Great summary, Dr. A. One of the pieces of advice I offer up to students asking for "the next class to take" is to take another speaking course or another writing course. They often groan at the suggestion, but I use that as evidence that they need to improve. If they didn't like the last one they did, it was probably because they weren't very good at it and needed to work on it more.
I like the idea of reframing this as storytelling.
I used to challenge students to participate in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month (prior to the AI generated scandal!) It was a method to have them express their thoughts creatively without the concern about grades. I had benefited from taking a Creative Writing class sophmore year that allowed me to deal with some anxiety issues by creating differing narratives.
Tailering that narrative to the audience is also an important skill. Students react differently that 53 yr olds to the same topic. Pulling from experiences realitive to that audience creates a better connection. Universal truths.
I could not agree more! However... how one arrives at the story one tells is at least as important as the story itself. Conmen are storytellers. Bad CEOs may be better storytellers than good ones, because they have to sell a worse situation to retain their position. We need to understand the situation we are talking about well, understand it without prejudice and convey it with belief and authenticity, in order to tell a story that reflects the real world. Otherwise we are just good liars.
I see the same thing with academic research. Research is personal, usually motivated by personal experiences, but those rarely make it to the research presentation.
Great summary, Dr. A. One of the pieces of advice I offer up to students asking for "the next class to take" is to take another speaking course or another writing course. They often groan at the suggestion, but I use that as evidence that they need to improve. If they didn't like the last one they did, it was probably because they weren't very good at it and needed to work on it more.
I like the idea of reframing this as storytelling.
Thanks Jadrian. Tell me if the reframe works
I used to challenge students to participate in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month (prior to the AI generated scandal!) It was a method to have them express their thoughts creatively without the concern about grades. I had benefited from taking a Creative Writing class sophmore year that allowed me to deal with some anxiety issues by creating differing narratives.
Tailering that narrative to the audience is also an important skill. Students react differently that 53 yr olds to the same topic. Pulling from experiences realitive to that audience creates a better connection. Universal truths.
Thanks, Lary. My stories and examples change as I age and as my audience changes.
I 100% AGREE!!! I will be sharing this with my students so they can prepare for pitch days!
You are a great storyteller too
Great topic . Thanks for the ideas and it is wonderful to promote others.
I could not agree more! However... how one arrives at the story one tells is at least as important as the story itself. Conmen are storytellers. Bad CEOs may be better storytellers than good ones, because they have to sell a worse situation to retain their position. We need to understand the situation we are talking about well, understand it without prejudice and convey it with belief and authenticity, in order to tell a story that reflects the real world. Otherwise we are just good liars.
I see the same thing with academic research. Research is personal, usually motivated by personal experiences, but those rarely make it to the research presentation.
Thanks. Something I left out is that storytelling helps me so much in the classroom. Thanks for bringing it to the discussion