Persuasive Storytelling in Rural Communities

By Matt Dugan, MA

On a cold Vermont winter night in 2025, 10 community members gathered in a school library for a workshop. The goal was to see if everyday people who do not consider themselves storytellers could create stories to help promote a local, in-school, pop-up HPV vaccination clinic. The assumptions behind this proof-of-concept effort were that everyone has a good vaccine story and anyone can be a persuasive storyteller.

Both assumptions were correct.

Anti-vaccination activists who are people who oppose preventive vaccinations have long known that a story can outpace facts and numbers any day. In response, health practitioners and communicators have increasingly been asking, “Where are our stories?” 

This is the inspiration behind evidence-based persuasive storytelling, or EBPS, a research-based approach to health messaging. There is good science, both ancient and cutting-edge modern, about why stories are so powerful, but here is perhaps the single most interesting story superpower: Researchers have found that ideas wrapped in story form can disarm the brain’s natural skepticism so that the message can more easily enter the mind. 

To be sure, story formulas are not new. What makes EBPS a bit different is that it is built for health communication. EBPS employs persuasion theory, is tailored to aid in the creation of media-friendly, pro-health messages by everyday people, and perhaps most importantly, relies on a quality that most rural communities have in common: social connection. Because in small towns, if you do not know a person, you likely know someone who does.

On that winter night, one storyteller was a former nurse who had worked with throat cancer patients when smoking was more prevalent; she wrote about HPV and oropharyngeal cancer. An elderly gentleman talked about being one of the first “polio babies” to receive the vaccine. A vaccine scientist’s story was about living in New York City during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first line of his story was simple: “I'll never forget the sirens.” A few simple words that grab your heart.

These stories were posted to the Front Porch Forum (FPF), a local, curated digital bulletin board. All storytellers had two requirements. Their stories had to be around 200 words. And the stories had to conclude with a call to action and information regarding the upcoming HPV vaccination school clinic.

In the end, eight stories were posted, and they were timed to appear on the FPF over the course of two weeks. One important finding was that, as predicted, stories built using EBPS did not provoke negative feedback from the anti-vaccination community. In a rural area with one of the higher vaccination rates in the state, large numbers of clinic attendees were not expected but about 15 middle schoolers received an HPV vaccination. The clinic was held in a school gym, and present were the school nurse and, generally, parents. It all contributed to a celebratory, supportive vaccination atmosphere.

This effort was undertaken as a proof-of-concept pilot in support of a large grant application submitted in 2025 that scored well but was ultimately not funded. The grant would have provided for controls, such as testing EBPS against traditional pro-HPV vaccination messaging and for measuring its impact on vaccine uptake.

However, the effort yielded intriguing possibilities. By combining story structure with persuasion theory and incorporating local voices and personal experiences, EBPS may help address vaccine hesitancy in ways that traditional health messaging often cannot, and importantly, in a non-controversial, respectful way well suited for rural communities. When people hear from community opinion leaders who share similar values, experiences, and physical spaces, stories about HPV vaccination can feel less like public health campaigns and more like discussions among neighbors.

As rural communities continue to seek effective, scalable, and community-centered approaches to HPV cancer prevention, EBPS offers a potentially promising tool for promoting HPV vaccination.

Matt Dugan is co-chair of the HPV Taskforce for Vermonters Taking Action Against Cancer, the state’s cancer coalition.

The Storytelling Workbook used in this effort is available by email. 

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