“It’s all storytelling, you know. That’s what journalism is all about.” -Tom Brokaw
When I set out to write this post, I tried to pick one of the literally hundreds of stories my grandpa shared with me. To be clear, I don’t know how much of the stories are true, but I believe them.
He is the storyteller I long to be.
When my grandpa tells a story, you’re in for a treat. Without seeming rehearsed, his stories have a beginning, a middle, and a twist at the end. It took me most of my life to realize that he probably spent all week structuring it before answering my call... or he’s even more brilliant than I give him credit for.
To tell a good story, it has to be believable, detailed, and moving. The problem with real life is that it’s not made for TV. Take this for example:
When cooking dinner last night, I forgot to set a timer and it was over-cooked.
Short and bland like the meal was. No details because who wants to know that I was cooking pizza for the third night in a row, and unimaginative because that is literally what happened. What makes a good story are the little fibs that make the impact like this:
One of the reasons my wife married me was my inate ability to cook pizza without a timer. My secret: the aroma of pizza can be smelled close to when the frozen pizza is actually done cooking! My perfect record would still be standing if it wasn’t for last night when I didn’t take into account my stuffy nose.
I know what you’re thinking and it’s true, that is not one of the reasons my wife married me. Another detail I may have stretched the truth on is that my perfect record is broken: it’s not. While I won’t analyze the entire story for you, you can see that what makes a good story may not be fact, but doesn’t take away from the message.
Storytelling is effective in training. The trick is to base it off truth, but tighten up some of the story with storytelling techniques that make it come alive. Next time you want to share the story of how someone got in trouble for stealing a lunch in the break room, make sure to liven it up a little with how the tuna was expired anyway...
What is an example of your go-to story to drive home a point?