The ABT Narrative Template
Do you need to create and share compelling messages?
Many of my clients working in sustainability face the challenge of engaging people who have different priorities - and when their messages are based on scientific data or lists of facts it's even harder. Whether they're speaking to boards to persuade them to adopt a new Net Zero policy, or to staff to enlist them in transformation, or to the general public to encourage them to take local action, they can struggle. And they can find that other people switch off.
But if they don't engage they won't be effective change agents nor will they meet their critical objectives upon which so much can depend.
So they need to find ways to distill their complex messages into compelling short stories. One such way is the brilliant "ABT Narrative Template", developed in 2012 by scientist turned filmmaker Randy Olson.
The main ideas have been used by good storytellers for thousands of years. He's wrapped it up very neatly.
Here's how it works:
The "ands" share the initial information / set up the story
The "but" creates tension / contradiction
The "therefore" (or "so") shares the consequence / creates the solution.
(See what I did in the first paragraphs above when introducing the framework to you?!)
And here's a video of Randy Olson sharing the ABT approach.
(I'd love to hear how you get on if you try it in your work).
Behind it is some fascinating neuroscientific research that shows storytelling increases feelings of connection between people. Here’s a handy summary of it.
