Section 4 – 10 Core Lessons for Narrative Change Practice
The lessons (linked below) are organised into 2 groups:
| Building a Strategy | Messaging & campaigning | ||
| 1. | Take back the agenda to ‘change the weather' | 5. | Anchor narratives in unifying values |
| 2. | Map potential openings, not just the attack narratives | 6. | Bring values to life through storytelling |
| 3. | The ‘movable middle’ are key to building support for CSOs at scale | 7. | Lead with a ‘wedge issue’ already on the agenda |
| 4. | Respond wisely to the reality that the public knows little about CSOs | 8. | Consider messaging on the value of the civil society sector |
| 9. | Engage strategic messengers beyond your base of allies | ||
| 10. | Invest in message testing – don’t rely only on instincts! |
Break out of the current frames!
Find existing positivity to build on.
Focus on the 60-70% who are movable.
Build trust with authentic storytelling.
Start on common ground.
Humanise civil society work.
Connect to existing matters of concern.
Quantify CSO contributions.
Unusual allies, brokers and spokespersons.