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How to Tell Difficult Stories with Clarity and Impact

A Conversation with Allison Ausband and Evia Golde

Some difficult stories are hard to tell because the subject is painful, complicated or emotionally overwhelming. Yet those are often the stories people most need to understand.

Statistics can establish the scale of a problem, but numbers alone do not always help an audience recognize its human impact. Responsible storytelling can create that connection. It can help people understand why an issue matters, recognize their role and feel prepared to take meaningful action.

In this episode of What’s Your Story?, Sally speaks with Allison Ausband of Delta Air Lines and community advocate Evia Golde about communicating one of Atlanta’s most difficult issues: human trafficking.

Their conversation explores how organizations can bring a difficult subject to life, build awareness and equip people to recognize when something may be wrong. Allison and Evia also discuss the leadership, training and collaboration required to move audiences from awareness to action.

On today’s episode, we’re speaking with Allison Ausband of Delta Airlines and Evia Golde, formally of United Way of Greater Atlanta, about how they are taking on one of Atlanta’s darkest topics, human trafficking, and are bringing it to life so the statistics become more than numbers. Allison and Evia also shared a few success stories that have come out of Delta’s #GetOnBoard training.

More About Allison Ausband

Allison Ausband is Senior Vice President–In-Flight Service for Delta Air Lines, leading a team of 24,000 flight attendants, supervisory and support personnel around the globe,as well as Delta’s onboard global food and beverage operation and experience.

She previously served as Vice President–Reservation Sales and Customer Care, where she was responsible for 10 customer engagement centers in four countries, which handle over 37 million customer contacts each year and generate over $2 billion in annual revenue.

Under Allison’s leadership, Delta’s In-Flight Service team has achieved all time customer satisfaction scores. While in Reservation Sales, she developed and launched Delta’s social media customer service model as well as a home-based employment program, creating a new virtual workforce culture that yields more than $2 million in savings each year. She also led the corporation’s strategy to move from the bottom to the No. 2 position in DOT Consumer rankings, and under her leadership achieved JD Power certification for Delta’s engagement centers–the first US airline to ever achieve.

Allison began her career at Delta in May 1985 as a flight attendant.

Currently, Allison is Delta’s executive sponsor for human trafficking and leads their annual Breast Cancer Research Foundation campaign. She is a member of Leadership Atlanta Class of 2014. She is a University of Georgia Board of Trustee and serves on the Board of Directors for Delta Community Credit Union and the Board of Trustees for the William R. and Sara Babb Smith Foundation. She is also an active member of her local church serving on the personnel committee.

More About Evia Golde

A retired attorney, Evia has served as the Human Trafficking Committee Chair for Women United Atlanta since 2014. Women United is a group of 100+ donors who support the work of the United Way of Greater Atlanta, and Women United’s signature issue is to eradicate child sex trafficking in Atlanta and Georgia. During her tenure with the UWGA Women United, she has held the role of Cabinet Chair and in 2016 was Co-Chair of the Safe Harbor Ballot Committee, a campaign that helped successfully pass the Safe Harbor Amendment to create a permanent Fund for victims of exploitation in Georgia. She is the recipient of the United Way of Greater Atlanta 2017 Leading a Life of Purpose Award.

In addition to her work at the United Way of Greater Atlanta, Evia has been a Community Advocate raising awareness to combat the sex trafficking of Georgia’s children. She has been involved as a volunteer, advocate and fundraiser with multiple organizations fighting to end child sex trafficking, including Wellspring Living, youthSparke & Street Grace. She currently sits on the Board of Wellspring Living, a non profit that has been serving survivors of childhood sexual abuse and exploitation since 2001.

Show Highlights

• There are 25 million victims of human trafficking – How do you take a tough topic and bring it to life so the statistics become more than numbers?
• Why did Delta take on this dark topic and how did it get involved in the prevention of it?
• 2011 ECPAT Code of Conduct was created and Delta was the first airline to sign it and took a leadership role as a company to fight human trafficking
• What has been Deltas biggest success story? -Getting people on board to take the initiative to stop human trafficking. #getonboard
• What are the signs of human trafficking? Examples of human trafficking identifying training: employees were able to save two young girls because of what they learned in the training
• Why is the awareness piece so important? Why wasn’t it talked about before?
• How and why did the United Way get involved?
• Why does Atlanta have such a huge human trafficking problem?
• How has UPS been involved in combating human trafficking?
• How did the See Something Say Something campaign begin?
• During the Superbowl, there were169 arrests over 11 days.
• What is Georgia Pacific\’s role in the fight?
• What is the Safe Harbor Law and what does it do and how did it impact Georgia?
• How do relatable stories change the way you look at the issue?
• Why are people willing to listen now as opposed to a few years ago?
• What are the things the victims are doing to help other victims?

Difficult Stories: Why Difficult Stories Need More Than Statistics

Statistics can show the scale of a problem. They can establish urgency, reveal patterns and demonstrate why attention is needed. But large numbers can also feel distant.

A listener may understand that an issue is serious without understanding how it affects an individual person or what the listener can do about it.

Stories create a different type of understanding. They give an audience a way to see the people, decisions and consequences behind the data. When used responsibly, difficult stories and good communication can make complex information easier to process and remember.

The strongest communication often combines both. Data establishes the scope of an issue, while a carefully selected story helps the audience understand its human impact.

Difficult Stories: How to Communicate Sensitive Topics Responsibly

Telling a difficult story requires care. The desire to create an emotional response should never outweigh respect for the people represented in the story.

Leaders and organizations should consider several questions before sharing sensitive experiences:

• Does the story serve a clear purpose?
• Is the information appropriate for this audience?
• Has permission been given to share personal details?
• Could identifying information create harm?
• Does the story respect the dignity of the people involved?
• Are we informing the audience or simply trying to shock them?
• Have we given listeners a constructive next step?

These questions help communicators determine which details are necessary and which should remain private.

Responsible storytelling does not need to include every painful detail to create impact. Often, a restrained and respectful approach allows the audience to focus more clearly on the meaning of the story.

Difficult Stories: Give the Audience a Clear Reason to Listen

Before developing a difficult message, leaders should identify what the audience needs to understand.

The goal may be to build awareness, correct a misconception, encourage people to recognize warning signs or explain why an organization has chosen to support an issue. Each goal requires a different message.

A clear storyline can help organize the information:

Establish the issue

What does the audience need to know about the problem?

Explain the human impact

How does the issue affect individuals, families, organizations or communities?

Clarify the audience’s role

Why does this information matter to the people listening?

Provide a next step

What should the audience notice, remember or do after hearing the message?

Without a clear next step, even a powerful story can leave an audience feeling overwhelmed. Purpose gives people a way to turn concern into appropriate action.

Difficult Stories Can Make Training More Memorable

Training on a difficult issue must do more than transfer information. Participants need to understand how the information connects to situations they may encounter.

Realistic examples and carefully developed stories can help participants recognize patterns, consider possible responses and remember what they learned. A story gives abstract guidance a context.

In the episode, Allison and Evia discuss how awareness training helped employees recognize situations that required attention. Their experience illustrates an important principle: people are more prepared to respond when they understand what an issue may look like in the real world.

The story supports the lesson, but it does not replace clear instruction. Effective training still needs accurate information, defined procedures and guidance about the appropriate action to take.

Difficult Stories: The Role of Leaders in Difficult Stories and Conversations

When an organization addresses a sensitive social issue, employees pay attention to how its leaders communicate.

A leader’s involvement signals that the issue is important. But credibility requires more than a public statement. Employees need to understand why the organization is involved, what commitments it has made and how its actions support the message. This especially rings true with difficult stories.

Leaders should be prepared to communicate difficult stories with honesty and consistency. They may not have every answer, especially when the topic is complicated. They can still explain what the organization understands, what it is doing and what it continues to learn.

This approach helps prevent a serious issue from becoming a temporary campaign or a collection of talking points. It connects the organization’s difficult stories and message to sustained action.

Difficult Stories: Collaboration Extends the Reach of a Story

Difficult stories and problems rarely belong to one organization or sector. Businesses, nonprofit organizations, community advocates and public agencies often bring different expertise and resources to the same issue.

Collaboration can strengthen both the message and the response. Advocates may bring direct knowledge of the problem. Businesses may offer reach, employee education and operational resources. Community organizations may provide services and pathways for action.

When organizations align around a shared purpose, their difficult stories can reach broader audiences without losing focus.

Difficult Stories: What Makes It Effective?

Effective difficult stories about a sensitive issue should be:

• Relevant to the audience
• Connected to a clear purpose
• Accurate and appropriately sourced
• Respectful of the people involved
• Focused enough to be understood
• Supported by useful context
• Connected to an appropriate action

The goal is not simply to make people feel something through difficult stories. It is to help them understand something that matters.

When leaders communicate difficult stories with clarity, empathy and responsibility, they can make complex issues more understandable and help audiences see how awareness can lead to action through difficult stories.