Share your story.

ASSIGNMENT

Your assignment is to build a story that communicates your work and your mission.

You can choose to tell the story of you, your company, or a project you love. The important thing is making it compelling and true.

Use the worksheets and steps shared in this class to guide your thinking, and by the end you'll have a powerful story you can share with the world — through marketing materials, a client presentation, an investor pitch, or even the bio for your personal website.

PROCESS

First, you'll identify your story's topic.

The Story of Me
The Story of Us (or Our Company)
The Story of an Idea
The Story of Results

Next, brainstorm your story's components — conflict, drama, challenging situations, lessons learned, etc. Remember, you don't need all nine elements. I recommend choosing 4-5 from the attached worksheet #2. Also, it's totally fine for this section to feel a bit rough! Mix and match the order of your components until it flows in an interesting way.

Once you have your components laid out, see which archetype fits your story. Choose one (1) archetype from the attached worksheet #3, and set it aside. You may find you want to play with several archetypes before settling on the final story arc that best conveys your narrative.

With all of this prepared, you'll be to ready to write, record, or even draw your story in the most effective way possible.

DELIVERABLE

Share your story in the Project Gallery. A completed project should include:

Topic (choose 1)
Components (choose 4-5)
Archetype (choose 1)
Your drafted story

Whichever way you prefer to share your story — written word, a visual storyboard, recorded audio, or even a YouTube video — feel free to use your project as an open workspace to get feedback from your fellow students — then revise, and refine.

I'm excited to see your story come to life!

RESOURCES

Worksheets

Links

The 3 Habits of Great Creative Teams (a talk I did at 99U)
Unstuck (your in-the-moment digital coach)
Make your mark: startup tips from 21 founders and creatives (YourStory.com)
sypartners.com

Alexandra Graßler

1

3