Erik_11_I

Simmons pulls back in this chapter and sort of looks at the text as a whole... and on her philosophy as a whole. That is, she talks about her whole idea of the power of storytelling. That in mind, I'd also like to look at it as a whole. Throughout the book, I was struck by HOW business-oriented this book was. Of course, this was the intent of the text, but it consistently struck me as odd and amusing how Simmons was using storytelling (one of the most natural and pure ways in which humans interact) as almost a business currency. I thought this book felt like one of those business networking/motivational type texts... think: "How to Win Friends and Influence People." To a certain degree, I thought that Simmons was dirtying the concept of storytelling. Using it as a tool (and strictly as a tool) seems somehow wrong.

Erik_10_Q

When Simmons talks about Hitler, I think she somewhat misses the point with the quality of his storytelling. For all we know, a lot of Hitleer's speeches, manifestos, etc. could have been written by ghost writers. Historians agree that a vast majority of Hitler's power lied in his charisma... it was the charisma with which he TOLD the stories that made him so powerful... again, who's to say who wrote all his material?

With that said, how important do you think the WAY IN WHICH a story is told is compared to the story itself? How important is charisma in the storytelling process? Is it more important than the story itself?

Erik_9_I

There are a lot of "don'ts" in here... like others have said, this gets almost authoratative to an arrogant level here. I think that perhaps her goals with this chapter could have been achieved with more 'do's" than "don'ts"...

Storytelling is inherently empowering... the storyteller is the one weaving the presentation. The listener is the one listening. Therefore the very act of storytelling is empowering. But I think that this empowerment can get to one's head... it appears as though Simmons may have taken this empowerment to a whole new level by claiming the exact ways one should tell a story.

Erik_8_I

I connected to this chapter more than some of the others... even though I thought that this chapter was much more so about listening (as it begins) than it was about storytelling.

Specifically, I find it curious how you can influence people by listening to their stories. This seems to be an extension of the belief that to get people to trust you, you have to make them think that they're your friend. I've read other such texts where there's a heavy emphasis on the 'think' part of the prior sentence. In other words, people are convinced that a person is invested in their personal life, but what is really going on is that this person is just being used... the other individual is simply ACTING like they care to use the person for their own devices.

However, Simmons seems to genuinely believe that the listener of a personal story not only gets the trust of the teller, but also gains something more meaningful from the transaction. Simmons suggests that the listener is enriched by hearing others' personal stories. Compared to other texts on how to influence people, I found this concept to be quite charming.

Indeed, Simmons says that you learn from hearing other people's stories. You learn something about life. Perhaps this all comes down to the age-old idea that you can learn from others' experiences... that you can live something out vicariously through hearing about it.

Erik_7_1

I think that the "unwilling" is a bit of a misnomer...

I think that listeners can be unconcerned, but unwilling is almost impossible. I think that it is almost impossible for people to totally unwilling since people inherently want to listen to a story. Storytelling is the oldest form of conveying a message... anything with a beginning and an end and something of a change in the middle is a story. And people naturally listen to them.

For this reason, I think it is very hard for people to not listen to a story. Does everyone agree or do you think people can zone out of a story?

Group 6 Update

We have designed a rough draft of the icon for FoodTube. Jeff has used clip art from clipart.com and PhotoShop to create the design.

We are planning on contacting the Wellness Center at Ball State this week in hopes of getting in contact with a nutritionalist that will serve as the expert on the FoodTube blog. This expert will make comments on the posts that the students make. Hopefully, we can also make contact with one of the schools we'd like to participate.

Erik_6_I

In the thought of business 'being personal,' I would like to say that (to me anyway) the most likeable businesses are the personal ones. I think the businesses that seem to have a more personal image and message are the most endearing. For instance, the founder of Chick-Fil-A insisted that his restaurants always close on Sundays to give his workers a chance to rest. Now that it's a major restaurant, this policy still stands. Despite the fact that they're probably losing millions of dollars a week, they still do it. And the STORY behind this policy is related to the customers... on signs or napkins or something like that. It charms the customers. So this is an example of how personal stories relate to business.

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.

Erik_4_I

Simmons talks about the importance of the gestures and other non-verbals in this chapter. I totally agree that this is important in storytelling. I think that this is even becoming important in digital storytelling... whereas in the past, digital stories might just be words on a screen, digital stories are now including an increasing amount of multimedia. With this content comes video elements where we actually see moving images of people. Therefore, just like in 'real life,' non-verbals are becoming increasingly important in the virtual world... I think this is an intrinsic connection between the two, because it is yet another example of how the virtual world is becoming more 'real.'

Crosier_3_I

Society and storytelling are intrinsically intertwined. Basically, what is storytelling but a way of conveying a complete thought? If you look at a story as anything that has a beginning and end with some sort of change, then a story can be something as simple as "I went to the store and bought bread." At the beginning, I hadn't been to the store and I didn't have bread. At the end, I had been to the store and had purchased bread. Beginning, ending, change.

That said, talking about these 'changes' is a way of informing each other about needed information. Hence society and story are inherently and necessarily connected to each other. If we look at different types of storytelling, they can even define a society in which ethey belong.

But does society define the storytelling? Or can it be either way?

ErikCrosier_1and2_I

There has always been a way of thinking that there are only a certain number of stories that can be told... and an infinite way of interpreting these basic core stories. This all comes down to basic mythological structure. Look at the works of Joseph Campbell (or interpretations of Campbell's works by Christopher Vogler) for evidence that basic story ideas and character archetypes have always been around.

But I don't think that people should get into the mindset that there are only X amount of stories that can be told.

Yes, there are certain repeating patterns. But to say that there are only a few basic types is a bit absurd. Just because a certain story might fit into a certain pattern does not mean that it is inherently 'unoriginal.'

Therefore I think that this boils down to a repeating problem... categorizing something as visceral as storytelling.