Josh_6_I

Think of commercials you have seen recently. I'm sure most of you thought of some you really liked and a couple that you think are terrible. There has always been terrible and great commercials on TV and there always will be. The difference between the terrible commercials and the ones that are seen as great, or enjoyable, is the difference between sound bite and epic.

For me it's the "epic" that draws me into commercials, or any other form of advertising. Designers and marketers that have an innate sense of storytelling and how to connect with people are better at what they do. They make better advertisements.

It's an interesting concept for us to keep in mind as well. Just because some looks slick and contemporary doesn't mean that people are going to connect. We have to constantly keep in mind that the technology is secondary to the people using it. Sound bites are great but they don't last. It's the people, the epics, that will always be here.

Chad_6_Q

A scuffle over where to have dinner isn't really about what restaurant is best. It's about two loud personalities trying to assert power over one another. It's about ego.

When storytelling, Simmons writes, "Let your listener's ego sleep."

It's an astute observation, and interesting to note her choice of words -- "sleep" instead of "fade." She recognizes there's no such thing as a snuffed ego, and so it's best to let that particular beast rest. Her advice on how to let the ego sleep, all on page 150, is solid as well.

Good Catholic trick: For the time you're communicating with the women and men in your life, exorcise all traces of self-interest.

Anybody care to try it for an afternoon and see what happens? Whether life begins to feel different? Better? Worse?

Chad_6_I

Some more between-the-lines analysis follows this thought: "When you interrupt someone's personal epic to ask for his or her cooperation, it behooves you to consider the context."

Now this is not mind-reading. It's as simple as considering someone's situation and treating it with respect. I have told students that a story is not something you fire at an audience like a gun. Instead it's a magnet that you power in order to draw people to the place where the story exists.

So you must prime an audience of World War II veterans differently than you would, say, a class of TCOM majors. You can tell the same story to either group, but not in the same way.

Good reporter's trick: Never begin by asking what you really want to ask. First ask how's it going, where are you from and hey, that's a nice picture on your wall.

John B_Chapter 5_I

"Story will eventually hook you into a powerful momentum that is bigger than you dreamed-some people call it truth. It may completely redefine your perceptions of your own self interests."
Truth, when you really think about it is such a great power. We try to find truth in almost everything, whether it be logic, science, etc. We live in a society of "truth." Everyone is telling the truth. Commercialism attracts our inner desires of seeking truth. But are we naturally truthful when telling stories or do we exaggerate our stories to make them sound more important and interesting. What is more important to a storyteller? Truth or interest?

Brainstorming Results

Sarah A., Tim, Chad (Group 1): “CROP walk” web-based presentation; video, photo/audio slideshow, text, graphics.

Liz, Josh, Brian (Group 2): “OK Move” Jr. high exercise club, “Promoting everyday exercise in ordinary ways”, Music Video.

Sarah J., Iris, Brandon (Group 3): “With a little help from our friends” Getting out of instant communication on computers, getting face to face. Cook, hangout instead of videogames.

JJ, J and B (Group 4): “Change One Thing” Success story of someone that changed one thing and how it can help other people. Cartoon/Real Life based.

Han, Sam, Tonya (Group 5): “Exercise to the Beat” Dancing, performing arts stories.

Jeff, Erik, Luke (Group 6): “foodTube” Online video blog, students blog about lunch, university dietitians critique diet/blog.

Martin, Kyle, Matt (Group 7): “Make One Change” Drinking water instead of pop. “H2O is the way to go.”

जेफ़_५_1

I find it interesting that every story has a way to grab your attention in a way. Many commericals can grab a gullible person attention and the corporation get money from them. Many stories with true meaning that can related to the person personally can mean a lot more than you can imagine. I find it a pleasant to hear the story and how people interpreted it. I can tell you a story and you can interpret it differently or similar to me based on your backgroud experience.

Brian_5_I

Wow, I actually really liked something from this book. Great job!

Anyways, here's the quote:

People may give yo a list of rational-sounding things that the think they want but they usually don't know what they want any more than Shiva and Parvati did. ... For instance: "I want a million dollars." Because? "Then I won't have to work for someone else." Because? "I don't like someone else telling me what to do." So it isn't a million dollars that this person wants...it is personal freedom.

She goes on to explain that when you get to the core of a need most people have fundamentally similar desires, and that good storytellers know this. To me this is almost revolutionary. I try to see below the surface of things but often it comes back to the fact I assume everyone has a ulterior motive to basically everything they do. To me, it's never as simple as this quote explains. Man, I'm a cynic.

Matt_5_I

The story about Tipper Gore and the homeless woman was one of the highlights for me in chapter five. The author tells us how this story could cause even a "radical conservative" to hear her story. In earlier chapters we've talked about how much more effective an argument can be with a story behind it. In this case, shifting the stereotype of lazy homeless people is much more convincing with a story than just mere fact.

Erik_5_I

A person's wants are a story in their own right...

Even though people's wants are all basically the same, the variations make for stories of their own. If a person wants money (like everyone) they might tell you that it is because they have a child in the hospital and they are trying to pay for the medical expenses. Then they might further tell you about how the child ended up in the hospital in the first place. If a person wanted a car, they might tell you that they wanted it to replace a crappy car they already have. Then, they'd go on to describe this crappy car and give you a plethora of stories about the car.

The wants, then, trigger stories.

Tonya_5_I

For some reason both of the books we are reading keep leading me back to bible study. A point made my pastor during a recent sermon is that human desire is very basic. If you ask your self why you want something enough times it will all lead you to three very basic principles or spiritual states: peace, happiness and contentment. Logically these sam spiritual states can be substituted for those self-interest concepts the author speaks of. As a story teller if you can tap into the self interest of an individual you can pull them into your story. Like Martin, I wanted a Magic Bullet. Why? Because it would allow me to do so much in the kitchen with out the time it takes to screw around with a big clunky blender and it was FUN TOO! Hell, the thing would make me happy because I got to buy something that these terrible actors have convinced me that I can't live without. Happy is the key word. So, Martin, since you arent using yours why don't you box it up and give it to me as a house warming gift. It would make me sooo happy!

Martin_5_I

Two years ago, I was watching late night TV when I decided to watch one of those Magic Bullet infomercials. The one where a group of people is standing around the table and the guy is making all kinds of crazy concoctions in ten seconds or less or something like that.

Well, I am not a really big blender fanatic. I don't know why. They just don't appeal to me in any real way. However, I wanted one of these Magic Bullets. Man, it was so awesome. It was making so many different things.

Why did I want it so bad?

It was because the infomercial was using story to make the Magic Bullet seem like the coolest thing ever. Every time the guy made something, that was a specific story. I didn't want to make pasta sauce, but if it only took 3 seconds, then maybe....

So now I own a Magic Bullet that's collecting dust in a kitchen cabinet. I have never used it to cook. I've mixed a few drinks in it, but I could have just used a blender to do that.

Brandon_5_Q

“And if you peel any human being’s “want list” back to its core, they all look very much the same. If you want to influence others, to tap into another’s momentum instead of using yours, your best bet is to tap into the things that we all want. If your story can tap into one of the core human needs that we all share, you’ve got yourself some pretty good bait.

I think that if you ask enough questions about any situation, you will eventually get down to the basics of what people “want.” Keep asking “why,” and the answers to the question will continue to become more generic and basic.

----------

From p.110:

“I want a million dollars.”
Because?
“Then I won’t have to work for someone else.”
Because?
“I don’t like someone else telling me what to do.”
So it isn’t a million dollars that this person wants… it is personal freedom.

----------

I think this series of questioning can be applied to any story. Eventually, the answer received will be the same basic answer that is received from other stories.

So is there really any story that doesn’t, at its bare roots, apply to something that people want?

Sarah_5_I

One part of this chapter I truly agreed with was the concept of “let me tell you a story.” The author suggests the whole body-carriage of the audience changes. It’s very true; you want to be comfortable, able to enjoy the story. This happened right before class last week. I was hanging out in the GA room with many of my classmates before class started. Several of us are in Dr. Joe’s Creativity class before, so we have a bit of down-time between the two. Anyway, I was talking to one friend who was trying to explain something to me, and she said “let me tell you a story.” And I remember I did get comfortable. I was already sitting on the couch in there. I took my laptop off my lap and sat it on the floor. I took my (incredibly uncomfortable) shoes off, and got ready to listen to her story.

This brings up another point mentioned in this chapter. It always helps the audience member to identify with the story an “I was there,” type moment. Because it evokes a memory, they are more likely to identify and remember the story.

Luke_5_Q

"Once we decide that no theory will be right all of the time, we are free to develop a few theories that are successful and often useful."

Is Simmons asking us to accept mediocrity?

Just trying to spark discussion.

JohnJ_5_i Push and Pull Ads

So i was reading about how Simmons states that pushing ideas are harder to do and recive an push back, but when you pull someone into a story you can receive a push in the right direction with back from the person receiving the story. This is made me start thinking about Advertising and what we have see development over the past few years on the internet and what we can expect in the future.

First we saw the banner ad. They started pushing their message by being the first thing you see. Then people ingored them, then they pushed harder by flashing them. The people fought back and started to block ads.

Next we saw ads that were placed within stories. Viewers would be intrigued in the subject and then see the ad. They were pulled into the story and received the ad. As a result ad blocking programs were created that black-listed ads from the start of the page to the end of the page.

Finally were starting to see environments that are developed around subjects with ads mixed into this environment. Users are pulled into content and actively engaged then must view the ad to continue consuming the product they were first involved with. For example, I want to catch up with the football games of the weekend at espn.com and they put their videos right on the front page, what i want to watch, however they tease the content for 5 secs and then show a 10 second ad, and then show the 3 min. video i wanted to see in the first place. I was pulled in and then delivered the content.

The most Romantic story ever . . .

Liz 6:I

(Sound bite response no epics in this chapter).
Okay, sigh, that’s not enough to meet my obligatory criteria. SOOOO this chapter should be reviewed “author STRAYS” from profitable topics. It was a mish mash with a few chunks in the spew. Yup. Still stickin to “it was stinky” with one exception. “The Best story wins”, I agree there or why would women constantly search for the perfect, most romantic movie or story of love ever. It’s great for business if you can tap into those underlying motivations.

The Best Romance Story ever. . .

Liz 6:I

Sound bite response because there were few epic ideas in this chapter.
Okay, sigh, that’s not enough to meet my obligatory criteria. SOOOO this chapter should be reviewed “author STRAYS” from profitable topics. It was a mish mash with a few chunks in the spew. Yup. Still stickin to “it was stinky” with one exception. “The Best story wins”, I agree there or why would women constantly search for the perfect, most romantic movie or story of love ever. It’s great for business if you can tap into those underlying motivations.

"Ok, Move"

Greetings from the motley crew of Josh, Liz and Brian.
We have pitched our individual idea with the Wellness Center and are moving forward. We will be contacting a Jr. High fitness club that has been advised to us (or another club if they can't participate fully). The basic premise should fit into a larger message nicely. Our smaller message is "just move" and will be promoting fitness clubs to do it "together". Just wanted to share with you so you can consider our project bent into your proposed concepts.

LIZ: votes for "Change One Thing" theme proposed by J. Ellery.

Kyle_5_I

Its ironic that this chapter talks about how stories can be memory devices. Its true that stories can bring back memories of our own personal expirences. However, the trouble I have with this is that this requires the storyteller to have a good memory. They need to have the memory to relate stories to their current situation on the fly in an instant. Many times when we are in situations that might benifit from a story it can become difficult to remember a story that can work for that purpose. We rely on memory to provide impact to our stories yet we need our memory to recall the stories to tell. The memory in this case is serving two masters. We could spend a who class time on talking about the memory's role in our storytelling lives.

Vince_5_I

I love the concept in this chapter of pulling people into your story through various means. Though without knowing it, I think I was a week ahead with my story that I told last Tuesday as there was a story like it in this chapter. Starting out with a story that would happen every day with my grandfather, then telling about what happened with him and another reason why I respect him.

Sam_5_I

I was surprised in the "physics of story" section Anne mentioned "You influence by not trying to influence" which is very close to, Zhuangzi, the very famous philosopher, and storytelling in ancient China. He told a story to describe the dynamic point of view to understand life and death, useful and useless:

"The Tree on the Mountain"
(http://chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=2852&if=en)

Zhuangzi was walking on a mountain, when he saw a great tree with huge branches and luxuriant foliage. A wood-cutter was resting by its side, but he would not touch it, and, when asked the reason, said, that it was of no use for anything, Zhuangzi then said to his disciples, 'This tree, because its wood is good for nothing, will succeed in living out its natural term of years.' Having left the mountain, the Master lodged in the house of an old friend, who was glad to see him, and ordered his waiting-lad to kill a goose and boil it. The lad said, 'One of our geese can cackle, and the other cannot - which of them shall I kill?' The host said, 'Kill the one that cannot cackle.

Next day, his disciples asked Zhuangzi, saying, 'Yesterday the tree on the mountain (you said) would live out its years because of the uselessness of its wood, and now our host's goose has died because of its want of power (to cackle) - which of these conditions, Master, would you prefer to be in?' Zhuangzi laughed and said, '(If I said that) I would prefer to be in a position between being fit to be useful and wanting that fitness, that would seem to be the right position, but it would not be so, for it would not put me beyond being involved in trouble; whereas one who takes his seat on the Dao and its Attributes, and there finds his ease and enjoyment, is not exposed to such a contingency. He is above the reach both of praise and of detraction; now he (mounts aloft) like a dragon, now he (keeps beneath) like a snake; he is transformed with the (changing) character of the time, and is not willing to addict himself to any one thing; now in a high position and now in a low, he is in harmony with all his surroundings; he enjoys himself at ease with the Author of all things; he treats things as things, and is not a thing to them: where is his liability to be involved in trouble? This was the method of Shan Nong and Huang-Di. As to those who occupy themselves with the qualities of things, and with the teaching and practice of the human relations, it is not so with them. Union brings on separation; success, overthrow; sharp corners, the use of the file; honour, critical remarks; active exertion, failure; wisdom, scheming; inferiority, being despised: where is the possibility of unchangeableness in any of these conditions? Remember this, my disciples. Let your abode be here - in the Dao and its Attributes.

Jessie_5_I

I believe that telling stories to influence people has to be the most frequent use of a story. If it isn't the most frequent, it is certainly the use that has the most impact. In Mein Kampf Hitler used personal narratives of how he never met a Jew until he came to Vienna as an adult and was, at first, very liberal and tolerant. He gradually reveals the reasons he came to distrust and later hate them as a people. Warren Jeffs convinced his followers that he knew the path to salvation not by standing up at a pulpit screaming to the heavens that he knew what was right. He did it by weaving hypothetical stories and examples of "good" behavior and the rewards and consequences associated with that behavior. The use of influence isn't all bad though. In Sunday Schools all over the world little children are not taught values through "because I said so!" They are taught through the use of parables and other stories from the Bible.

To me most storytelling can be boiled down to the need or desire to influence others. Good or bad there isn't really any denying that the use of story can be a powerful tool, maybe the most powerful tool available to us as humans.

Iris_chapter5

The part about the deficit of human attention was quite interesting because -despite the fact that I already think that more and more people loose the ability to communicate properly- it made me realise how important this lack is as a driving force that makes people receptive towards stories. Hence it is one major factor to determine where, who and in which way we belong to feeling valued and connected is so important in our life. A message can have a mass produced content but if it is wrapped into a "unique" coat a lot of people fall for it. Manipulating without being obviously manipulative is truly an art....

Han_5

Since we were born, our parents or teachers like telling myths or some old stories to educate us. Some people to take this kind of stories very sincerely for theri lives guides. However, some people think it is just a story. Why some people think think these stories are important for them, but some don't? In chapter 5, it mentions that people usually get what they want from the stories. Therefore, if this story has something that we desire to get, we take it seriously.

In Taiwan, we have a lot of myths. These myths are used in the different ways, such as how the world is creatived or why do we only have one sun? These stories have included many impossibilities and fun, but it also have become the meanings of educating. Since we were young, we had no idea whether it was true or not; we just accept. After growing up, we might think these stories have their possibilities of existence for our imagination. It is possible that we could find something in these stories that we would never found in our real lives.

Relational design

Liz 5: I

A few very important bottom lines were highlighted in this chapter.
a. Shared humanity
b. Deficit of human attention
c. Aim under rational thought.
d. The more specific the story, the more universal the connections.
e. “Story induces an altered state of awareness”

hmmmm back we go to why story connects…perhaps we were designed for relationships.

Wellness Institute Update

Hey gang it’s been a few weeks so I’m here with an update. As you were warned, the schools are a bit slow in the fall because they concentrate on ISTEP, but we have made some headway in our project. Right now, three of the seven school districts in Delaware County have asked to be involved in the digital wellness project. We are giving the rest of the schools until Friday September 21 to let us know if they want to be included. So we can make concrete plans very soon. Until then I thought I’d share some of the available programs to showcase, and after the 21st we’ll give you more specifics for each participating school.. Also please remember that if you have questions about this project contact me Curt Sutterfield at ctsutterfiel@bsu.edu, leave me a comment on this post, or call me at (317) 908-1700.

Programs for potential stories:

A high school student to incoming freshmen mentoring program

Time to teach (a new approach that focuses on student behavior and how to discipline)

An elementary schools food drive

School fitness and walking clubs

Family Swim Nights and adult recreation programs

School recycling program

Cafeteria changes and improved nutrition options for breakfast & lunch

Community service projects by middle school students

Sarah_5_I

I liked the idea Simmons raised about our lack of real human contact in today's technological world. Chad sort of touched on this in his post as well. I think this section was absolutely necessary to point out to a business-oriented audience (as well as to the many who spend way too much time text messaging, emailing, and IMing their friends and colleagues rather than simply having face to face contact). Of course technology makes business communication more quick and efficient, but what gets lost in the process? As a customer in the world of business, I hate automated customer service lines, online surveys where I can win something with my receipt code, and mass mail (email or traditional), just to name a few things. These things don't make me feel valued and don't make me want to buy anything. Now I'm not asking to be bombarded by people like when you walk into store and 20 people ask if they can help you. There has to be a happy medium. Can we come to a compromise with technology and real human contact?

Tim_5

After reading chapter 5 it is pretty evident that this book is intended for people interested in business communications. The whole idea of using a story to influence people is beat into the reader’s head over and over.
I will definitely pay attention the next time a salesman tries to win me over with a story in order to make me buy something. It is almost manipulative.
I am beginning to see what other class members have pointed out, that Simmons does a good job of not being committed. She does it again saying, “The only fact we can trust is ‘We don’t know.’”
It does make sense though, that if you want to influence someone it is best to go after their self interests.
Coming from a television background is am familiar using stories inform, in the case of news, or entertain. If I were in sales, I suppose I could relate more to the idea of persuading or influencing with my stories.
I think I also like stories that are entertaining or enlightening.
Eric Kehe is a photojournalist at KUSA in Denver and a former photographer of the year. I once told him that I felt manipulated because most of his stories made me cry. They are some of the best stories and I am glad I was able to experience them. Catharsis aside, I think I enjoy laughing instead.
Instead of manipulating, I might have just been influenced to cry?
I’ll watch Eric’s stories a little more careful from now on. I’ll also read the rest of this book wondering how Simmons is trying to influence me. I already bought the book, what’s next?

Brian_5_I

OK, I have been so negitive in my last several posts, I will try to pick out something nice to say.

It was interesting--and as she mentioned, slightly counter-intuitive--when she suggested that the more detailed your description is in your story, the more the audience can relate to the incident.

I always tend to avoid details in descriptions when I'm hoping people will identify with my situation. Perhaps I should re-think the plan.

Joshua_5_I

My favorite line from Chapter 5 is The good storytellers are the people who are attracted by the mystery of things that "don't make sense" rather than fearing those things. (113)

To the extent that I know all of you in this class I feel like most of us are attracted to these mysteries. I hear people discuss their personal interests, the mysteries that attract them, and I'm always fascinated at the diversity. You would think that being in the same program all of us would line up pretty close, but we don't. And I like that. If anything thing this isn't so much of an idea but a challenge. I don't intend to get too "Lifetime" on all of you, but think of it as a life long challenge.

As some of us venture out into the "real world" for the first time and some of us continue on with careers, let's try not to lose the curiosity that makes us great storytellers. Keep questioning, learning, and exploring. In the end it's this inquisitiveness that separates a dull yarn from an engaging story.

Incidentally, I also really enjoyed, "But, if when you say 'whiskey' you mean the oil of conversation..." (128). Judge Noah Sweat you are wise beyond your years.