Want to Become a

Better Finance Director?

Work on Your Storytelling

From 3 Days to 3 Hours

From 3 Days to 3 Hours

Do you ever stop hearing stories? Do you ever stop telling them?

• You read the newspaper, you find out what’s happening in the world.

• You go to the office, your coworkers want to know what you did last night.

• You go home, your family wants to know about your day.

• You watch Friends, you want to know if they were really on a break.

Storytelling in the world of local government

• Narrative reinforces and personalizes data

• Increases retention

• Encourages repetition

• Win hearts as well as minds

• Connects people with policy

• Inspires action – “to do the right thing”

Storytelling is a Superpower

Strategic Planning Cycle

Adopt Budget

Create Plan

Develop Budget

Engage Stakeholders

CONFIDENTIAL • Do Not Share

Measure Performance

Strategic Planning Cycle

Adopt Budget

Develop Budget

Engage Stakeholders

Excel and Word

Council Retreat

Print and Online PDF

Council Meeting

Create Plan

CONFIDENTIAL • Do Not Share

Measure Performance

Budgeting and

Performance Platform

Adopt Budget

Measure Performance

Develop Budget

Engage Stakeholders

Budget Book Publication

Collaborative Budgeting

Workforce Planning

Strategic Planning

Open Town Hall

Key Stories

Historical Reports

Fund Balance Reports

Budget vs. Actuals

KPI Reports

Dashboards

Transparency

Create Plan

CONFIDENTIAL • Do Not Share

From 3 Days to 3 Hours to 3 Minutes

10 tips to improve your storytelling

1. Search for stories. 2. Critique the stories of others. 3. Outline the story. 4. Remove the “fluff.” 5. Practice in a safe environment. 6. Debrief your stories 7. Start a story file. 8. Use stories at the beginning of staff meetings. 9. Use a prop. 10. Show “vulnerability.”

Bonus – Digital Storytelling

Your constituents will probably forget everything you said while in public office. Your constituents will most likely forget many of the things you did while in public office. But one thing you can bank on: Your constituents will never forget how you treated them and made them feel when you saw them while you were in public office.

CHARLIE FRANCIS

Director, Government Finance Solutions OpenGov

cfrancis@opengov.com

“Stories help provide context and meaning for our lives and can inspire us to think more critically about how we fit into the world and what responsibilities we have to each other.”

– Signe V. Harriday