdoor Connection 2024, starting with tips on Storytelling with Authenticity.
The Outdoor Connection is an All The Elements x YHA Outdoor Citizens partnership event, supported by YHA England and Wales, Natural England and Sport England. It brings together community groups, organisations, system partners and brands, working to support access to nature and the outdoors to share experiences, learn from each other and develop new skills.
One of the sessions in our 2024 event was ‘Storytelling with Authenticity’ where our expert communicators helped people explore four different methods of storytelling: personal branding; traditional press and public relations; using social media; and being a guest on podcasts.
Meet The Experts:
Ani Barber (she/her) is a disabled outdoor campaigner, and founder of the blog Outside: Our Way. She has shared her own story on social media, in articles and last year was the subject of the short film Walking Towards Pain. She is also the host of the All The Elements’ Disability Campaigners’ social events. Ani spoke about personal branding.
Frankie Dewar (she/they) is a Social Media Coach and Marketing Consultant with a focus on using social media for good. She is also one of the directors of All The Elements and the person behind the All The Elements social media. Frankie spoke about how to approach social media.
Sabrina Pace-Humphreys (she/her) is the Co-Founder of Black Trail Runners, a charity working to increase the inclusion, participation and representation of black people in trail running. She’s worked in marketing and PR for twenty-five years, and ran her own award-winning PR agency for sixteen years. Sabrina gave us tips on traditional press and public relations.
Francesca Turauksis (she/her) is an award-winning audio producer and podcast consultant. Her podcast company, Tremula Network, is an audio-first podcast network dedicated to unheard stories of adventure, nature and the outdoors. Francesca was talking about being a guest on podcasts.
Personal Branding
Personal branding might sound like it’s about self-promotion or trying to dress up who you are, but it should be about giving yourself permission to be yourself. Developing your personal brand can help you focus on what you stand for, pinpoint your goals and stick to your values. It helps you understand and communicate who you are, which makes it a great foundation for the rest of your storytelling. It also shapes how you approach other forms of media.
Our personal branding expert Ani offered these tips for working on your personal branding:
Set your boundaries
Sharing your story in an authentic way doesn't mean that you have to share every part of you. Instead, take some time to work out the parts of your story that you feel comfortable with and the parts of your story that you'd rather keep offline. Some great questions to ask yourself are:
What do I want to talk about?
What am I happy to talk about?
What am I not happy to talk about?
Getting these boundaries clear in your mind makes it easier to focus on the aspects of your story you want to share.
Be yourself consistently
Personal branding isn't about being someone else - it's your unique point of view, your personality and your voice that will be your storytelling superpower! Whether it's in interviews, podcasts, or on social media, it is important to be yourself consistently.
Ani pointed out that people are more likely to relate to the real you, so don’t be afraid to use your values, passions and personality as part of your organisation’s story. “Your boundary can still be that you don't want to share the hardcore parts of you,” Ani says, “but , [it’s important to show that] there is still a person behind what you are doing.”
Try to be vulnerable and transparent
One mistake people commonly make is thinking that they can only show the final success, but as the saying goes - it’s as much about the journey as the destination. Showing moments of learning and growth can encourage people to support you and build a community around you of people who relate. Even if you decide not to share what Ani calls those ‘hardcore parts of yourself’, share as much as you are comfortable with and let people see the story develop. “There is a benefit in watching somebody grow authentically,” Ani says. “Showing that not everything is perfect can have a real benefit in your personal branding as well.”
Social Media
Once you understand your personal brand, you can use this to reach your audience through other channels. Most people are familiar with using social media for themselves, which is why it’s such a popular place to tell a personal or organisation story. However, it’s important to have a strategy.
Frankie tells us that understanding your why, who and what will help you to shape your story and will build your strategy for you.
Start where you are
Deciding which social media platforms to use can be a big barrier for some people, but Frankie says to start where you are. “Rather than saying ‘you should be sharing on Twitter, you should be sharing on Pinterest, you should be sharing on TikTok…’ I always think it's best to start with the one you're most familiar with.” In other words, you don’t have to jump on all the platforms at once, just start with one and then when you feel more confident you can add another, and build it up as you go.
Stories, posts and videos reach different audiences
One thing that can help you decide where to share different parts of your story is knowing that stories, posts and reels all have a different purpose and will reach different people.
Stories are going to go to people that follow you. “That's important because when you're posting on stories you can share something that's maybe a little bit more personal.”
Instagram posts are really good for reaching people that follow you, but they're also what people see when they come to your feed. Frankie says this is a good place to put information. “I think having three pinned posts: who you are, what you do, how people can join. Then people have all that information right at the top.”
Meanwhile, reels and video content tend to go out to people that don't follow you.“And what's exciting about that” Frankie says, “is on reels you can share that intro information. It's like these little soundbites that make sense if people don't know anything else about you”.
Speak to the people behind the figures
It is really easy to get caught up in demographics and statistics on social media, but Frankie says try and think about the people that are behind those figures. Get one person in mind who's your ideal person - who do you most want to come to your event or read your story? Then you can ask yourself:
What does that person need?
How can I help them?
What can I share that would be relatable for them?
How would I talk to them?
If you're somebody that feels like they struggle to connect through social media, Frankie points out “bringing it down and pretending you're having a cup of tea with that one person can really help to break down that barrier.”
Traditional Press and Public Relations
Approaching traditional media can seem daunting. How do we engage audiences with the messages that we want to convey? At Sabrina’s table, they used the exercise to think about sending press releases to journalists, and encouraging newspaper readers towards your communities.
“As well as being targeted at the media,” Sabrina points out that “elements of [a press release] can be taken for all of these different platforms as well.”
Do your research and be targeted in your approach
“How you write a press release, it's all about the research,” Sabrina says. You need to know where to send the press release, and who to send it to. A good exercise from the session that you could try is to get a selection of newspapers and look through them asking questions like:
Which newspapers have covered stories like yours?
Who are the journalists writing those articles?
Which section of the newspaper is the article in?
Is there a political bias?
Where would you like to be featured?
You can use this research to target the right media and journalists for you.
One size does not fit all
When it comes to press release writing, one size does not fit all. You want to take the time to tailor different versions of a press release for different places. What aspects of your story will appeal to this journalist? Who is the audience for this?
What's the hook?
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”. When you are trying to engage with journalists, knowing what you want isn’t enough - you need to be able to offer them a hook that makes them want to write about your story. What is your hook? Make sure you lead with that and don’t bury it at the bottom of your press release.
Sabrina explains, “It's really important [journalists] can understand who you are, what's your vision, mission and values, and what are we happy to talk about and what we're not happy to talk about.”
Quote and hyperlink to add depth and background
Adding quotes from yourself and your team can be a great way to personalise your press release. It means you can be consistently yourself, and it adds depth for the journalist to connect to. Using hyperlinks to your group or previous articles about you is another way to give some context to your story, and help journalists understand your background.
Remember, nothing is off the record
As Ani spoke about within the Personal Branding section, it’s important to be clear where your boundaries are. Journalists will do their own research and if you’ve shared something online elsewhere they could use that within their article.
There might be journalists you don’t trust to cover your story in a way you’d like, and it’s okay to say no to them. Sabrina also suggested you can ask for ‘copy approval’ to check you are happy with articles before they are published. “It's about relationships” she says, but you shouldn’t be worried that saying ‘no’ will ruin future chances. “You are not going to be the first person that a journalist has heard say, ‘I don't want to talk about that’, ‘I'm not happy to be quoted on that’ or ‘I don't want to do the interview’. They will have heard it time and time again.”
Podcasting
Podcasts are a really good way to let listeners learn more about you, as well as your organisation. Because they are long-form media, guesting on a podcast can give you the chance to talk about things in more detail. You get more control over your story than traditional media and can reach a new audience who don’t necessarily use social media.
The good news is that Francesca tells us you don’t have to have your own podcast to benefit from them - being a guest on podcasts can be just as effective. “Podcasting in general is really good for expanding your story and [speaking to] a perfect captive audience.” Here are some things to remember when reaching out to podcasts.
There is no gatekeeping in podcasts
There are no gatekeepers for who can have a podcast, and this means they can highlight stories not told elsewhere. However, as Francesca points out, “this also means that you could potentially find yourself in a toxic space”. Avoid toxic shows by listening to an episode of a podcast before you go on, and research or speak to former guests to find out how they found the conversation.
Focus on podcasts that are right for your story
Similar to traditional media, you need to research and target the shows that are most appropriate for you. You could find the exact audience that you need to speak to, or you could end up speaking to completely the wrong people. There are a few things you can do to find the right listeners:
Don’t just approach big shows - a small audience that is interested is much better
Ask the hosts who listens to their show
Search for a ‘keyword’ in a podcast app to find related podcasts e.g. ‘hiking Wales’
Always listen to an episode (or many shows have a transcript you can read)
Have fun in the chat - but don't forget the reason you're there!
Podcast interviews should be fun, but when you are given more space and less boundaries, learn how to self-edit your story. Before the interview, remind yourself of your personal branding boundaries, and remember your story telling goal. “What do I most want to talk about?” You need to feel confident to bring the conversation back to your reason for being there if it goes into more personal topics.
Make your Call To Action realistic, specific, and give listeners a reason to do it
When people are only listening to you, the steps to taking an action are slightly longer. They can’t ‘click here’ and might not have their phone to hand (imagine a listener driving, running, or cooking.) You need to give them a Call To Action (CTA) that is realistic, specific and gives them a reason to take a couple of extra steps to your goal. There are some things you can do to make it easier for listeners:
Speak directly to your ideal listener
Choose one action rather than giving them lots of choices
Spell out important information like social media handles, web addresses or names
Show your own excitement!
Start your own podcast
Have you considered starting your own podcast? This can be a really good way of controlling your story and sharing things you don’t get to talk about elsewhere. It is worth knowing that making your own podcast does take time and can get expensive if you don’t set a budget. It can also take a while to grow an audience because your followers elsewhere might not be interested in audio content. But it can also be a really rewarding way of connecting with your community on a more personal level, and even get your community involved as guests.
Keep Yourself Safe and Work Within Your Capacity
No matter where you chose to tell your story, the most important thing is to keep yourself safe, and work within your capacity. This was echoed by facilitators and participants at The Outdoor Connection event, representing lots of different sizes and types of community:
“I have backed out of interviews. One of the questions was highly inappropriate. I considered trying to have a conversation about it but it's my hard line… I backed out. I just said, ‘no thanks’.”
“I don't pitch to the Daily Mail because I've been burnt there and it is not the kind of media that I want to engage with.”
“My experience is, there's things I would talk about to certain presenters [journalists and hosts] that I wouldn't talk about in other spaces”
“If you say ‘no’ to an opportunity… you are creating space for something more aligned with you, better, bigger, whatever it is. ‘No’ is really powerful.”
“Your strategy has to fit your capacity.”
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The Outdoor Connection is an event run in partnership between Outdoor Citizens and All the Elements, with thanks to YHA (England & Wales), Natural England and Sport England. We’ll be sharing more insights and learnings over the next few months, so make sure you are signed up to our newsletter so that you don’t miss any resources. If you missed it, you can find out more about The Outdoor Connection here.
