Who's Story Is It, Anyway?
[Insights on the essentials of ethical storysharing]
In this case, it felt like common sense. By “case,” I mean actual litigation as our work ultimately would be one of too few matters to eventually reach a courtroom. But we didn’t know that then.
On that seasonably hot afternoon in West Africa, we were still building our case. We knew two of our clients were women who had endured horrendously cruel assaults. As only two lawyers – me, a woman, and him, a man – of course I would be the one to hear and support their testimony.
This, my first introduction to ethical storytelling, dropped me into the deep end along with the clients depending on me to know how to swim. Being in such an extreme situation, my duty to them seemed obvious. Every step of the process, from revisiting the nightmares they lived to later telling their stories to a federal judge – and everyone else in the courtroom – meant navigating potential harm and potential healing. While terms like “re-traumatization” weren’t yet in my vocabulary, my legal training equipped me with the concepts of consent, agency, and accountability.
A few years prior, a performance review had accused me of being “too nice,” including to opposing counsel. I laughed at the feedback then but now recognize another key element of ethical storytelling in it: dignity. Whether the goalie on a visiting team, a server at a restaurant, or literally opposing counsel, seeing people as people first no matter their role is always important, but that’s especially true when a person is relying on you to share their story.
Years after the positive resolution of that case, I left law for documentary filmmaking. Today, I lead a nonprofit that equips people to use stories to change laws, policies, and systems. Put another way, Stories Change Power equips people to be effective, empathetic, and trusted advocates – and ethical storytelling is at the core of those three elements:
Being effective means knowing how to share a story that moves people to feel, think, and act, without sacrificing truth or complexity. It means being real, including things that may be hard to hear – and even harder to share.
Being empathetic means approaching each person’s story with humility, treating them how they want to be treated, and resisting the urge to impose your own narrative onto someone else’s.
Being trusted means earning the confidence of those you’re supporting, including by being clear about the process, transparent about potential challenges, and following through on your commitments. It means ensuring people retain their own power when their stories are told.
