The art and science of storytelling - WPCampus Version

Editor's Notes

• #2: Intro of me – Talk about storytelling and how to make better content. This is a workshop format so we’ll have some discussion and then a few activities to help use get excited about storytelling. Before we dive in – I’d love to know more about each of you and your role(s) when it comes to storytelling at your institution or company. Great- first things first – I want to talk about…
• #3: Who remembers their dream from last night? Or maybe a few nights ago? Someone want to share? Story is so embedded in US that our brain even tells them when we’re asleep. Pretty crazy. “Dreams are sensorimotaor hallucinations with a narrative element.” - Gottshal Sometimes stories stick – Mary Shelley But the verdit is still out on what dreams mean – some say it’s a waste filtering system, some say it’s a filing system for memories and information and others say it’s how we work through and cope with life’s challenges.
• #4: SO we talked about last night – let’s talk about MANY many nights ago.
• #5: Opposable thumbs taught us to hang on, stories taught us what to hang on to – Wired for Story
• #6: Storytelling has helped us evolve – it’s how we learned. Our survival depended on them – what to eat, what not to eat, where it was safe to sleep….
• #8: What games did you play? Play is important for development – Like dreams and evolution, we learn by recreating and watching and reading.
• #9: Emotional development – empathy – good and evil “A powerful story can have a hand in rewiring the reader’s brain, helping instill empathy for instance.” – Wired for Story
• #10: And adults play too – I mean, yes, there’s LARP. But think about Corporate training – role-playing is often part of it. Now I don’t know if this to-go coffee cup is time period- seems like an anachronism to me.
• #11: So let’s recap… What are stories good for, and what else? My dream about flights and recent dream about my passport… Escape – mental health – we’re ALWAYS ON these days Entertainment – look at what we turn to – we crave stories. PROBLEMS – not meant to be negative but conflict is often meant of story. “We’re infected with the need to know what happens next.”
• #12: The brain – what an amazing specimen! So story helps us learn and develop – now let’s get to the more sciency stuff, Let’s look inside this spongy thing we have upstairs.
• #13: When we’re presented information, two areas of the brain activate. First, when we hear …. Broca’s area lights up – it handles comprehension.
• #14: But when you hear a story - IT’S LIKE CHRISTMAS IN YOUR BRAIN
• #15: Activity is shown in cortexes galore – motor, olfactory, visual, auditory What’s more is that when we experience stories rather than hear facts, we remember better. Memory
• #16: Also affects our decisions - MRI studies show that consumers use personal feelings instead of facts to make decisions. TV example We can get paralyzed with two much information – we over think, we get paralyzed But we when go with our gut – we just know.
• #17: We love our fast facts pages in higher ed
• #18: But it’s stories that will make people remember our college Thin about why we want to get them to tour our campus – see they won’t likely remember how many acres it was or the year it was founded, but they will remember what they saw, who they met E-TOWN’s CHOCOLATE DAYS – you bet they’ll remember that tour. Make our copy and other materials more like a live experience, your tour. SHOW MY EXAMPLE FROM E-TOWN – Questions. We can make our prospective students brain do one thing – or do another.
• #19: Scenario queen “Our mind is dedicated to storytelling. We churn out meaning when we can’t find it.” – Gottschal I can think of two areas where humans look to find meaning – any guesses?
• #20: Origin stories – why are we here? How did the sun get up there? Why does it rain?
• #21: And conspiracy theories – for as wild as some of these are, many people and organizations dedicate a lot of time and resources to answering questions or digger deeper into things they don’t understand. What are some?
• #22: Why Why? What and How don’t cut it. What and how give us facts and figures – but it’s the WHY.
• #23: When you see this vehicle what do you think? What else comes to mind? In 2004, VW introduced a luxuery version – it wowed critics and sold for $70,000 OR SHOULD I SAY DIDN’T SELL? VW failed to match their new WHAT to their WHY. When Toyota and Honda wanted to get into the luxury car business, they created new brands with new stories – Lexus/ Wilkes example- RX school.
• #24: The what and why are important – we need to know them. But we need to remember it all hinges on the WHY. In higher ed, our What is pretty much the same. Our what – an education Our how – classes Our Why – this is where we can shine! Now of course our what and hows are also a little different
• #26: How many notifications did you have on your phone before this session? MESSAGE FATIGUE – directly to us, or indirectly through mass media Broadcast era not as much – we have more options. We’re inundated with facts – so we need to try harder to be known. More important than ever for us to tell the right story in the right way on the right medium. So how do we tell a good story?
• #27: Someone to root for. Take you places. (tell to win says: stories that work transport a listener emotionally.) Joe the plumber. Action – verbal vomit – clear your throat, then tell Remember – emotion makes people want to make a decision and narrative helps them remember. Facts still matter, of course, but they can also bog down a story. Use charts and other visual elements to help convey those facts so they’re not as overwhelming.
• #28: Classic arc – notice the elements – now not all types of stories will go this far – and we’ll get into that soon.
• #29: Look at this man. Better yet, listen to him and his band… my favorite. But I read an interview with him last month about songwriting, and this stuck with me.
• #30: Giving back stories example – not to stroke ego…. Connect with audience – fight for stories, can’t let people dictate
• #31: My example of giving backstories – WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR OUR STORIES sometimes. Have to remind academics and adminstrators of this – agendas, politics, sounding smart… SHOW EXAMPLE of backstories ad. Want to show an example outside of higher ed that shows what happens when we write for us and we write for our audience.
• #32: National campaign – was quite effective But not in Texas – still had a litter problem costing the state millions TX Highway Comm. Hired firm – PR guy learned who littered – trucks, beer drinkers, country boys… THE BUBBA DEMOGRAPHIC Knew they didn’t call trash ‘litter’ – that a group of kittens. Recalled his month telling him to clean his room – and that inspired… CAN YOU GUESS? It was a success – litter reduced drastically over the next several years and the campaign is still in use – but it has another problem – it became an unofficial state slogan and they fear people might not get that it’s a littering campaign, but they make $ off licensing. What we can learn from this is that we might need trial and error as we develop stories, and that what works for one organization might not work for a similar organization.
• #33: You can probably relate to this – most of you are from someplace else, but you’re here today. What happened along the way? How different will you be when you get home with all the new knowledge, ideas and connections you have? OK – others would say there are more plots than this –
• #34: Christopher Booker wrote a writing book about the 7 plots – let’s take a look. When you get home, go through your marketing arsenal and try to assign a plot to each story in your print and web pages – you might find it pretty cool. If you don’t recognize these elements, you might not actually have a story or as effective of a story.
• #38: Stories for marketing….
• #46: The newsletter from PSU What happens in the summer – CHICKEN FINGERS, gardening, etc.
• #49: Notice the action in the lead – compelling – not just introductions the student.
• #65: Why monitoring is so important. Social – but also being alert on campus – listening, looking.
• #67: Got this idea from Time magazine…