#ExeterEmployability
Exeter Law School's Digital Employability Hub
#ExeterEmployability
Exeter Law School's Digital Employability Hub
Posted by #ExeterEmployability
13 September 2026
Storytelling for Impact: Interactive Lecture & Workshop
‘Storytelling for Impact’ with J Spooner and special guest Sarah Finch is an interactive lecture and workshop on how to use storytelling techniques to maximise the impact of your work, advocacy and communication. With a legal focus, this session explores practical storytelling techniques that can help make complex ideas clearer, more memorable and more persuasive, and offers participants the opportunity to apply these techniques to their own work, study and research.
Whatever your discipline or research topic, effectively communicating complex arguments so that they are memorable, persuasive, and actionable is vital. This workshop is especially valuable for students who would like to develop their public speaking, communication and advocacy skills through storytelling, a critical and highly sought after future of law skill – especially for those keen on a career at the Bar.
The workshop will be delivered by J Spooner alongside special guest Sarah Finch, Exeter-based climate activist, TIME 100 Climate Leader, Sheila McKechnie Foundation Campaigner of the Year 2025, and Goldman Environmental Prize Europe recipient 2026. There will be pizza and networking after the session, and registration is essential. There will be an opportunity to meet the speakers and discuss the topics raised informally afterwards.
Participants of this workshop will receive a digital Certificate of Attendance after the event (an excellent addition to your CVs and LinkedIn profiles!)
Find out more about J’s work here.
This event is open to all current students of the University of Exeter and is made possible with the generous support of the Alumni Annual Fund. If you register and are then unable to attend, you are required to provide 24 hours notice in writing so that your place can be offered to another student. Thank you for your understanding.
Date: Wednesday 14 October, 17:00 – 19:00
Venue: Amory Moot Court (Main Law School Corridor, Level 1 Amory Building), Streatham Campus, University of Exeter
J Spooner is a storyteller, lawyer and researcher. They spent 25 years as an award-winning artist and not-for-profit leader before retraining in International Human Rights Law. They now work with NGOs, legal teams and research institutions, specialising in the role of storytelling in legal practice and climate litigation, which is also the focus of their PhD research.
Sarah Finch is an Exeter-based climate activist who is campaigning to end new fossil fuel projects in the UK, with the Weald Action Group, Stop Rosebank, Parents for Future and others. In 2025 she won a landmark victory in the Supreme Court, in a climate case she brought on behalf of the Weald Action Group. The ‘Finch ruling’ has had wide ramifications including causing the government to rewrite its guidance on environmental assessment of new oil and gas fields. For this she was named one of TIME’s 100 most innovative climate leaders of 2024 and won the Sheila McKechnie Foundation’s 2025 Campaigner of the Year award and the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe.
