Storytelling is an attractive way to attract people’s attention to the work of organization. Through a story, the audience could agree for the things that being illustrated by the storyteller without feeling dictated. In order to increase the skill of creating storytelling, KEMITRAAN conducted Brand Storytelling or Pengisahan Jenama training. The training was conducted online on 23 - 24 February 2022. The training is a part of the Project Think Climate Initiative that is supported by the IDRC Canada and Oak Foundation.  

Windy Ariestanty, the trainer of Storytelling Branding Training, has vast experience as a writer, editor, and literacy activist in the Patjar Merah community.

“A story can be an effective way to spread awareness of an important issue that wants to be delivered. A good storytelling technique could be a long-term investment because almost all communication, activity, and approaches use this technique (storytelling),” Wendy stated at the beginning of the training.

The trend of storytelling technique has been going on for five years and is being implemented in many companies. According to the research results from Visme.co, 92% of people interested in the advertisement that is delivered with a storytelling style.

In relation to organizational works, Windy suggested, “In order to get others involved in our program, it is important to use persuasive technique rather than instructive. By using persuasive techniques, we can make people feel that we work for the thing that they care about. Therefore, they will feel important to get involved.”

During this training, Windy emphasized that brand-storytelling technique will change the way we talk about ourselves, what we do, and the values that are conveyed. Storytelling skills can be a great strategy when people are no longer paying attention to ads for a product, but to the stories behind the product.

In the training, the participants gained new understanding and experience, such as that was felt by Riana, a KEMITRAAN librarian. She stated, “In brand-storytelling technique, the downfall also needs to be told as a part of a process in achieving success that would make the story much more interesting. Brand-storytelling is not all about the success of an organization.”

Another perspective was mentioned by Widya, a KEMITRAAN Project Officer “Writing by elaborating empathy is important for me as a person who works in the field. Writing that contains empathy will make it more alive and not dry.”

Hopefully the skill that gained from the brand-storytelling training can be used to improve KEMITRAAN’s communication products to be more creative and attractive. Furthermore, KEMITRAAN’s work can be recognized by the public in the national, regional, and even the grassroot level.