CONFERENCE WORKSHOP TOPICS

Topic: Campaigning for change
90 minute workshop:

WRITING TO WIN SUPPORT FOR ANIMALS
Sharon St. Joan
Best Friends Animal Society

Are your newsletters and your website a source of inspiration, joy and clarity for your members and supporters? Are they more entrancing than the latest bestseller? More compelling than the top TV news story?

In this workshop, with all new material, Sharon St. Joan, of Best Friends Animal Society, will share with you some of the keys of how to captivate your readers, how to develop a loyal support base, how to use photos to catch the eye--and eventually the heart and the pocketbook! How to reach straight to the heart of your readers, while relying on positivity and happy endings to make the case for the animals!

Never assume that a person who starts reading a story you have written will automatically read it to through to the end. It needs to be fascinating!

Learn to focus always on the animals. They will speak for themselves. When you present the truth by telling events in a clear and simple way, then you are showing people reality directly, instead of just explaining it to them. Then they will see for themselves. It is much more powerful to use words to show people a story, rather like a video camera, not just to expound on an issue with abstract concepts.

Part of the workshop will be an opportunity for you to write a short account of an animal you have helped--to be reviewed, edited and returned to you. (But don't think about it ahead of time!) This will be a practical experience to improve your writing skills.

Photos are central to a good story. A photo of a joyful, loving dog, a contented cat, or a graceful deer just released into the forest can tell the story of the work you do at a glance. It is the faces of the animals and people that convey the message.

Through writing, you can touch people's heartstrings, inspire them, and draw them closer to the animals who rely on their support.

Speaker's Biography
One of the Founders of Best Friends Animal Society, Sharon St. Joan established the Bird and Wildlife Rehabilitation Department at the sanctuary, has been an advocate for wildlife for many years, and has spoken at many wildlife conferences.

In recent years as the Editor for the International section of the Best Friends Network, she writes and edits stories about the work of animal organizations in well over a hundred countries, covering events and news relating to companion animals, farm animals, and wildlife--striving to present every organization that is helping animals in the best possible light, in keeping with the concept that we all need to work together for the benefit of animals.

Also a poet and a wildlife artist, Sharon St. Joan, has a keen interest in how we communicate to reach our fellow human beings and gain support for animal causes.