How to Bring Your Work to Life with Participants’ Words

You need potential participants or clients to see why they should jump up and run to you, and you need potential donors and funders to see why they should give as much as they can. You can describe all of the benefits in perfect detail, but that won’t make readers imagine what it feels like to receive them. So what will?

Quotations! Never underestimate the power of a real person’s words. Direct quotations from participants bring in human voices that the reader can hear and can’t help relating to, voices that sound like people they know.

What Makes a Quotation Effective?

The table below shows the three key aspects of a powerful quotation, with examples of quotations that don’t have them and ones that do. Compare the bad examples to the good ones and notice how differently they come across to you.

Aspect of a Strong Quotation	Example of a Quotation Without It	Example of a Quotation With It
Specific	“My doula was great! I’m so glad I had her help. I was in hard situation, but it could have been so much worse. Her help really made a big difference. I appreciate it so much!”	“My doula helped me ask all the right questions and understand my options. I was terrified, but she helped me calm down and make the choice that felt right for me.”
Concise	“If I hadn’t have had a doula then I don’t know if maybe I wouldn’t have made the decision about waiting and not doing a c-section that later on over the years would’ve felt like it was ok to me.”	“Without my doula, I might have been pressured into a c-section that I didn’t want and would have regretted for the rest of my life.”
Expresses Emotion	“My doula taught me prenatal yoga and talked to me about my feelings and questions.”	“My doula did wonders to help relieve my stress! She showed me prenatal yoga to relieve my back pain, and she helped me talk about my fears so she could address them.”

 

Don’t have much space for quotation?

Here are a few tips.

• You can place a short quotation in italics on the right side of the page on the same line as a heading.
• You can use a participant quotation that explains an element of your work instead of using your own words, rather than in addition to your own words.
• You can place quotations in boxes to help break up the page visually, and use a smaller font in the boxes so they take up less room.

 

Wondering how to collect strong quotations?

Here are a few tips.

• Give participants an evaluation survey that includes a question like:
  • “How did receiving [add activity] change your life? Please be specific and use full sentences.”
  • “What will you do differently because you participated in [add activity]?”
  • “Please give us a quotation that we can share with donors to show them why they should support this program.”
• Ask participants straight out for quotations or testimonials. Many will be happy to help.

 

If you do have space, stories are also an excellent way to bring your work to life. Stay tuned for the next article on using stories effectively.