The federal government is looking to hire someone to train U.S. officials so they can get better at “storytelling.”
The Office of Personnel Management put out a notice last week called “storytelling training,” which said it wants to hire someone for two days of training for a few dozen officials. The officials to be trained work at OPM’s Center for Strategic Workforce Planning, or SWP.
“SWP seeks a contractor to provide training [for] facilitation, storytelling, and presentation,” the agency said in its notice.
The original solicitation in late April said SWP is responsible for “shaping” the federal workforce, and that officials there need training to stay up to date.
“For us to accomplish our mission, we must stay current with the field of Human Capital through interaction with thought leaders, think tanks, subject matter experts, etc., and continuous learning in relevant subject areas,” it said. “This approach will enable us to develop timely strategies, tools, and resources that are relevant to the issues and challenges currently facing the Federal workforce.”
It also said that to realize this goal, officials at SWP must have three skills: “facilitation, presentation and storytelling.”
“This project is to procure a qualified contractor who provides best practices, tips, and strategies to further refine facilitation, storytelling, and presentation skill sets,” it said.
The notice had a precise list of details that the training must cover. It said it must address “fundamentals and advance level facilitation, storytelling and presentation skill sets.”
Among others, that list includes:
- Know your audience
- How to tell interesting topic related storiesHow to handle group dynamics
- Techniques to deliver interactive presentations (Essential skills and techniques to ensure presentations are motivating and memorable)
- How to engage the audience, using insightful questions to engage the audience
- Bringing group consensus
- Engage focus by all stakeholders (both vocal/non-vocal)
- Explore strategies for remaining neutralHow to use improvisation
- Negotiating agreements
- Manage difficult people and challenging situations…
The synopsis did not say how much OPM will spend on storytelling training, but noted that it’s a small business contract and that the “small business size standard is $15 million.”
