What's Your Story? Everyone has a story to tell, but not everyone knows how to tell a story... yet.
Home What We Do What We've Done Sample Programs What People Say About Us Contact Us

"Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion."

- Barry Holstun Lopez

Sample Programs

Kimi Eisele
What's Your Story? aims to help others see and express what they already have inside them—good stories, emotions, and unique perspectives. As facilitators, our goal is to guide, not dominate, creative processes. We offer "scaffolding" onto which participants can begin to build their own work. We believe collaboration makes most experiences richer. We can offer examples of other successful story projects and help outline clear, realistic expectations and goals for new projects. Our approach is to give those we work with ownership of both the process and product of any project. We also believe that while a clear vision of the destination is helpful, sometimes we create the maps as we go. In this regard, we are flexible and adaptable to new ideas.

Below is a listing of sample workshops and presentations (with approximate time lengths). All sessions can be designed, timed, and/or combined to fit your group's needs.

Please contact us to discuss your ideas and needs.

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH

    Idea Brainstorming: What do we want to do?
    Participants work with facilitators to brainstorm project ideas and outcomes. (1-2 hours)

    This is Where I Live: Mental Mapping & Storytelling
    Participants learn to map and narrate their neighborhood or community from memory. (1-3 hours)

    Researching Your Community: What do I want to know and where do I find out?
    Participants learn where to find information about their neighborhood or chosen topic. (1-2 hours)

INTERVIEWING

    Preparing to Interview
    Participants learn the basics of interview preparation. (1 hour)

    Interviewing for Oral History
    Participants learn to identify sources, conduct background research, prepare questions for "life," and conduct the interview. (1-2 hours)

    Field Interviews
    Participants learn how to interview in the field. (2-3 hours)

    The Focused Interview
    Similar to "Interviewing for Oral History" but focuses more on interviewing for a particular topic rather than life history. Participants learn more about background research and developing focused questions. (1-2 hours)

    Compiling & Editing Interviews
    Participants learn what to do with their interviews once they've conducted them. (2-3 hours)

PHOTOGRAPHY

    Learning to See/Developing Your Photographic Eye
    (1-2 hours)

    Digital Camera Basics
    (2-4 hours)

    Getting Illuminated: Tackling Light & Exposure
    (2-4 hours)

    Capturing the Moment: When Do I Press That Button?
    (1-2 hours)

    The Photoessay: Telling Stories Through Images
    (2 hours)

WRITING


Kimi leads a workshop on writing about the arts at the Fine Arts Summer Institute for Arizona teachers.
    Reading the Landscape
    Participants learn to "read" all aspects of a landscape by observing a particular place or series of places and capturing "sensory details" (sights, smells, sounds, feelings, tastes), to make written narratives more vivid. (2 hours)

    Place-based writing
    Participants learn to write about place using vivid imagery and detail. (2 hours)

    Personal Narrative
    Participants learn the art of the personal essay. (2-3 hours or 2 workshops)

    Editing/Revision
    Participants learn how to edit and revise their own and others' writing. (1-2 hours)

FOR TEACHERS

(Any of the above workshops can also be tailored for educators)

    Teaching Techniques for Community and Student-Driven Photography
    (2-4 hours)

    Teaching the Interview
    (2-4 hours)

    Teaching Community Story Projects
    (2-4 hours)

    Teaching Place-based Writing
    (2-4 hours)

FOR FOUNDATIONS & INSTITUTIONS

(These workshops are designed specifically for organizations who wish to better communicate their mission and activities with those they serve, those who fund them, and members of the public.)

    How Vivid Narrative Will Communicate Your Mission and Help People Remember You

    Using Interviews to Share Your Work with the Public

    Exploring Photography as a Tool for Organizational Development and Social & Environmental Change

Additional services for foundations and institutions include:

    Documentary Photography To produce photographs for institutions of their programs, events, and other activities for publications, presentations and internal documentation.

    Interviewing To interview your staff, members, and those you serve about their experiences and activities

    Narrative To write the story of your organization and its activities for publications, presentations, and internal documentation.

    Photographs, interviews, and narrative material could be used for conference presentations, books, web sites, annual reports, postcards, membership newsletters, calendars, exhibits, grant reports, monitoring and evaluation, etc.

To view examples of Josh Schachter's photography and teaching projects visit http://www.joshphotos.com.

Kimi Eisele is an artist on the Arizona Commission on the Arts' Residency Roster. You can view more about her residency programs here by visiting the Commission's Web site.

©2004 What's Your Story?