Writing

Understanding how to write in SFU’s style is essential to producing assets that uphold the brand.

Storytelling Approach

Focus storytelling on three key areas:

Stories about students

Hands-on experiential-learning opportunities that connect the knowledge in the classroom to benefit society

Stories about research

When our researchers have been nationally or internationally recognized in rankings and awards, beyond a specific field of study or their studies touch on a relevant social issue

When we've transformed ideas made in the classroom, lab and community into ventures that scale or innovations that benefit society

Stories about community

How we cultivate dialogue about important societal issues

Focus storytelling on three key areas:

Stories about students
Hands-on experiential-learning opportunities that connect the knowledge in the classroom to benefit society
Stories about research
- When our researchers have been nationally or internationally recognized in rankings and awards, beyond a specific field of study or their studies touch on a relevant social issue
- When we've transformed ideas made in the classroom, lab and community into ventures that scale or innovations that benefit society
Stories about community
How we cultivate dialogue about important societal issues

Storytelling Through an EDI Lens

Always consider how you can apply an EDI lens to your storytelling.

1. Source diverse stories

Approach your storytelling efforts with intention and a commitment to departing from the status quo
Make an effort to tell stories about people who have been historically excluded from your area of study and/or underrepresented in the storytelling efforts of your faculty, department or unit

2. Consider the emotional impact of your request on people

Before asking people to speak to experiences of exclusion or events that may bring up strong emotions, think carefully about how this may make them feel and whether or not it’s necessary at this point in time
Equity-deserving members of the SFU community—particularly Black and Indigenous community members—often have EDI-related requests made of them on a regular basis and may not have the capacity to participate in storytelling efforts
If community members do agree to participate, do your best to keep their mental health and well-being front and centre by:
- Ensuring you are not pressuring individuals to contribute to a story if they would prefer not to
- Reaching out well ahead of time and being flexible to accommodate busy schedules
- Providing as much information as you can about the story production process and the time commitment involved
- Providing interview questions beforehand and asking your subject if there are any questions/topics they would prefer not to discuss
If there are people or groups of people who have experienced exclusion within your faculty, department or area, they may—understandably—have low trust in the institution and be reluctant to participate in storytelling efforts. When exploring story ideas, we encourage you to engage with as much empathy as possible for others’ experiences.

3. Represent multiple dimensions of diversity

Consider telling stories involving multiple aspects of diversity, including those that are less obvious than gender, age and race. For example, think about how you could tell stories that feature:
- Members of the LGBTQ2+ community
- Members of the community with invisible disabilities
- Members of religious minorities
- International students
- English as an Additional Language (EAL) students

A note on intersectionality: A concept created by Black scholar and lawyer Kimberlé Crenshaw, “intersectionality” is the idea that our different identities—including race, class, gender, ability and more—overlap and intersect in ways that drastically affect our experience of the world around us. Understanding intersectionality is key to telling inclusive stories that honour the experiences of our story subjects.

Learn more

4. Build relationships

The best way to source stories is to build relationships with the people around you.

Guiding principles for relationship-building:

Be genuine about getting to know people. For example, don’t approach a Black student or faculty member out of the blue with the sole purpose of getting a contact for a story—this could be seen as tokenism. Instead, have genuine conversations about someone’s teaching, research or studies and let the ideas unfold naturally.
Expand your network. Attend department events, make small talk in the elevator and invite new faculty members for coffee. When people know and trust you, they’re more likely to come to you with story ideas or agree to be included in a storytelling piece.
Identify key contacts. Does your department have an EDI committee? Is there a student group doing social justice work in your faculty? If you can identify and stay in touch with key contacts, you’ll be the first to hear about exciting new projects or initiatives.

5. Prioritize inclusive language

Do some research and use appropriate language to order honour story subjects and their experiences
Harmful ideas can be spread unintentionally through the use of non-inclusive language. While it’s important for all of our writing to feature inclusive language, this becomes even more critical when telling stories that are intended to highlight diverse aspects of the SFU community
For more information about inclusive language, check out our inclusive and antiracist language guide.

Quick tip: When working with story subjects, ensure that language is an ongoing and open conversation. Observe how they refer to themselves and mirror that language—and if you’re ever unsure, ask how they would like to be referred to when it comes to pronouns, name(s) or any groups they may identify with

6. Avoid stereotypes and tokenism

Stereotype: An over-generalized belief about a particular category of people

In all of your storytelling efforts, whether through text, photos or video, strive to avoid perpetuating stereotypes that paint an entire culture, group of people or community with one broad stroke

Tokenism: The practice of making a perfunctory or symbolic effort toward diversity/inclusion

Tokenism can occur in stories: for example, adding a Black, Indigenous or Person of Colour to a story at the last minute as a gesture to symbolize “diversity” when the person has not been fully included or considered in the creation process
Tokenism can also happen through using images: for example, if a department only has one Indigenous faculty member but that faculty member’s story is used in all the marketing and imagery for the department to give the appearance of diversity, that is tokenism
If a single Indigenous faculty member is constantly expected to speak on behalf of all Indigenous people when it comes to the topic of EDI or reconciliation, that is also tokenism

7. Don’t make identity your default focus

While various intersections of identity—such as race, sex, gender or sexuality—play important roles in a person’s life, be wary of reducing a person down to a single aspect of their identity at the expense of other, more relevant aspects of their story

Questions to consider when thinking about how much emphasis to place on identity:

Does the subject want their identity to be a major component of the story? Did this topic come up naturally during the interview process?
Is a specific aspect of someone’s identity directly related to the story you’re telling? E.g. If your story is about a disabled faculty member working in disability studies, their disability is likely relevant to the story. If your story is about a disabled faculty member studying bees, their disability is likely less relevant to the story and should not be a major point of focus.
Is your story purely interested in portraying someone as “inspirational” for overcoming challenges due to one aspect of their identity? Are there other aspects of their work, studies, research or personhood that you can write about?
Avoid “inspiration porn”—a term used to describe storytelling about disabled people in which the disabled person is silent, the tone is infantilizing, and one person’s achievements are used to paper over the need for more accessible and inclusive spaces and practices.

8. Include content warnings

If your story contains material that may cause a reader to recall/relive traumatic experiences, or material that members of the community may find difficult or disturbing, include a content warning
Content warnings let readers know the what to expect from your material ahead of time so they’re not caught off guard by subject matter that could have real and serious effects on their mental health and well-being
An example of a content warning could look like: “Content warning: this story includes content related to gun violence and violence against women.”

Communicators Toolkit