ILT 5340 - Week 7 Personal Reflective Summary

Learning with Digital Stories, week 7! My how the time flies. I was in Phoenix, AZ this week at ICON, a conference all about digital sales and marketing automation software. I knew nothing about Infusionsoft, Lead Pages, Mobit, Branding or Marketing best practices when I got there. However, the first thing I started to analyze was how the presenters were telling their stories. They were telling stories to sell and market products and services. Presenters told stories to inspire, motivate, sell, inform, connect, and engage. Their application of storytelling best practices, I am learning in this class, was the differentiator. I was able to connect models I have read about in our scholarly articles and witness these models in action.

Every week we critique stories based upon certain evaluation traits. I found myself evaluating presentations at ICON based on these traits. My favorite evaluation trait to dissect is did the story work? Next, I love to see evidence of planning. What process did the story teller employ to make the story work; scripts, assets, storyboarding, etc.? In my head and in my notes the pieces I will pull to continue envisoning and creating great stories were crystallized as I watched several masters in action. Finally, how original was the story? Did the storyteller establish a unique and compelling voice? The presenter that impacted me the most created an emotional bond with me via their unique, compelling voice.

I was able to juxtapose what I am learning in this class over my conference experience. As I reflect, taking this course enhanced my experience at ICON this week. More importantly it helped me identify what I need to do as I continue learning how to create stories that connect.