[ PHOTO: "Storyteller, Tibet Sera Monastery" by jordan1962 ]
In The Power of Myth, when the journalist Bill Moyers described his experience interviewing the great scholar of comparative religion and collector of ancient stories, Joseph Campbell, he said: "Campbell began his answer to my question as he often did.. with a story."
In the modern age, however, we tend to endure presentations more often than we engage in authentic storytelling.
As members of the human tribe, what we are moved by--what we condense our own experience and meaning into--involve stories. Today, we are swimming an tsunami of pent up stories enabled by the kaleidescope of new media storytelling medium and cheap, consumer-created content.
Graphic facilitators belong to a vast and diverse cosmology of visual storytellers. And the most valuable asset we have, as well as the greatest service we can render, is to illustrate the greater truth that hides beneath the words of our audience's stories.
The CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, Kevin Roberts, often quotes Rolf Jensen of the Dream Company that “the highest-paid person in the first half of the next century will be the storyteller.” Roberts goes on, however, to emphasize the necessary ingredients in all great stories, beginning with the primary element: truth.
In a recent post on storytelling, Kevin Roberts muses on the importance of storytelling--whether based on real or imagined events--and emphasizes the necessity of "truth", even when it refers to the truth revealed by the results of creative license. Roberts refers a HBR article The Four Truths of a Storyteller by long-time movie producer Peter Guber; the Four Truths (see list) involve the Teller, the Audience, the Moment and the Mission.
In one of his own books on media and advertising, sisomo: The Future on Screen, Roberts wrote a chapter on stories and their ability to inspire people and connect with consumers by putting them at the heart of business.
According to Kevin Roberts, here are 12 elements of great stories:
- Great stories touch us. They connect with our own desires and experiences and what we care about.
- Great stories are contagious. The itch to pass on a great story is almost unbearable. Stories have to be shared.
- Great stories are cloaked in credibility. They make practical sense, intuitive sense, emotional sense.
- Great stories connect with the emotions. Genuine, compelling emotion drives every story.
- Great stories surprise and delight. They are infinitely capable of the unexpected. It’s not just about novelty and revelations but also creativity and emotional truth.
- Great stories have context. Whether it’s a fairy tale or a business lesson, stories weave facts and events together so we understand their larger meanings.
- Great stories are fast workers. They get in ahead of our rationalizations and logic with their own compelling truth.
- Great stories are crafted. We all like stories to be recounted with skill and effort.
- Great stories make us laugh. Humor disarms us and opens us up to new ideas.
- Great stories teach us to be smart. Through great stories we learn to spot disinformation in an instant. Shoddy stories reinforce prejudice and hide the truth.
- Great stories introduce us to great characters; people we want to spend time with.
- Great stories open us up to other worlds. Welcome to the world of the imagination, to new geographies, to new realities.
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