Tim_Chapter#_3
Chapter 3
The idea that the story is more powerful than the facts makes me think especially considering my background in news. I do agree to the point that good stories can weave facts in amongst the emotion. In journalism, stories can be more important than facts, but the facts that do make their way into the story need to be accurate. When Simmons talks about the story on lying, it struck a chord. What about a white lie? I’d say those don’t have a place in journalism but for other situations may be justified.
The ten illustrations for stories that hit harder than the facts helped me to understand that point. I can think back to supervisors I had that should have learned some of those methods. One in particular come to mind.
The decision was made to institute an office dress code. I had enjoyed wearing polo shirts and khakis, favoring comfort over style. One day the boss gathered all of the workers in a meeting and told us all about the new dress code. Shirts, ties, dress slacks and shoes were the order. Then he said, “Decision final. No discussion.” Wow, I was floored. Here we were enjoying casual Fridays every week and when classes weren’t in session and we were in the searing heat of August, we could even don shorts. Not any more.
I told the supervisor at my next review that he should have at least asked for and listened to my opinion. Sure he could still have made the decision he did, but at least I would have thought he took my views into consideration. You know, make me think I had input into the matter.
After reading Simmons, I think my supervisor could have eased the staffs concerns with a story that illustrated why the dress code was so important to our operation.
After reading this chapter I even used the storytelling techniques with a couple of our students at NewsLink Indiana. It may not have worked as well as the stories in the book, but I think I was able to get my point across without sounding like I was dictating what they should do. I was able to use my past experiences to show them how they might approach a story. We ended up doing just that and I think we all learned from the situation.
I’m enjoying the book and look forward to more examples of how to use storytelling outside of news and entertrainment.
Labels: Tim
posted by Video Storyteller @ 7:18 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Ahh, yes... Don't get me started on dresscodes! I worked for a recording studio that prided itself on the fact that it brought in audio engineers from across the country and made them sales consultants.
Have you ever had many dealings with audio engineers? They're not really well-known for their sartorial splendor. However the company in question decided it was a good idea to gather these audio guys and gals and put them in button-down shirts and ties and give them desk jobs. Some of them survived, and still work there to this day, I understand!
Although it might seem like I slammed the book in my last post, I do enjoy reading it. And I too have found myself identifing places in my past--and present--where I use stories to accomplish delicate tasks.
From 6th - 12th grades I went to pretty strict private schools. As you can imagine there was quite a bit of preaching going around that school. We didn't often pay a lot of attention when someone told us how we should be acting, but we did pay a lot of attention to these little cartoons that were in our schoolbooks. They were the most rediculous little comic strips that each illustrated some sort of character trait we were supposed to learn. Of course they worked a little better on the younger students than the highschoolers, but even the older kids flipped through each new workbook as soon as they got it to read the little cartoons. The goofy little stories definately impacted us more than the serious lectures we got from our teachers.
If you want me to talk about the dresscode I could. But that usually turns into a pretty long rant about the stupidity of having to wear pleated skirts in the freezing cold when you go to school in an old church in the middle of a bunch of cornfields.
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