Using storytelling for sharing knowledge
The sound of story is the dominant sound of our lives (Reynolds Price)
This quote from Reynolds Price reminds us that the way we communicate best is through the telling of a story. We remember stories, they stir our emotions, engage our senses and activate our imaginations.
A storyteller, like a travel agent, can gather us up from wherever we are and put us down in another setting (John Leggett)
Using storytelling to share knowledge is increasingly being recognised by organisations of all types – private sector, government, non-government - as a powerful way of influencing people and effecting change. At the ARRC we use stories and story telling all the time, and to assist you in thinking about using stories, we have put together some resources (see below) for you to explore. We also have a video presentation about The Power of Story that you can watch to give you an overview of why we believe stories and storytelling is so important.
If you are interested in learning more, the ARRC offers workshops, courses and facilitation on how you can make stories work for you.
Influence through storytelling
Joyce Hostyn from Experience Design provides an excellent slideshow that takes you through how the human brain functions and why stories work so well in influencing and effecting our behaviour. She also covers the three aspects of a good story: listening, thinking and telling. This is an excellent introduction to storytelling. Click here.
Storytelling theory and practice
Professor Brian Sturm, University of North Carolina presents storytelling as a way of organizing information, conveying emotions, and building community. Storytelling ethics and the need for trust and truth are discussed in a presentation that uses the ‘Truth and Story’ model to demonstrate the power of storytelling. Click here (45 minutes)
Storytelling in research
This is a brilliant talk by Kim Goodwin from the Design Research Institute. She discusses the unique power of storytelling in research, both for extracting rich information and for helping organisations and people share in your research experiences. This is a great video for those working with often complicated technical information that needs to be understood by many different stakeholders. Click here
How we change what others think, believe and do
Storytelling is one of the oldest methods of changing minds, whether informally in conversation or with more specific purpose, such as in speeches and business communication. The Changing Minds group provide loads of information and resources about the different techniques we can use to influence others. We recommend the storytelling part of their site. Click here.
Digital storytelling
Storytelling is among the oldest forms of exchange of knowledge between people. It is certainly one of the most resilient forms. With the introduction of inexpensive digital equipment, it is now becoming one of the most effective methods for deep contextual understanding to be shared widely across diverse and distant audiences. Click here to learn more about a project in Canada using digital storytelling for communities trying to come to terms with the implications of climate change.
‘A picture tells a thousand words’
The photo director for National Geographic, David Griffin knows the power of photography to connect us to our world. In a talk filled with glorious images, he talks about how we all use photos to tell our stories. Click here.
Asia-Pacific Business Narrative Conference
The aim of this conference is to foster the practice of business storytelling and narrative techniques in the Asia Pacific region and to build awareness among government agencies and corporations of the power of storytelling and narrative for business. The conference website has lots of links and case studies of work being done across the world on story telling – you might also want to consider attending. Click here
More stories….
The ARRC encourages people to submit their story about working in natural resources management, to read current contributions click here.
31 May 2010 2:31 pm
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By JInnie Lovett, 21 September 2011 @ 12:40 pm
The resources are excellent and informative making them a very useful collection of references. I am learning about story telling so I can use the technique when I am teaching environmental studies in India. Every child will have a story about his/her environment because it is where they live.