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The wild boar and the burglar
On Friday about 75 of us attended Shawn Callahagn’s storytelling workshop, part of the Amplify festival. And I, for one, enjoyed it.
For those who don’t think of themselves as having “stories” to tell, even a short paragraph like that is a story by Shawn’s definition – it is set at a point in time (Friday) and contains the unexpected (I enjoyed it).
Okay, it’s not a well-told story and enjoying a workshop might not be “unexpected” in the sense Shawn meant it but it was a pleasant surprise to me because I am often left cold by workshops.
How do I know I loved it? Because I spent the next three days quoting it to my long-suffering fiancée as we walked around Melbourne this long weekend.
Shawn’s already talked in an Amplify podcast about the importance of storytelling and there’s more on his website so I’ll limit this post to the parts that resonated particularly with me:
- Stories are different from examples because they are based on a particular time (“Last week I…”) and contain the unexpected (“And then Annalie doubled my pay…”).
- When someone has a strongly held opinion, research proves that offering an opposing view will not cause them to question their own view: it will only deepen their conviction. Better to tell them an illustrative story and hope the story gives them pause to re-evaluate.
- People don’t remember PowerPoints full of facts: people remember how they feel (“bored” being a common feeling when the PowerPoint is whipped out, I venture). People also remember good stories, and good stories can contain plenty of facts.
– Stories sometimes lead listeners to draw inferences about the storyteller that s/he doesn’t forsee. You might want to think about what your stories say about you. (I suspect on reflection, for instance, that the moral I’m trying to get across in my stories is sometimes overshadowed by their hero being bombastic and intolerant.)
On 25 June there will be a story slam after Spike Jones’ workshop, “Stories that stick”. It’s a chance to tell an audience a true story in five minutes or less. I’m thinking about telling my story of the wild boar and the burglar. It would be great to see you there. (If you want to get the idea of what a story slam is, try The Moth.)
In the meantime, what’s your take on storytelling and, if you were at the workshop, what did you think?
Contact © copyright AMP Pty Ltd 2009
Comments
09 Jun 2009
I would like to concur with
I would like to concur with one point that was raised.
Providing facts when there is divided opinion is a futile exercise. This is a situation that we all face on a regular basis.
Telling stories is a great way of defusing the situation and redirecting focus.
A great example in recent times is the movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. Yes it has lots of facts (most can be easily disputed) but interspersed by stories told by Al Gore. It works very well. On the other side documentaries like “The Great Global Warming Swindle” just dump lots of claims and accusations (some of which are quite reasonable). Yet the whole package reads like a complaint and you switch off.
10 Jun 2009
I thought it was a great
I thought it was a great afternoon and a string to add to our bow of how to liven up those many dull presentations! And how to make your message stick. Innovative to get AMP into that thinking.
All we have to do now is come up with good stories! and tell them well too!
10 Jun 2009
I too really enjoyed Shawn’s
I too really enjoyed Shawn’s workshop – I was fastinated to learn that stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone!!!
17 Jun 2009
I enjoyed the two workshops
I enjoyed the two workshops I attended – Intimacy with Strangers and Amplify the Album. Intimacy with strangers in particular was very relevant especially with my work on our Digital Insights website where I’m responsible for producing content ie scripting, interviewing and editing.
The approaches presented by Shawn were really inspiring in terms of new ways to draw out content from people and to construct the story itself. Aside from that, I think the workshop presented some good management skills, specifically in relation to communicating more effectively with peers and staff members. I’m going to present a summary of Shawn’s paper at one of our team meetings.
Also, and I think this applies to both workshops, they were fantastic team building exercises, just on a larger scale. To get together with colleagues across the business and find common linkages through the various exercises was very positive and energising, particular in the tough business conditions we are all experiencing (with retrenchments etc). I was also telling some of my colleagues at AMPCI about how enthusiastic and upbeat AMP staff are about AMP. Very refreshing!!
Thank you for these worthwhile initiatives. They enhance our culture and really push our organisation forward in innovative ways.
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