Scholarship in Storytelling Response
Here we are in a digital storytelling course. When you hear storyteller ascribed to you and your skill set how does it make you feel? It was quite disconcerting for me. Instructional designer, technical writer, writer of kick butt demand letters yes; but storytelling, I needed a serious paradigm shift to embrace that one.
It was at that moment I longed for an N or an F in my Myers-Briggs.
This TedX talk by Garr Reynolds co-author of Presentation Zen made it all better.
Summary:
Do not start at the computer (storytelling starts on paper, whiteboards, brainstorming, storyboards)
Audience first – make me care
Have a solid structure
Ideal world
Reality
Problem
Solution
Have a clear theme/message (what’s your point?)
Remove the non-essential
Hook em early
Show a clear conflict (character, obstacle, struggle, goal)
Demonstrate a clear change
Include the unexpected
Make em feel something – data alone will not suffice
Be authentic
