Nice description of storytellers at the School of Storytelling at Emerson College in the UK:

A storyteller is more than just a teller of stories. Storytellers are entertainers, teachers and healers with a long spiritual tradition. Their creative work often focuses on strengthening the communities in which they live. Drawing on the richness of the oral tradition, storytellers are bridge builders that connect us to other people, to ourselves, and to the invisible world of the imagination.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Recently came across the site Overheard Everywhere, which seems to consist of bits of overheard conversations with funny headlines.

Example of overheard snippet:

Student at table: Yeah, so, I finally found out what was dead in my basement.

It occurred to me that it would be fun to imagine these conversations as punchlines, beginnings, or other parts of stories. Try going to Overheard Everywhere and see what stories the overheard bits inspire.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Mary Robinette Kowal recently described an interesting storytelling phenomenon that happened to her.

She read one of her unfinished stories to a group of people she knew. She got to the place where the story ended (without ending) and the audience wanted to know ...

But what happens next?!?!"

I glanced at all the sharp instruments they had in their hands, decided that my life was in danger, and told them the rest of the story. My word-smithery went out the window pretty fast leaving me with voice to convey mood and then... the rest was all about the plot. What happened next.

I knew basically what I wanted to have happen, but I hadn't worked out any of the details yet. Having a live audience listening to me as I found my way through the rest of the plot points showed me exactly which things were interesting and which weren't. (The car chase is right out.) If they had a question, I could stop for exposition, (See, the Faerie Queen knew there was a traitor, she just didn't know who) while making a mental note that I needed to plant that piece of information earlier when actually writing it.

When I got out of there, I sat down with the keyboard and the words fairly flew out of me. I still have a couple of thousand words to go, but I know exactly what happens next.

Interesting idea for writers -- try telling the unfinished part of your story and see how the telling affects your writing.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Ta-da! A Storied Career has been redesigned and upgraded to Movable Type 4.1.

It has been a long, hard, and not cheap road to get this done. Movable Type is not the easiest platform to work with, but for some reason I’ve felt compelled to stick with it.

A Storied Career also now has 3 siblings:

• The Career Doctor Blog, which each day features a question and answer from The Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD.
• Quintessential Resumes & Cover Letters Tips Blog: Tips for effective resumes and cover letters.
• Tell Me About Yourself: A blog that serializes the book, Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling That Propels Careers.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Dr. Rebecca Isbell is a proponent of storytelling for learning, especially for young children. On her Web site, she notes these learning advantages for children that stories offer:

• They provide a new way to learn how the world works.
• Exposes them to stories from other cultures and different people.
• Storytelling develops their visual imagery.
• Provides opportunities to discuss moral and social issues.
• Increase listening comprehension of stories.

In a blog posting on Library Trainer, Lori Reed, who attended one of Dr. Isbell’s workshops, noted these additional learning features of stories. Reed asserted that the learning that comes through storytelling applies largely to adults as well as children.

Stories:

• Help learners remember and reinforce key points and concepts.
• Give meaning and deeper understanding to a new concept or skill.
• Help the learner stay awake! How many times have you ever been in a workshop where you had to pinch yourself to stay awake?
• Make learning fun!

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Found some nice nuggets in the storytelling section of the blog (Mighty Casey Media Mighty Mouth Blog) of Casey Quinlan, who describes herself as a “20-year veteran of network news and sports, now a writer, speaker and storytelling guru helping companies and their customers get to ‘happily ever after’.”

She suggests using stories to hold the attention of large audiences:

What are the major points you’re trying to make? What’s the essential story behind each of them? And, most important, why does your audience care how that story turns out? With those elements identified, turn each of your major points into 60-second stories, with interaction time between each of them for the audience to engage with you about the information you just shared.

Her thoughts on stories told during networking are eye-opening and at odds with what I write about here regarding having an “Elevator Story” ready to tell in networking situations:

Do you have a set spiel? Something that you have down pat, that you can say backwards and forwards without thinking? How sincere, how authentic do you think that sounds to your audience? Canned Spam, anyone?… Once you get to that place of comfort, telling your story is organic — it comes easily, from the heart, and communicates clearly to whoever you’re talking to … The approach I’ve seen so many people use — the one I referred to above as pasteurized processed pork product — is to come up with a spiel you can easily remember and repeat, and then do just that. Lather, rinse, repeat. The issue you face if you do choose to tell your story that way is this: how can you communicate value without some element of passion? … You have to keep your story fresh, for yourself AND for your audiences. Canned won’t cut it.

I appreciate Quinlan’s viewpoint that the story needs to sound fresh and spontaneous, not canned and hokey. I wish she’d give examples of what these fresh stories might look like, but I guess that’s the point; giving examples would only encourage readers to adapt and can those examples for themselves.

And nice words here about business storytelling:

Storytelling, in the business sense, is the authentic statement of your value in the marketplace. It’s not charts and graphs, it’s not a slide presentation — let me repeat that, it is not a slide presentation — it’s the language, spoken or written, that says why you’re the best at what you do.

I don’t completely agree with her about the slides. While I agree that slides with charts and graphs and lots of type are not helpful, I think minimalist slides that contain mostly images, such as the pecha kucha presentations I’ve written about, can enhance storytelling.

Quinlan also interlaces her entries about storytelling with her personal saga of going though chemotherapy for breast cancer.

You can also hear a podcast interview with Quinlan.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

ChangingMinds.org has a nice section on Storytelling in Organizations, including what’s special about organizational storytelling, its purpose, storytelling channels, and a section on teaching tales.

The site also lists a wider variety of organizational story types than I’ve seen before, including:

• Cautionary tales
• Genesis stories
• Leadership stories
• Stories of failure
• Founder myths
• Heroic stories
• Stories of hope
• Fearful stories
• Stories of transformation
• Visionary stories
• War stories

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Bioneers has a radio series in which one 30-minute, well-produced, free episode features Rachel Remen, teacher and master storyteller, who packs several stories into her discussion about how the power of story can deepen lives and enrich work.

From Remen's Web site:

Most health professionals do not take the time to remember and tell their own stories or have the opportunity to listen to the stories of colleagues. Yet our stories can heal us. Taking time to discover our own stories and explore them in the context of our calling and commitment can ease our loneliness and restore our sense of energy, meaning, purpose and direction in our work life.

Remen conducts workshops featuring a series of experiential exercises and discussions, using imagery, symbolism, poetry and journal writing to enable participants to find their own stories and discover what sustains them. Participants have the opportunity to remember times of loss, healing, mystery, love and grace; to share these stories with other professionals and to listen to the stories they tell in return.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

After I read an article in the Christian Science Monitor about a company that makes DVDs of people's life stories, I wanted to find out more about the company, LifeFilm Productions.

Not one's whole life story -- the sample films on the company's site are about 15 minutes each -- but the story of an important piece of your life. As the company explains it:

A Lifefilm is a film that tells your life story. What is that story? That's up to you. It could be the first years of your child's life. It could be the tale of how you and your husband met and fell in love. It could be a celebration of your parents and your family history. Whatever the story or occasion, we can custom-tailor a lifefilm for you.

The 2-minute video above also offers a flavor of these kinds of filmed stories.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Anecdote, the Australian consulting firm that specializes in organizational storytelling, is offering a new white paper entitled, Three journeys: A narrative approach to successful organisational change.

Here’s an excerpt provided by Anecdote:

This paper describes the approach we take with clients to successfully foster change in their organisations. It is based on our deep knowledge of both complexity and narratives, and it reflects our holistic approach in working at both systemic and personal levels to help organisations and their people move forward. Coaching is integral to our process at each step of the way and to our clients’ success in reaching their change and improvement goals. Our approach helps leaders and organisations embrace the need for change, approach it openly, prepare for it fully, and achieve the critical outcomes — whether it be a new technology, a turnaround, a new strategy or some other cause.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Stephanie West Allen turned me on to this entertaining video from Ira Glass’s This American Life Showtime series. It tells the tale of a guy whose wife experienced an embarrassing incident while waving to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis on the streets of New York City. In the story, the man is with his wife … but the punchline is that he wasn’t actually there. His memory of the incident is apparently false.

In addition to its being an amusing story, the video resonated with me both because I have my own (probably) false-memory story and a story of encountering Jackie Onassis on the streets of New York.

False Memory (probably): My parents were having a cocktail party when I was about 6. I got out of bed, went downstairs and outside, stretched my arms out and flew across our driveway. I was about 5 or 6 feet off the ground and did not swoop around but rather stayed at an even altitude during my flight. This memory had always been so vivid that my brain is convinced I really flew across the driveway.

Jackie Onassis: I was a young teenager, maybe 14 or so, and I was visiting my dad in New York City on Easter weekend. We were walking along Fifth Avenue during the “Easter Parade,” and my father turned to me after we passed someone and said, “Do you know who that was?” “No,” I said, “I didn’t see.” “It was Mrs. Onassis,” he said. My big chance at a celebrity sighting, and I hadn’t even been paying attention to people passing us!

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Those of us in storytelling circles constantly read about how organizations need to tell their stories and brand themselves with stories, but examples can be hard to come by. Here's just one company Etsy, that has done it well, describing its first five years of tremendous growth.

Etsy says the essence of what the company is about can be captured in the picture book, Swimmy, read in the video above.

... Our vision is to be the eye — to be a kind of organizing principle. We do not want Etsy itself to be a big tuna fish. Those tuna are the big companies that all us small businesses are teaming up against.

Come to think of it, Quint Careers does a pretty good job of telling its story, as in this piece celebrating Quint's first 10 years.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Wendy Bigham wonders about people who tell important stories at difficult times in their lives. Her exemplar is Randy Pausch who has a best-selling book and highly viewed video, The Last Lecture, life lessons (Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams) delivered like the college professor he was before being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

As a former journalist who is now in PR, Bigham asks, “… when has someone told you a difficult story for print at a bad time in their lives? What was the story?” Another question might be, when have you told a difficult story at a difficult time?

I post this entry on May 19 as it is the first anniversary of the death of my cousin, Anne Ertel, who died of pancreatic cancer.

Pausch has outlived his prognosis, but I’ve never heard of pancreatic cancer having a good outcome. Folks can follow Pausch’s progress here.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Here's a way to test the ability of stories to teach -- at least compared to PowerPoint presentations.

Writing in Newsday, Patricia Kitchen told of the technique of Manhattan-based organizational consultant Ben Dattner that "vividly illustrate[s] how stories are memorable and PowerPoint is forgettable."

Writes Kitchen:

Dattner asks his master's-level classes at New York University to put away their notes following team presentations and call out details they remember from the slides. The students are often shocked at how few bullet points they can summarize after listening for 20 minutes - usually around 5 percent of the PowerPoint content," he says. "However, students generally remember about half of the stories or anecdotes in the presentation."

Try it yourself or with students/audience members the next time you're in a situation in which you can compare PowerPoint-heavy presentations with talks that are anecdote-rich.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

In a terrific testament to how storytelling aids learning and makes students want to learn, creator Caitlin Kelleher describes Storytelling Alice:

As my thesis work, I created and evaluated a programming system for middle school girls called Storytelling Alice that presents programming as a means to the end of storytelling. Storytelling Alice includes high-level animations that enable users to program social interactions, a gallery of characters and scenery designed to spark story ideas, and a story-based tutorial. To evaluate the impact of storytelling support on girls’ motivation and learning, I compared girls’ experiences using Storytelling Alice and a version of Alice without storytelling support (Generic Alice). Results of the study suggest that girls are more motivated to learn programming using Storytelling Alice; study participants who used Storytelling Alice spent 42 percent more time programming and were more than three times as likely to sneak extra time to work on their programs as users of Generic Alice (16 percent of Generic Alice users and 51 percent of Storytelling Alice users sneaked extra time).

Here is the information on her dissertation that reports those results:
Kelleher, C. Motivating Programming: Using storytelling to make computer programming attractive to middle school girls. PhD Dissertation, Carnegie Mellon University, School of Computer Science Technical Report CMU-CS-06-171.

Another excellent explanation of the project is here.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

See this earlier entry.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Storytelling Weekend 2008 in Washington, DC, is in the history books. I didn't attend; I seem to go in odd-numbered years. But some bloggers have posted some nice recaps of the Smithsonian portion of the weekend, as well as the subsequent Golden Fleece Day:

• Lynn Tveskov's Storytelling, a Path to Innovation


• Matt Moore's Washington Storytelling Weekend: Golden Fleece


• Matt Moore's Washington Storytelling Weekend


• Steve Denning's postings of two of the slideshows from the Smithsonian day

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Since comments are not very prominently displayed in this blog,
I wanted to call attention to Stephanie West Allen's comments about
a recent entry, featuring the video of a presentation by Jill Taylor,
a stroke victim and neuroanatomist.

Apparently the science in this presentation has come under quite a bit of scrutiny, as illustrated by Stephanie's blog posting, a collection of criticism for the idea's Taylor presents in her talk.

While I feel a responsibility to point out that a number of people
question whether Taylor knows what she's talking about, I was drawn
to the video not for Taylor's claims, nor the science, nor her spiritual explanation.

I simply found the presentation to be riveting storytelling.

By the way, I see that Oprah is doing a 4-part Webcast with Jill Taylor. Will be interesting to see if any of the criticisms are addressed.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

In this video, Jake McKee, former social media practitioner at Lego, "tells his story," writes Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang "on how he challenged and changed the culture within the organization to build relationships with customers, share proprietary information, and how customers were in line with employees."

The effect on the audience that hears such a story? They think, "maybe we can challenge the culture at our organization."

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Recently came across three similar blog postings about storytelling in marketing and thought I would pretend the authors were having a conversation. Thus, sort of a made-up story with these bloggers as characters.

McLellan Creative (no individual blogger identified) begins the conversation by asking, "When was the last time you were drawn into a white paper by language that compelled you to read more? How many case studies have you found impossible to put down?"*

Joe Pulizzi writing at Chief Marketer notes that not only are white papers dull, but that "the majority of brands continue to use 'interruption' style strategies..." Yet even in the face of persistence of "interruption style," Pulizzi says, "some are turning to “storytelling” instead of overt advertising." Pulizzi explains:

Storytelling, sometimes referred to as content marketing or custom media, consists of delivering the brand product message as relevant and compelling information. Instead of marketers following a playbook, storytelling requires much the same mixture of rational and emotional messaging that you’d find in a New York Times feature, or even on primetime television drama.

McLellan Creative nods excitedly: "... if you want to build a brand or launch a new product or service, a great story will differentiate you faster than an array of colorful bar graphs. ... the best technicians create new platforms, the best storytellers bring them to life."

Indeed, Pulizzi agrees, "Smart marketers are realizing that they don’t have a choice anymore when it comes to reaching consumers. In today’s business environment, the 4 Ps of marketing can be copied verbatim by an outside competitor. The only separation is communication - how a marketer tells its story."

Scott 'Scotland' Drummond of Marketing magazine chimes in with an example, Penguin Books, which I blogged about here. Penguin, Drummond says, "is leveraging the incredible power of word-of-mouth. In this sense, Penguin’s marketing is all about the conversations happening around it’s new product range. The We Tell Stories range are amazing social objects, objects around which great conversations are taking place. This is the best kind of marketing you can’t buy, and in that sense is a great move from Penguin."

Continues Drummond: "And in a broader sense, stories are the ultimate viral. We love to hear them, the best ones have been adopted, retold, repackaged, extended, embellished, they are dynamic and change infinitely in the retelling, and in the end are founded on powerful conversations."

Drummond's blog posting, er, part of the conversation, was prompted by his reading the Cluetrain Manifesto, about which I've seen quite a bit in the blogosphere recently because it's apparently having its 10th anniversary. So Drummond sums up the "conversation" with his "Cluetrain-esque proclamation (with apologies to the authors):"

If marketers don’t think they are in the business of telling great stories, and now of allowing great stories to be told around their products/services/brands, then they are still labouring under the misapprehension that they are in control. They aren’t.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Recently saw the documentary film, My Kid Could Paint That, about Marla Olmstead, who in 2004 was 4 years old and commanding thousands of dollars for her abstract paintings.

The Binghamton, NY, reporter, Elizabeth Cohen, who initially broke the Marla story in the Binghamton Sun and Press Bulletin, noted in the film, however, that Marla's tale is not about a little girl who appears to be an art prodigy. I'm not quoting her exactly, but Cohen said Marla's story is really the story of a story and what the media does to such a story. Cohen notes that when the media is in a frenzy with a story at the forefront, inevitably the story has to change to feed the "monster" that is the media.

"It's like a hungry monster," says Cohen in the film. "It can't get enough. This is lunch. This is what they wait for."

In the case of young Marla, 60 Minutes changed the story by bringing in a child psychologist to question whether Marla really created all the paintings totally on her own -- or whether she had help from, say, her dad.

The tantalizing missing piece to the story, both in the film and on Marla's Web site (a really well done site, by the way), is what is Marla up to now. The film leaves Marla at age 6, stilling painting and selling her paintings, but not with quite the fanfare as before. Marla must be about 8 by now, and the viewer has to wonder if she's still painting and selling and how the media spotlight affected her.

It's an unfinished story to be sure.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

OK, I don't mean to be irreverent here, but I read some good news for storytelling fans who believe the Bible is the word of God and even for agnostics like me who aren't sure. This comes from "Guest Author" at Impact, a blog for Southern Baptists:

There is a reason that narrative (story) is the genre of writing most common to the Holy Scriptures. It is because stories connect with us and God knows it. God chose to reveal the majority of the Old Testament in story form.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

The blogger at the blog seclater (and I am unable to determine who this blogger is) extols storytelling as a marketing tool in a way that is not new to me. But he (or she) offers an "if-I-can-do-it-anyone-can" story of entrepreneurial success:

I had quit my full-time job without any savings, filed for divorce, put my house up for sale, sold my major possessions, loaded the car up with my dog and relocated halfway across the country, moved in with my mother back into my childhood bedroom, withdrew money from my retirement account to get me through the first few months, and set up shop in my mother’s garage. I was just a failure waiting to happen, but I didn’t fail, amazingly enough. I use this story to illustrate the point that no matter what the odds, if you want to start a business and be successful, you can do it –and I’m living proof that anyone can do it — and if you don’t have all of these risk factors staring you in the face, you stand a much greater chance of success than I ever did!

The blogger also offers this advice on entrepreneurial stories:

Come up with a fairly short, 1-2 minute story statement of how you got to where you are today and how that impacted why you do what you do. Make it interesting, share the ups and downs and put your stories on your website, on your business card, in your brochure, on your blog, and incorporate them into your elevator speech. I guarantee you’ll start developing fans right away!

One of the commenters to seclater pointed out a video of Dame Anita Roddick, the late founder of The Body Shop, who used stories to educate the public and gain awareness for the store’s line of natural cosmetics. In the video, she discusses how effective story-telling became part of Body Shop’s PR program.

Oh, and one more cool thing about the blogger at seclater: He or she says: "One of my favorite pastimes as a child was to hang out with my mom and aunts for the 'adult conversations' that weren’t really suitable for children’s ears." Me, too! What I didn't realize until I read the seclater blog posting was that it was probably the stories that drew me to these adult conversations.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

One of my long-term ambitions is to create and put on workshops that help people change their lives and careers through story: Change the Story, Change Your Life (or Career).

I've come across a couple of models for what I'd like to do. One comes from The Story Lady, Ronda Del Boccio, whose Web site Storyation asks: "What story do you create for yourself? She talks about finding patterns in one's stories and that the "path to success follows a pattern." The definition of Storyation, Del Boccio says, is "creating your story into the world," adding that "when you create a new life for yourself, you are not only telling yourself a new story but creating that story in your life." In reading her site further and viewing her blog, I think that the story work Del Boccio does is a little more geared toward entrepreneurs and folks seeking big success than the way I envision my work.

The other model that intrigues is the Dependable Strengths Articulation Process developed by Bernard Haldane (the current incarnation of whose firm has had kind of a mixed reputation in the career field; Google Bernard Haldane to see what I mean). The Dependable Strengths Web site describes the process:

... the heart of the process is storytelling. DSAP Facilitators are trained to elicit the kind of stories that illustrate a person's Dependable Strengths--those strengths characteristic of a person's best work. Participants tell their stories in small groups, and receive feedback in the form of written and vocal comments from each of the others in their group. Participants are encouraged to pay special attention to body language--that of the storyteller as well as that of the listeners.

Dependable Strengths offers DSAP facilitator training. I'm interested in learning more.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Just a postscript to an earlier entry about storytelling at Procter and Gamble:

P&G also has a digital story in which a Martian appears before a group of six composite characters representing various organizations within P&G. The Martian wants to know who's responsible for innovation at P&G. As Linda Coffman, whom Steve Denning interviewed about storytelling at P&G, says: "The characters take turns in explaining why they think it is their organization. So this piece would be a good piece for new hires into the company to orient them to the different functions, and to communicate that innovation is important in P&G."

I think this is a ripe area for academic research -- how stories help socialize new hires in an organization. Anyone know anyone who's doing research in this area?

Oh, and one little side note: Coffman says that 3-5 minutes is the ideal length for a digital story.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Two commenters, Corvus and Liz, expressed curiosity about my statement that I loathe and detest games in this post.

For me, this issue is a tantalizing look at the question of nature vs. nurture. I believe it is possible that I was genetically programmed to hate games.

It seems that my mother also loathes and detests games. But I did not know of her hatred when I was a child. I learned of it only as an adult. Because she saw mothering (which she also wasn't crazy about) as Job One, she forced herself to play games with me and my two sisters.

Now, it's possible my loathing of games was learned behavior if my mother manifested any of her loathing while playing games with us. But I don't think she did. I was never consciously aware she hated games while she was playing them with us.

If you ask me why I hate games, I am likely to say, "I just do," but if pressed, I would say they are boring and I have many better uses for my time.

I will say, however, that as a child I enjoyed "games" that were more of the storytelling ilk – unorganized games of the imagination, such as "House," "Horses," "Brother and Sister," and playing with dolls and making up stories about them.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

The World's Greatest Yoga Instructor, Emma Tranter, turned me onto this fascinating video presentation, from "TED," Technology, Entertainment, Design, which "started (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Taylor tells an amazing story that takes on special meaning because of her role as a neuroanatomist. Through her stroke, she gains new "insider" insight into the brain's function and the human ability to achieve an astonishing state of being.

One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness ...

Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right. From her home base in Indiana, she now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the "Singin' Scientist."

"How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career."
– Jill Bolte Taylor

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

For someone who prides herself on keeping up with trends, I have been quite slow on the uptake with Multi-User Virtual Environments, such as Second Life. I don't fully grasp this concept, and I haven't yet become a full participant, but I'm attempting to learn more and expect to post more as I do. Clearly, Second Life is a storytelling environment.

It should not therefore have surprised me that Second Life is also being used as a job-interviewing environment, but there it was in the New York Times.

Reporter Matt Villano told of his interview with Linden Lab, the owner and operator of Second Life:

Mr. Gould showed up in a Superman costume. Next, he invited me to sit down next to him in a chaise longue that overlooked the crashing surf. As we talked about my strengths and weaknesses, crabs skittered along the sand at our feet. At another point, in the middle of responding to a question about overcoming professional challenges, I stood up and performed a hula dance.

Finally, after thanking me for my time, Mr. Gould stood up, shook my hand and flew away.

Apparently, these interviews are indeed taking place, and companies are also using Second Life for Virtual Job Fairs. "Mr. Gould" told Villano that Second Life interviews are best supplemented with traditional recruiting methods.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

I've posted some new events in my Story Events section – and some are coming up very soon.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

In her blog Soulbride's Kitchen, Kamalla Rose Kaur tells of what sounds like a wonderful storytelling class at Western Washington University (where the class is a General Education Requirement) taught by Rosemary Vohs. Commenters to Kaur's blog affirm Vohs's exceptional teaching ability and credit her with significant influence on their lives ("She taught me virtually everything I know about storytelling, public speak[ing], and performing," writes Jacqueline Bartha of Jacksonville, FL.)

Kaur's main point in her posting is how she was derided when she told people she was taking the storytelling class. People assumed it was an easy and lightweight topic. In reality, storytelling was Kaur's hardest class. She wonders if storytelling is looked down upon "because anyone can tell a story...?"

Is it because professors are often horrible storytellers, while humble working class folk often excel at it? Is it a women’s discipline? Is it a childish subject? Or are other races better at storytelling than people of European descent?

Kaur peppers her posting with some great quotes about storytelling, which I've now posted in my Story Wisdom section.

She concludes, "The capacity to tell our tales is neither easy nor is it trivial." Referring to the tendency of the revilers to compare the class to basket-weaving, Kaur declares: "I dare you! Weave a basket that holds water and lasts longer than your puny little lifetime."

In a sad postscript to her blog posting, Kaur notes that because of budget cuts, Western Washington U. has cut Vohs' classes down to one and told her to vacate her office.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

In a recent newsletter, Terrence Gargiulio offered some great "trigger questions" for eliciting stories about parents and siblings:

• What stories do you know about your parents' childhood?
• What things did you do with your parents?
• Do you have any memories of shopping for food or clothing with your parents?
• Were you ever jealous of your siblings? Were they ever jealous of you?
• What things do you admire most about your parents?
• What aspects of your relationship with your parents were difficult?
• While you were growing up, were there any major events in your parents' lives?
• Did you ever see your parents frightened?
• How did your parents relate to one another?
• Who were your parents' friends?
• What hobbies or interests did your parents have?
• What things upset your parents?
• Did your parents give you chores?
• Did you have an allowance?
• How did your parents express affection?
• How did your parents express anger?
• Were you spoiled in any way?
• Did you or any of your siblings receive special treatment?
• Were your parents strict?
• What sort of rules did you have while growing up?
• Were your parents involved in the community?
• What did your friends say and think about your parents?
• Did your parents ever apologize to you?
• In what ways did you try to please your parents?
• What were some of the most memorable gifts your parents gave you?
• How did your parents express disappointment?
• What do you cherish most about your parents?

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

At The Learning Times Green Room, a podcast for Renewal, Retooling and Conversations about Learning, co-hosts Susan Manning and Dan Balzer offer a podcast on using storytelling for instructional purposes.

The Learning Times Green Room blog also offers notes to go along with the podcast. Susan's and Dan's discussion of "getting students engaged in solving a problem, making a recommendation, or breaking up problem down into simpler components are methods of using story" resonates with me. Susan and Dan also encourage listeners to check out Learning Scenarios Online based at Valencia College, which is near me. You can log onto a demo Learning Scenario course, Teaching for Learning, a story-based course described, in part, like this: "By engaging with the storyline, characters, and resources, and interacting with other participants, you will leave with the skills, attitudes and knowledge to assist you in creating a learning-centered classroom environment."

The Learning Times Green Room's show topics are often drawn from members of LearningTimes.org, a free online community of education and training professionals from across the globe. The LT Green Room gives listeners (and ourselves) an opportunity to reflect on what they're doing behind the scene that results in an effective learning experience.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Here at the conference I'm attending, I learned that the viral story of Johnny the Bagger is highly popular on the Internet and being used to inspire better customer service. It's more than just about customer service though.

While Johnny's story has inspired many, Barbara Glanz, in turn, inspired Johnny by talking about making people feel special, creating memories, putting your personal signature on your job, and changing the culture of the workplace.

The video slideshow says it best. And shows the power of story to motivate change.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

I'm at a conference – of the Career Management Alliance – and heard the wonderful author and speaker Richard Leider today, who in addition to packing his presentation with stories, also made several references to the power of story. Building on the practice of Narrative Medicine, Leider declared that the absence of people to tell our stories to is tantamount to ill health or even death.

The major focus of Leider's coaching practice is living a purposeful life:

People who are living on purpose feel a sense of aliveness every day and seek to make a difference in the world around them. A Purposeful Life is living with meaning and intention.

Story helps people realize their purpose; Leider equates asking "What is the narrative theme of your life?" to asking, "What is your purpose?"

A bit about Leider's books from his Web site:

Repacking Your Bags and The Power of Purpose are considered classics in the career development field. Claiming Your Place at the Fire and Something to Live For, have been touted as breakthrough books on “vital aging.” He is a contributing author to many leading-edge coaching books, including: Coaching for Leadership, The Art and Practice of Leadership Coaching, Executive Coaching for Results and The Leader of the Future.

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.

Launched in 2006, the Campaign for Love & Forgiveness uses PBS documentaries, community activities, online resources, and networking opportunities to encourage reflection and conversation about how love and forgiveness can effect meaningful change in individuals and society. Through community conversations, the campaign aims to create a meaningful national dialogue that will bring about positive changes for individuals, their relationships, and their communities.

Visitors are invited to write love/forgiveness stories of their own, tell it via audio over the phone, or submit a video. Visitors can also experience stories that have been submitted.

[ A tip of the hat to Stephanie West Allen for alerting me to this site. ]

Entry by Kathy Hansen. Learn more.