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Collaboration Helps!

You have your better, guiding question and an idea of the story you want to tell. Now you need support to ensure what you write actually gets read.

Review tips on how to raise the profile of your research and story.

Task

Pair up with at least one other classmate who is trying to answer a similar question or tackle a similar theme. Collaborate to come up with a plan that will help the group collectively have a greater chance of success. Why collaborate? It’s useful to combine skills with someone else to strengthen your ideas and reach.

What to Include:

Goal: What is the goal of your better question? How will your story showcase the answer you’ve researched? What impact do you want your story to have? How will you reach your desired audience? How do you want readers to react?
Identify: Determine what opportunities exist to share your research and story. Weigh the pros and cons of each opportunity and decide on the right avenue(s) to pursue. (Submit the story to be published as an opinion editorial in a newspaper or as a featured essay in a magazine; publish the story online and drive readership with the help of media and social media; meet with decision-makers to underscore your answer; organize an event to bring together stakeholders to discuss your research.)
Analyze: Determine what skills and resources your group possesses to help promote your research. Note any skill gaps in the group and create a plan for how you can overcome these weaknesses.
Create a Timeline: Determine the steps you will take to build support and assign a timeline for each step.
Pitch: Create a clear and descriptive pitch that you can use to build support for your work, whether it’s to get the media to publish a selection of the stories or to generate decision-maker interest in the online platform where the stories are posted. Make sure your pitch is short, energetic, interesting and explains the question your research and story seeks to answer. Remember, your audience will have no knowledge of what you’re doing or why. And also remember, by collaborating, you’re working to ensure each story in your group succeeds and finds an audience.

When your plan is complete, pitch your stories to the audience you’ve determined can best help you and get their feedback and/or support.