Want to hear from a few graduates of Story Circles Narrative Training?  On Monday we held an hour conference call with folks from three government agencies — all graduates of Story Circles.  They range from a scientist (Mike Strauss, formerly of USDA) to a communicator with a science background (Michael Bart of National Park Service) to a communicator with no science background (Heidi Koontz of USGS).  It’s an insightful discussion.  And gratifying.

WARNING:  There’s a bunch of beeps at the start from people joining the call, but they stop after a few minutes.

STORY CIRCLES:  IT’S FOR COMMUNICATORS OF ALL SORTS

On Monday the USFWS folks in Portland hosted this conference call in preparation for the Demo Day we’ll be doing with them this fall.  I moderated the discussion involving three veterans of Story Circles as a large group listened in.  Each of them spoke for 10 minutes, providing specifics on how Story Circles has worked at their agencies.

Of particular note is Heidi Koontz of USGS in Ft Collins, Colorado.  She’s a communicator, not a scientist, and head of communication for the Central States Region.   She tells of how, as a long time veteran communicator, she wondered if the training might be superfluous — that she already knows it all from her years of experience.  She says it proved hugely valuable.

I’ve had Heidi speak at several of our Demo Days because of this.  She tells of how the other four members of her circle were scientists, causing her to groan at first.  But by the end, the four scientists had become such a valuable resource for her that she now uses them constantly for editorial input as they now have a language in common — the language of the ABT Framework.

It’s a great discussion.