Lighting the Path to Action:

Realizing the Power of

Storytelling

Matthew HendricksonNovember 7, 2013

“Begin at the beginning…and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”– Lewis Carroll

Make me care!What is storytelling?

Can you be a storyteller?How do you do storytelling?

Make me care!What is storytelling?

Storyn.A narrative,commonly untrue.–A. Bierce

Storytelling, relating to a series of events–E. Miller

Storytelling, relating to a series of events–E. Miller

Template

Worldview

Frame

Story

Live

Authentic

Shortcuts

Change

Value

“Stories are shortcuts we use because we’re too overwhelmed by data to discover all the details.”– S. Godin

“Curiosity is the intellectual need to answer questions and close open patterns. Story plays to this universal desire by doing the opposite, posing questions and opening situations.”–R. McKee

“This is the role that stories play – putting knowledge into a framework that is more lifelike, more true to our day-to-day existence.” – Heath & Heath

Rule #

“You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.”

Miller’s Framework

• Characters• Place• Time• Storyline• Sensory Elements• Objects

• Character’s Gestures/Attitudes

• Emotions• Narrator’s POV• Narrator’s Tone• Theme

McKee’s Framework

• Character Development

• Quest/Mission/Desire• Objectives• Hook/Inciting

Incident• Problem

• Conflict• Set-up/Pay-off• Pivotal Event/Turning

Point• Reversals/Twists• Subplots• Ending

Storytelling Elements

• Quest / Hook / Inciting Incident• Conflict• Progressive

Complications

• Pivotal Event• Twists• Set-up• Pay-off• Ending

“The story will adapt to the environment.”-S. McCloud

Storytelling is an art – not a set formula!

Make me care!Can you be a storyteller?

Memorable & Engaging

Sticky Ideas

Simplicity

Unexpectedness

Concreteness Credibility

Emotions

Stories

CONVEY THE

Rule #

“Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.”

Value

≠ Object

Value

≠ Object

= Meaning of the object

“A good analogy is priceless – it helps us understand the new by connecting it to the familiar.”–Z. Gemignani

Data Visualizations

ExplorationAnalysis

Presentation

Make me care!How do you do storytelling?

Your presentation isNOT

your handout

Nobody cares about your

2 + 2 = 4

2 + 2 ≠ 4

“Stories are, of course, how numbers talk to people.”

-T. Davenport

I have actually made this mistake…

Again…

And again…

And again …

Good, Bad, Ugly

Ugly, Bad, Good

Ugly

Better

Got it!

LeadsProspectsApplicants

AdmitsEnrolls

RetainedConferred

“What is truer than true? The Story.”- Jewish Saying

“Those who tell the stories rule the world.”

- Hopi American Indian Proverb

We control the scope

Storytelling is an art, not a science…

practice to get it right

Thank you

Lighting the Path to Action:Realizing the Power of Storytelling

Matthew HendricksonAssociate Director – Strategic Enrollment ResearchNortheastern University – College of Professional Studiesm.hendrickson@neu.edu

References• Bierce, A. (2003). The Devil’s Dictionary.• Carroll, L. (1886). Alice in Wonderland.• Coats, E. (2012). Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling (via Twitter). http://imgur.com/a/fPLnM• Davenport, T.H. & Kim, J. (2013). Keeping up with the Quants. Harvard Business Review.• Gemignani, Z. (2012). Data Visualization as Storytelling: A Stretched Analogy. Juice Analytics.

http://www.juiceanalytics.com/writing/data-visualization-as-storytelling-a-stretched-analogy/• Gemignani, Z. (2013). Data Storytelling: The Ultimate Collection of Resources.

http://www.juiceanalytics.com/writing/the-ultimate-collection-of-data-storytelling-resources/• Godin, S. (2005). All Marketers are Liars.• Heath, C. & Heath D. (2007). Made to Stick.• Kosara, R. (2013). Paper: Storytelling, The Next Step for Visualization.

http://eagereyes.org/papers/paper-storytelling-step-visualization• McCloud, S. (2005). The Visual Magic of Comics. TED Talk.

http://www.ted.com/talks/scott_mccloud_on_comics.html• McKee, R. (1997). Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting.• Miller, E. (2011). Theories of Story and Storytelling.

http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com/67.pdf• Montague, T. (2013). If You Want to Raise Prices, Tell a Better Story.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/07/want-to-raise-prices-tell-a-be/• Stanton, A. (2012). The Clues to a Great Story. Ted Talk.

http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_stanton_the_clues_to_a_great_story.html• Warshaw, D. (2013). Nate Silver, Data, and Storytelling.

http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2013/07/24/nate-silver-data-and-storytelling/