The WV Community Development Hub team is partnering with nonprofits, associations, community foundations, and other connectors around the state who are in a position to gather groups for workshops to build skills and share about #NewStoryWV.

The Hub’s storytelling workshops are designed to be interactive and fun while also delivering on key skills needed for groups to effectively engage new people and communicate the impact of their work. Participants may be on their feet for parts of the presentation, and spend time in conversation and reflection with one another and with the workshop leader. Participants are also given opportunities to practice the skills they are learning during the presentation.

The process

Groups select from a list of four workshops (list below). The workshop format is roughly 1 hour + 15 minutes. Emma Pepper, the WV Community Development Hub’s Director of Strategic Network Communications, will present the workshop along with a brief presentation about the #NewStoryWV project and how to participate.

Partners on the workshops are expected to be the primary promoter of the event at the local level to drive attendance and are also in charge of securing the event location. An ideal group size is at least 10-15 people, and we need wall space or a screen for a PowerPoint presentation (we are able to bring a projector).

The Hub team will provide promotional materials to support the effort including a description of the workshop, the biography of the trainer, and images appropriate for use on social media. The team will also announce the event to their statewide audience.

Workshop Options

Social Media Pro Tips

We’re on social media now – but how do we take our game to the next level? Learn how to polish up your profile; find your social media voice; create compelling post language and messaging; and generate new ideas for the types of stories you want to post about online.

The 30 Minute Promotional Strategy

Website, email, social media, press outreach, flyers, brochures… With so many avenues to get your message out into the world, how do you choose what will work best? And how do you pull together different avenues into 1 cohesive campaign to promote your work? Learn a method to build out a strategy to grow visibility for your work in 30 minutes or less.

Say it Loud and Proud: Create Your Elevator Pitch

How can you describe what you do in 1 minute or less – in a way that keeps people interested and asking more? We’ll learn the steps needed to get there, and practice creating new messages. After, we’ll learn how to use this newly created messaging to amp up your presence on social media.

Get Noticed by the Media

Connecting with journalists at traditional media outlets (newspapers, radio, and TV) is a key method to launch the message of your work out into the world. Even beyond the benefits of greater visibility for your work, traditional media outlets continue to serve as a primary place to learn new information for many West Virginians – particularly those lacking reliable Internet access. Learn how to identify stories about your group that will interest the media – and the steps to connect with journalists to get your story told.

Intersted in hosting a workshop?

Email Emma Pepper with the WV Community Development Hub at e.pepper@wvhub.org to take the next step.