17/04/2021

Storytelling

I have been inspired by Kobe`s Dear Basketball movie, in the way he showed how much he loved basketball and the impact it had on him, that resonated with me because it`s everything an Athlete feels, even though I am not officially an athlete. I want to tell stories in order to have a positive impact on people and inspire positive change. I learnt that storytelling is the most impactful way of conveying your message "With a story, you can spark action and inspire people to join".

Here's some points that I have taken notes of:

-A strong theme is always running through a well told story- for example "wanting to belong" is a theme, "finding who you are" is a theme and "wanting change".

-Can You evoke wonder? Using what you know and your own life experiences or you can make it up based on other ideas.

-One of the things that great storytellers do is embrace obstacles for their characters, which is why it appeals to our emotions and some of these events happen in a surprising and unexpected way which draws us in.

-On a basic level a story should have a beginning, middle and an end. Great Stories begin with a problem, that leads to a rising action, building to climax then it comes a satisfying resolution.

The Danger of a Single Story

I came across a TED talk when I was searching how to tell good stories, It was about the danger of a single story by a storyteller called Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she talked about how the books she read formed her views about the world around her. She shows how dangerous it can be if the one story you read becomes the only story, because then you form your view based upon that single story which gives you an incomplete picture. I tend to see a lot of that in newspaper and articles and In the case of the newspapers that tend to focus on one side of the story without telling the other, it can create stereotypes that are true but they are incomplete. For example, I watch a lot of sports and I keep up with what's going on by reading articles that give insight into sport teams- premier league in particular- when writers talk about some teams or athletes they sometimes paint them in a negative way, and people usually take that and make it the only story about that team or athlete without considering the other side of the story and their views become solidified. This is a very subtle example but it can become extreme when stereotypes are created based on race, gender or nationality of the athlete.

"The single story creates stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story." -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

#TED #Stories