X
Workbook
1
CONTENTS 1
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
4
PIXAR QUICK STORY
5
Overview of what you can expect from today’s session, and an introduction to your fabulous hosts (minus the glamourous assistants).
2 3 2
Our first exercise helps us to build simple stories quickly and easily with minimal fuss.
AFFINITY MAPPING This exercise helps us work out the purpose of our story and how we will share it for maximum impact.
6
POST IT NOTE GAME
A post-it note frenzy to find characters and visuals that help you tell your story. Beware of paper cuts!
STORY STRUCTURE Visual tools to help you plot your story structure to tell it well, and then present it effectively through pictures (oodles - or should we say ‘doodles’ - of fun).
FREE RESOURCES A collection of free resources to help you on your story journey, from storytelling structures to royalty free images and icons. Did we mention they are FREE!?
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN 01
How to find stories worth telling and deliver them confidently
02
Structure your message for clarity and engagement
03
Present visuals that emotionally engage audiences
Your Hosts Laura Evans
Duncan Yellowlees
Visual storyteller with ten years social research experience, and a penchant for making the uninteresting interesting through the power of pictures.
A storytelling obsessive with a relish for emotional engagement, Duncan likes nothing better than crafting messages that make people give a shit.
Nifty Fox Creative niftyfoxcreative.com laura@niftyfoxcreative.com
Duncan Yellowlees Training duncanyellowlees.com info@duncanyellowlees.com
3
PIXAR QUICK STORY
4
Stories need a beginning, middle and an end, right? WRONG! Stories can be simple, but they need more depth than this to be engaging. Pixar came up with a dynamic story structure to engages audiences more effectively. It goes like this:
Once upon a time there was Every day Until one day Because of THAT Until finally Here’s an example of how this works, with everyone’s favourite wizard, Harry Potter.
Once upon a time, there was a boy called Harry Potter. Every day he was mistreated by his adoptive parents. One day, he discovered he was a wizard. Because of that, he goes to Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and learns all about who he really is. Because of that, he finds out that Voldemort is on the rise again and after the Philosopher’s Stone, which he must find before Voldemort does. Until finally, he defeats Voldemort and lives happily ever after!
5
How could you apply your own work / research / personal story to this structure? Have a go using the structures below.
Once upon a time there was Every day Until one day Because of THAT Until finally Once upon a time there was Every day Until one day Because of THAT Until finally Once upon a time there was Every day Until one day Because of THAT Until finally
6
AFFINITY MAPPING
7
Every story HAS TO HAVE A POINT! Affinity mapping - the posh way of saying ‘grouping similar themes together’ - helps us to define our story purpose.
Ask yourself the following 6 questions before you start crafting any story: WHY: Why is this story important? Why does it need to be told? Why do audiences need it? Think BIG PICTURE - save lives, change the world.
WHO: Who do you need to hear this story? Why should they care? WHAT: What is your key point that you need to get across? What do you need audiences to do as a result of hearing your story (the call to action)?
HOW: How will you tell your story? What structure will you use? What media will you use - a speech, presentation, poster, animation, social media post, expressive dance?!
WHERE: Where will you tell your story? Where is the best place for your target audience to find it and listen to it?
WHEN: When is the most impactful and appropriate time to tell your story?
8
MY FIRST AFFINITY MAP Or ‘what’s the bloody point of my story?’
WHY
WHAT
HOW
WHO
WHERE
WHEN
9
POST-IT NOTE GAME
10
Pictures tell a thousand words. The Post-It note game is a quick fire way to find visual symbols or metaphors to represent parts of your story. The key is to NOT think too hard about it - draw the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a concept. If you can come up with it in less than 5 seconds, chances are your audiences will grasp the meaning of it even more quickly too.
Have a bash below Draw Christmas
Draw a house
Draw friendship
Psst...sneaky tip - if you get stuck, Google image search is your friend. Search for the concept and put the word ‘icon’ after it to get the simplest and most effective visual.
11
STORY STRUCTURE
12
The best way to tell an effective story is to take the time to structure it clearly. We talk about three key structures in the webinar: Sparklines, The Mountain, and Vonnegut. Each has its own visual representation to help you plot the key details of your story. Use the templates over the next few pages to plot your own killer tale!
Sparklines
Duarte, N. (2010)
13
The Mountain
14
Vonnegut
15
FREE RESOURCES
16
We promised you free fun stuff...so here it is! We don’t all start out as superstar storytellers or doodle demons, so these resources are here to help you learn more about how to tell stories and present them visually to make audiences go NUTS!
General Storytelling Resources Duarte Inc www.duarte.com/resources/#guides-and-tools These guys are the bees knees when it comes to presentation storytelling. Their resources are great for understanding the theory of storytelling, and include free document and PowerPoint templates to get you on your way.
Jonathan Gottschall www.jonathangottschall.com The Godfather of 21st storytelling, check out his website (and his book) for more science, theory and tips for the world’s oldest communication method.
17
Nieman Storyboard www.niemanstoryboard.org/2013/10/03/storyboard-75-the-big-book-ofnarrative/ 75 - yes that’s right, 7-5 - bitesize storytelling tips with links to free resources from the brains behind Journalism courses at Harvard University.
Duncan Yellowlees (you might know him...) www.duncanyellowlees.com Some bloke called Duncan did a video a week last year to help people deliver epic presentations using excellent storytelling. Probably best to check his resources out, sounds like he knows what he is doing...
Visual Storytelling Resources Canva www.canva.com Free(ish) online software to build incredible presentations, infographics and social media posts with stacks of templates and handy guides to help you.
18
Flat Icon www.flaticon.com The biggest free icon library on the internet - perfect for finding visual symbols to tell your story.
Unsplash www.unsplash.com Like big imposing photos to get a point across? Unsplash has thousands of free stock images that will make your audiences go ‘aAAaaaahhhhHHH’ (in a good way).
Work Visual Institute www.holgernilspohl.com/ Treasure trove of visual metaphor templates, icons and free e-courses on how to tell your stories visually
Nifty Fox Creative (another one you might know...) bit.ly/nifty_free | www.niftyfoxcreative.com Get free resources including icons, visual ice breakers, research storytelling templates and more, from the niftiest fox around.
19
laura@niftyfoxcreative.com
20
bit.ly:make-them-care