Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations

Alternative Scenarios

We cannot predict the future, but we can plan for it. In The Art of the Long View, Peter Schwartz describes a technique called Scenario Planning to look at the “What Ifs.” The technique goes well beyond simply forecasting the future and starts to identify how to prepare for it and spot when the circumstances are right for certain scenarios to happen. If you find yourself in a situation where the alternative outcomes are a big part of your story, it could be worth your time to develop detailed descriptions of the alternative scenarios and really understand the critical factors that will lead to one or the other.

Here we provide a much simplified version of the Scenario Planning concept that you can use on your own or in small groups to help consider the “What Ifs” for your story. Start by going back to the “Whys” and look at the Outcome Mapping approach. Behind the goals for the story are situations and forces that are driving the change. Look at these drivers and consider “what if” those drivers change.

Here's an example to illustrate our point. In western India, a drought has been getting progressively worse. The government policy in the area has been to provide water for industrial-scale sugar cane operations first, and local food production last. Crops are failing, and thousands of poor people are moving to the cities of Mumbai and Pune. This mass migration is driving the need for change. A non-profit agency, hoping to influence government officials to ...