Our Approach To Storytelling

Ethical Practice in Public Spaces

Roles

  1. The storyteller

  2. The audience

  3. The organization

Purpose

Sharing on a stage in a public setting has vulnerability and inherent power dynamics. Historically, storytellers have been invited to share their truth without provided context and selective parameters leaving the storyteller unsupported, underacknowledged, and excluded. This has been particularly true for historically marginalized or systemically oppressed people. The lived experience has been co-opted, altered, and shared out without consent, effectively capitalizing off of and seizing control over singular and collective narratives.

Our goal is to counter oppressive practice by centering the human experience at every point along their journey with us. We strive to reduce barriers and offer clear, ongoing support and information up front in order for our participants to wholly engage without recourse even after the event has passed. By doing so, we hope to embolden people to share their stories in the manner they envision.

Ten Directives

  1. We gather to honor one another. Every time we come together, it is an opportunity to listen deeply, learn, and show up for each other. We champion respecting and celebrating the shared human experience. 

  2. The stage is a bridge. We do not use our platform to put people on a pedestal to be observed from afar. We use it to close the distance between us, bringing people closer together through shared truth and vulnerability.

  3. Storytellers are our partners, not our resources. We believe in building a mutually supportive community where everyone grows. We will not extract a narrative and leave the teller empty-handed.

  4. Time limits are for sharing the light. Keeping to time isn't about rushing your truth; it’s an act of community care. Every single voice gets the space and attention it deserves.

  5. Your well-being comes first.  Your emotional health and safety are far more important to us than any performance. If a story costs you too much to tell, please don't tell it.

  6. Share your revelations, not your frustrations. Complaints and frustrations keep us stuck in place or hold an audience hostage. Stories are a journey forward, the audience walks alongside you.

  7. Dignity outweighs drama. We honor your full, complex humanity. We will never ask you to reduce your lived experience to its hardest days or deepest traumas just to captivate an audience.

  8. Your story is yours, always. A story remains entirely the storyteller's property. You have the absolute right to shape your story, set boundaries on what is shared, and change your mind, even up to the exact moment you step into the spotlight. 

  9. Our promises extend beyond the stage. Because we do not own your story, Mission StageWorks will never use, record, or share your narrative outside of our space without your explicit, ongoing, and clearly defined consent. 

  10. We hold power in the ripple effect. The stories told on our stage travel far beyond the room which can shape culture, challenge prejudices, and shift perspectives. We hold ourselves mutually accountable to use that power responsibly and with care by being deeply thoughtful about the real-world consequences of what we say.

Event Guidance

Mission StageWorks will provide event guidance information and make it visible via the website, registration forms, and at the venue.

An example of this could look like:

At this event:

  1. We are/are not recording, including any video or audio, at any point.

  2. We ask permission first before taking a photo

  3. Accessibility tools we are using this evening (captioning, etc.)

  4. We have/do not have an online audience this evening viewing remotely.

  5. We will ask storytellers if they wish to be named or identified.

  6. We will ask storytellers if they wish to be shared publicly (via the MSW website, social media, press)

  7. We offer feedback opportunities around your experience as a storyteller and/or as an event participant