Become an ELFT Storyteller

Story telling is a powerful tool. It puts the spotlight on the brilliant QI work our department, service users, staff and carers do across the trust.

A good improvement story engages people’s curiosity, emotions and imagination. It does not have to be a full summary at the end of a piece of work, be focused on success, be supported by data, a long account of an event, an answer to big problem nor does it have to take a lot of time to capture and share. A story can be an account of part of an improvement effort, a summary of someone’s experience, something that informs a debate or raises awareness of a subject, a simple picture, video, soundbite and the like. Whoever you are, wherever you are with your quality improvement effort, you have a story to tell and there is at least one person out there who will benefit from hearing it. So, take the challenge – listen, capture and share stories as often as possible. Here is a how-to-guide that makes this simple…

What could your story look like? 

A blog

You’ll see us share blogposts on our microsite, more notably Amar’s QI Essentials Blog. If you want to write a blog have a look through our stories and get in touch if you need any tips. To share your blog, the options are endless; you can email it to us elft.qi@nhs.net or you can share it off your own platforms and let us know @elft_qi so we can share as well.

Top tip – Use the note function on your phone or device, take a screen grab and post the screengrabs as photos on twitter or any of your channels.  

A tweet

If you’re wondering how to share your short story and want to start a discussion with it then a tweet is the answer. Tweet your story, in 280 characters or less, add photos, GIFs and Emojis and make sure you include us @ELFT_QI).  

Top tip – If you want to get a bit of extra engagement for your story tag a few people who you’d like to get talking about your story.

 

Top tip – If you’re starting your tweet with a mention make sure you put a full stop before the mention, otherwise it will appear as a reply.  

A newsletter 

You might have a number of stories to tell under the same theme? Or you maybe you want to periodically tell a collection of stories. You might have seen our newsletters and monthly round ups, these allow us to tell a few stories at once.  

Top tip – Check out Infogram, can be used for free with lots of useful templates and advice.  

  A poster

If you’re telling us about a complete project we love to see it in our poster template, but maybe you’re telling us about #DailyImprovement or the use of the fishbone excercise. Why not try your hand and designing a poster to tell this story?  

Top tip – Have a play around with Canva, lots of templates and design ideas for free! 

An interview

It’s always nice to see the person behind the story. Interviews are a great way of bringing the story-teller into spotlight. Set out your questions, ask yourself what you want people to learn from the interview. The interview can be recorded through video, voice recording or even written down.  

Top tip – Check out the interview we did with Dr. Mohit about Value our High Priority area, we made a video as well.   

Video recording 

Here are a few tips for recording a video story.

• Please watch this very short video with tips on how to use your phone to record videos
• Find a quiet place with good light
• Use your phone camera and record in landscape mode
• One person can hold the phone at head height and ask the interviewee to the camera
• Perform a test and check if audio quality is good or if you need to change positions
•  If you want to combine several clips and/or interviews you can use
• ‘Video Editor’ on an ELFT computer, or try one of these free mobile apps:
  •  iPhones
  •  Android   

 

How to tell a good story

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Story Arc – following this framework will help your story retain focus, be compelling and easy to recall.

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Rules and Tools –  

Consent and permission

Make sure you always have consent and permission from the individuals who’s story you’re telling. If in doubt, leave it out.  

Photos

Photos are great additions to any stories but sometimes people don’t like having their photos taken. Always ask if it’s ok to take some photos. Try not to get people’s faces if you’re doing shots of meetings or places.  

Sharing with the QI Department

Make sure you mention us in your tweets, that way we can help you share your story to our audiences. If you’ve written a blog and want to see it on our microsite make sure you share it with us qi.elft@nhs.net. Maybe the story you’re capturing might need a bit more support, if that’s the case then get in touch with us and we can try to support your story telling.  

Represent your directorate

Every directorate has so much to tell, make sure yours is represented. We want to hear from everyone, no story is too small.   

Quick Videos

Splice is a brilliant application for quick video editing on the go it can be downloaded onto any apple or android device. Aim for 30 seconds to 2 minutes for videos, the simpler the better.   

Sound bites

Did you know you can record sound bites on the go? Use voice memo on an iPhone or voice recorder on an android device. Add these sound bites to some pictures and you’ve got yourself a lovely narrative….