story smart, LLC

Strategies and Storytelling to Take Your Fundraising Further

Follow me on LinkedIn   Follow me on Twitter
  • Home
  • Value
  • Services & Terms
  • About My Work
    • Samples
    • Project Gallery
    • Testimonials
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Contact

Use your (five) senses

December 7, 2017 By Amy Scanlon

Vivid language that strikes at a donor’s senses goes a lot further than run-of-the-mill cliches.

You may have read an earlier blog entry about the power of storytelling to light up listener’s brains. However, there was one aspect that I didn’t delve into—the language of storytelling.

To be truly memorable and brain-stimulating, your language must touch the senses of your readers or listeners. Now is not the time to be logical—it’s time to smell, see, hear, taste, and feel!

According to this write-up in the New York Times, “metaphors like ‘The singer had a velvet voice’ and ‘He had leathery hands’ roused the sensory cortex, while phrases matched for meaning, like ‘The singer had a pleasing voice’ and ‘He had strong hands,’ did not.”

Chocolate cake with ice cream.
Rich, gooey chocolate cake with crispy praline and creamy vanilla gelato.

What does this mean for you? Consider the language you use when writing and consider how you can change it up to be more illustrative. Did the kids in your after school program complete their homework while eating a nutritionally-balanced snack, or was the room filled with the sound of crunching carrots and pencils scratching on paper as the kids filled out their homework assignments while eating their snacks?

There’s a line between being evoking sensations and being ridiculously elaborate. But take a look at your stories and see where you can add detail that is not simply logical, but evocative.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: storytelling, writing

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Tags

acknowledgement acknowledgment American Rescue Plan Act Amy Scanlon Amy Scanlon Consulting coronavirus covid donor-centered grant grantwriting nonprofit storytelling thank you writing

Blog Archives

  • March 2021 (1)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • April 2018 (2)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (2)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • May 2017 (1)
  • March 2017 (1)

Contact Me

Email: ascanlon@storysmartllc.com
Phone: 202-365-6637

LinkedIn | Twitter

Recent Blog Posts

  • Get grant ready: American Rescue Plan Act funding
  • Storytelling for grant reports
  • 2 Quick Fixes to Make Right Now to Your Fundraising Appeal

Search This Site

Copyright by story smart, llc. All rights reserved. Site Design by Cindy Leonard Consulting.

Home page icons by the Noun Project.