‘Most powerful elements of social communication are humility & authenticity’

The e4m Do Good Conference 2024 hosted a panel discussion on ‘crafting compelling narratives for social impact’, chaired by Dilip Cherian, Communication Consultant. The panel consisted of Dr. Jaishree Sethi, Founder, Story Ghar; Jayashree Balasubramanian, Head - Communication at Reliance Foundation; Chetan Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer, Tech Mahindra Foundation and Arindam Lahiri, Chief Executive Officer, Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC).

Cherian opened the session by talking about how most of the ‘do good’ stories are either unsung or badly communicated. “The doing of good needs more focus because of the simple fact that much of it is either unsung or badly done. The best are not the ones that get the most attention. Very often, it is because they tell their story poorly, or their pedigree is questionable.”

He invited Sethi to share her experience about the same.

Sethi discussed how stories are essentially being told everywhere including advertisements, cinema and theatre but the interaction part of it is missing. “When we go out and work with people in the community, we get an opportunity to present a context, give some characters, so that the audience can relate to the situation, identify with the problem, and then they're more receptive to the solutions being provided. There's a trust and confidence that the teller develops,”

She mentioned that her organisation created characters that the target audience can relate to, for example a victim of domestic violence, put the character in a situation where they have to get out of it and help the TG be more receptive to the solution. “We take case studies, convert them into stories, and tell them. So, once there is an emotional appeal, we connect to their emotions,” added Sethi.

The session was then taken forward by Kapoor, who discussed the importance of storytelling in the social sector while bringing in the spotlight on the unsung heroes, the organisations and individuals who are working with integrity.

He also highlighted how  ‘do good and show better’ has been the norm but that sometimes changes. “‘Do good and show better’ has been the norm and that's still fine. The problem is when this morphs into ‘do whatever and show better’, and then ‘do nothing, and show better’. There is a fine line there, which everyone working in this sector has to be responsible enough to not cross. At the end of the day, the sector is and has to be about giving back.”

Cherian next asked Lahiri what unique challenges social communication in the automotive sector had as compared to others. lTo this, Lahiri replied, “Automotive is a sector which is very synonymous with being very technical or that it's only for males or people who are not so educated. There are a lot of these contradictions which are usually there in the sector

when we look at doing skilling work. So, the initial 4-5 years of the organisation I think, went into creating the necessary background structure.”

“The reason why we've actually tried to put out a lot of these stories is because when we tried to talk to our potential beneficiaries, we realised that they really don't have somebody to emulate. There are no stories in the whole narrative that somebody has done, has been a mechanic, and has done well for himself or herself,” Lahiri mentioned, bringing forward the importance of creating role models with communication and storytelling to inspire people to be a part of a particular sector.

Balasubramanian discussed the importance of two way learning. She said, “We are here not just taking development to people. We are also here trying to understand, listen and find the context in which they are actually being empowered or learning to grow in their own lives. That is the most powerful approach that communication can have or can bring.”

“It is easy for us to put up a picture of a woman carrying her children and doing her household chores and making it look very aesthetic and very beautiful. But you stop to think, is there something that we are missing beyond the pretty picture? Is it telling the right story of empowerment the way she would want it to be told? That is really the difference between marketing and communication and communication for a social purpose,” she added.

Cherian next asked the panellists how they use feedback and measure the difference that the feedback has made. He asked, “How often does the narrative change and how can you measure whether the change in narrative which you've introduced is actually helping in round two?”

To this, Kapoor answered, “I think in any good social development program worth its salt, you need to have a method by which you can continuously evaluate. We're just beginning to scratch the surface when it comes to the power of storytelling within the social sector.

“Normally when we think of impact or impact measurement, we look at quantitative tools. But here we need to look at the whole sphere in a very parochial sort of a manner because there's so much in the sector which is qualitative, which is about human elements, that can't really be measured ever in numbers,” Kappor added, highlighting that the methods of impact measurement in social sector should focus on qualitative change, because behavioural changes cannot be quantitatively measured.

Answering an audience question, Balasubramanian talked about the various deliverables the communicators in the social sector have to keep in mind.

She detailed, “There's a very simple call to action for every campaign that defines success, which you have to define right at the beginning. What is it that the campaign is actually achieving or aiming to achieve and how do you define that success in terms of number of people? So, if you're talking about the number of people who have better knowledge, number of people who have better livelihoods or number of people who are just more aware, I think those clear definitions are extremely important. Otherwise, it will just be, you know, like a campaign for the sake of a campaign and we would not see the social results that we actually want to achieve.”

In the social sector, there are hundreds of stakeholders. The communicators have to build trust with all of them and make sure they are being authentic while doing so. 

“For the audience, when we have a teller from the community that is being represented, that brings credibility and authenticity. We do add some fiction to it, but we ensure that the facts are not broken. And then to make it more accurate. So when we do have a story campaign, which aims to bring out some change or provide some solutions, we ensure that all the investors and stakeholders are in agreement,” Sethi voiced.