The Heartbeat of the Story
Most organizations communicate through top-down messaging: polished brand narratives pushed out through standard marketing channels. But often customers and stakeholders see through that, and the gap between what you say and what they experience keeps growing.
Your story belongs to everyone who has a stake in what you do. If we’re not careful, their voices will be missing, and their perspectives untold. Without them, your story rings hollow.
Here's what actually builds engagement: A focus on belonging where every stakeholder sees themselves in your story because they helped create it.
When your team feels their experiences matter, they become bridge builders. When customers see their voices reflected back, they become advocates. When your story emerges from genuine conversation, it becomes authentic.
Your impact is built on relationships. The organizations that win aren't the ones with the loudest message, they're the ones where the message flows organically from a community that truly believes in it. The question isn't whether you have a story. It's whether you're willing to share ownership of it.
Stories Don’t Work in Isolation
Innovators are often taught to pitch first and build relationships later. But impact stories don't work that way. They aren't advertisements. They aren't case studies polished to perfection. They're messy, lived, evolving narratives rooted in community. When you begin with community (not as a market segment, but as a source of wisdom and co-ownership) something powerful happens. You stop trying to impress and start trying to understand. You shift from being a solo storyteller to a story sharer.
Who Gets to Tell the Story?
Ask yourself: who is holding the pen? Whose voice is heard and whose is missing? In traditional storytelling models, stories are often extracted from communities presented by outsiders who frame the narrative to suit an agenda. Impact stories flip that script. They center the lived experiences of real people. They create space for participation, not performance. They invite co-authorship. This is how trust is built and trust is the currency of any lasting impact.
Local Roots, Global Possibility
Impact stories are often born in small, local contexts. A team initiative. A mutual aid network. A school program that goes against the grain. But when told well, and rooted in truth, these stories resonate far beyond their starting point. That’s because community-based stories are both specific and universal. They reveal something real about what people need, how they work together, and what they value. And in doing so, they create a bridge between the local and the global.
Invitation Over Persuasion
In traditional marketing or innovation storytelling, the goal is often to persuade: to convince someone of the value of a product, service, or idea. But in impact storytelling, the goal is to invite. Invite others into a shared sense of purpose. Invite them to imagine a different way. Invite them to participate in change, not just observe it. And when that invitation repeats itself over time, that’s the heartbeat that will help your story to become something bigger than you.
Reflection Prompts
Who is the ‘we’ in your story?
When was the last time you truly listened to your community?
What assumptions do you bring to the table about what your audience wants or needs?
Try This | The Story Circle Exercise
Gather 3-5 people from your community: partners, neighbors, team members, customers. Ask each person to share a story of a time when they felt part of something bigger than themselves. Listen for themes: values, challenges, hopes. These may be the roots of your impact story.
Remember this
An impact story isn’t something you invent. It’s something you surface. It already exists: in your community’s actions, conversations, and culture. Your job is to tune in, build trust, and help that story rise. The community is the story. And community, at its best, is where impact begins.