Why storytelling

Stories can link not only between the world of classroom and home but also between the classroom and beyond. Stories provide a common thread that can help unite cultures and provide a bridge across the cultural gap.

Help Log in Sign up Newsletter. You are here Home » Managing resources » Articles. Average: 3. What can storytelling offer? Storytelling and intercultural understanding Other benefits of using storytelling in the classroom Commonalities of cultures around the world Performance techniques A last word What can storytelling offer?

Storytelling and intercultural understanding There are a number of ways in which storytelling can enhance intercultural understanding and communication. Performance techniques Telling a story can captivate an audience; that is, with the right techniques and a little practice. This shows how a smart storytelling approach can increase the perceived value of something and generate ROI.

Fast-track your career with award-winning courses and realistic practice. Simply, stories are very engaging. Whether you are using a story in a pitch, an advert etc, you are less likely to lose your audience's attention. This is why public speakers frequently begin presentations with stories.

Stories are also highly structured forms of communication so they help with the audience's understanding. Storytelling can form a powerful marketing strategy - people want to connect with brands and businesses and the best adverts do this by, again being relatable, or evoking emotions, such as the John Lewis adverts in the UK or this Budweiser advert.

Advertising needs to be more than cheap tactics, such as using sex appeal. A good brand campaign should also be transparent so consider telling people what the business struggle was and how you pulled through known as a monomyth story. This will lead the audience to care about you and consequently your product or service. Ensure that you keep this story consistent across all mediums e. You want your audience to understand your vision and a consistent brand story will do this.

Employees are the heart of the business, they are the company's best asset and a business only succeeds when its employees do. You can cultivate the right culture at work by using storytelling. This goes beyond sharing a successful vision, instead share stories about the company's history, its struggles, its values, aims etc. Share what's important with your employees and explain what this means for them.

This will give them something to believe in and consequently they will believe in the company and their motivation to work will increase. You are essentially giving your employees a greater sense of purpose and meaning by making them part of the company's wider story. Further develop this by allowing your employees to share their own stories. People look for stories to make decisions, for example, when you think about buying a product you look at reviews which are essentially stories and not just facts and features.

This is the same for looking at businesses - when people think "why should I get involved with this business? Each business needs to use storytelling to answer the simple question of "why should people care? The most successful companies have deep and thoughtful stories behind them that stir a sense of larger purpose and meaning into what they do, such as Google and Apple who are not just businesses - they are brands made by visionaries who want ed to transform the world.

This is especially true if another person is helping to co-create the story. When someone is creating a story with us, he or she might suggest a different action than we would suggest.

What will be the outcome of the story with this new twist? What might I learn from their suggestion or solution? We can often work through a problem or situation by writing about it or creating a story. When we find ourselves sitting in an airport or waiting to see the dentist, reading a magazine or book engages our attention and helps to make time pass more easily.

For many of us, there is no better form of escape than to stick our noses in a book and vanish into the story. With the advent of audiobooks and podcasts, many of us listen to stories as we jog or walk or ride in a car or airplane. For many of us, reading or listening to stories is our favorite form of recreation. Stories have the ability to help us learn about others and to find understanding and empathy for them and their situations. Whether we actually know the individual or not, hearing their story evokes feelings within us.

Learning to relate to others and empathize with them is so important in developing social skills and making friends. Stories serve so many purposes in our lives. Stories are about so much more than just reading or listening. They are instrumental in cognitive, social and emotional development. Literacy begins with stories others tell us or we tell ourselves. Co-creating stories with an adult or peers helps our children and students begin to create stories they can share with others. Stories help us understand others and ourselves.

We feel empathy with the characters we encounter in stories. This ability to learn from stories is a skill that will help our students throughout their lives. In addition to academic goals, stories enrich lives and provide guidance to living. If you want to do something great for your child or student, explore the ways you can begin to co-create stories with them. Video Examples. Why Is It Important?

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