The Stability Network’s speaker training program was intended to train people with mental health conditions to tell their stories and advocate for themselves and their peers. The training focuses on impactful storytelling, effective advocacy, and prioritizing the psychological safety of the speaker and the audience. This training was developed in partnership with Living Proof Advocacy.
It is our hope that these materials will be a resource to any person or organization making the world a better place for people with mental health conditions. These documents may be borrowed, adapted, and built upon to move this work forward. We hope you will find this information helpful in your endeavors.
Learn to tell your story with tools from our speaker training program
Fundamentals of Advocacy Storytelling
- Fundamentals Workshop: Slide deck breaking down the fundamentals of advocacy storytelling and best practices for safely telling a mental health story.
- Speakers Manual: This informative manual dives deeper into the fundamentals of advocacy storytelling, self-care while public speaking, and appropriate language and terms. The manual also includes writing templates and tips for developing your story.
- Speaker Affirmation Rubric: A tool formerly used by The Stability Network affirmed when Stability Leaders were ready to speak on behalf of the organization. You can use this rubric to self-assess if you are ready to start speaking publicly as a mental health advocate.
Speakers Workshop
- Speakers Workshop Structure and Guidelines: Document explaining how Speakers Workshops were organized and facilitated. Use this to plan your own mental health storytelling workshop.
- Speakers Workshop: Slide deck shared at the beginning of Speakers Workshops to share workshop guidelines and establish shared language and group norms. Use this to plan your own mental health storytelling workshop.
Prepare for a speaking opportunity
Understanding if the opportunity is right for you
- Questions to Ask Before a Speaking Engagement: Find out if a speaking opportunity is a good fit and, if so, begin to prepare.
- Questions to Ask Before a Media Engagement: Find out if a media opportunity (video, podcast, interview, etc.) is a good fit and, if so, begin to prepare.
Event tools and resources
- Example Titles & Discussion Questions: Use these examples to help you brainstorm for your own event.
- Example of Panel Discussion Event: An example of the structure, discussion questions, and other details for a panel discussion formatted event.