Public narrative is a leadership practice that enables people to act on shared values and join together in collective action. By telling our story of self, story of us, and story of now, we can articulate the origins of why “I” care (who am I), why “we” care (who are we as a community), and why “now” (urgency), and motivate people to join us. Learn more about public narrative here.

Story of self: What is Stephen’s value? What childhood story does he tell to communicate it?

Story of us: In this story, Stephen is meeting his audience for the first time (which may not be the most ideal situation for telling a story of us). How does he still manage to make the audience feel connected to each other (create a sense of “us”) despite not having shared specific moments with the audience yet?

Story of now: What action is Stephen asking the audience to join? How does that connect to the shared value?