Living Proof: Telling Your Story to Make a Difference

by John Capecci, Timothy Cage

Named to Kirkus Reviews' BEST OF 2012

Your personal story has the power to move audiences to act. But how can you make sure you're telling it so it will have the greatest impact?

Living Proof is the first comprehensive guide to telling your personal story as an effective advocate for your cause or organization. Authored by two expert communication trainers, this easy-to-use handbook gathers all the essential skills into one place—everything you'll need to

• decide what to tell
• deliver your story effectively and authentically
• give powerful presentations and great media interviews

Living Proof is for anyone who hopes one person's story can move audiences from apathy to empathy to action—from the mom addressing the school board to the executive director talking to funders, from the advocate appearing on local radio to the national spokesperson interviewed via webcam. Living Proof is written for the millions who stand up and speak out every day.

Living Proof contains examples, tools, principles, exercises and worksheets to help prepare speakers at all levels. It's organized so you can work through the book in a weekend, a week, with a course of study or flip to sections most immediately useful. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your communication skills to the next level, Living Proof provides the grounding, the confidence and guidance needed to advocate with the power of a well-told personal story.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Business

212 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2012

About the author

John is a writer, communication trainer and story/advocacy coach.

John is co-author (with Timothy Cage) of "Living Proof: Telling Your Story to Make a Difference" (2019, Granville Circle Press), a guide to using personal stories to advocate for change. He's also co-editor (with Irene Ziegler) of a best-selling series of monologue and play anthologies for actors and students. John delivers keynote presentations on communication effectiveness and the use of personal stories for advocacy.

John's clients range from large and small nonprofit organizations to for-profit businesses and individuals. He's developed and conducted custom training programs for health professionals and advocates, educators, spokespersons, senior executives, artists and museum professionals, designers, non-profit leadership and marketing/pr agencies. Home base for John is Minneapolis, MN, where he's active in neighborhood and local history work.

Reviews

[Unny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was both an incredibly easy read and a great resource for telling your story! I'm a long time activist who has slowly moved into telling my story and helping my organizations/causes tell stories. The advice this book gives is so simple and at the same time effective! The book reads like a workbook, with many, many exercises. The caveat with this review is that I didn't actually do the exercises.

[Jessica (Decky) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just used this for my graduate class in storytelling and in many moments it allowed the creative process for some students to surge. There are many innovative, bendable and thoughtful entrances to building an advocacy story including mechanisms like 'making the cut' and 6 word reason.

I allowed my students to define advocacy for themselves and then use that definition to help guide the development (intent/goal) of their story. Additionally, I focused on the idea of oral telling and story'ing vs. written/literary story and integrated that element in to an assignment. Much of these stories could sound less like 'story' and more like a 'speech' without the an exploration/discussion on the sound and look of oral storytelling.

[John Capecci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the five stars? We think so. We hope so. We enjoyed writing Living Proof almost as much as we enjoy meeting and working with the amazing individuals and groups committed to making a difference in the world with their stories. It's awesome work, and we've dedicated the book to all who are using personal stories to bring about positive change. And that's a lot of people.

Please let us know how the book works for you.

All good wishes,

John and Tim (authors)

[Katie Pierson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical, meaningful guidance for social entrepreneurs by my buddy, John Capecci.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for advocates on any level. I plan to purchase it so that I use it as a reference for specific projects. Very clearly written, with plenty of constructive advice, exercises and checklists.

[Greg Owen-Boger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Living Proof makes storytelling accessible to everyone whether they are born storytellers or not. I read Living Proof in (mostly) one sitting, and I return to it often.