Annette Simmons, founder of Group process Consulting, is a practitioner of the art of applied storytelling. A corporate trainer, Annette specializes in the workplace with the toughest situations. Her ability to help problem people learn better ways of dealing with one another was supported by her advertising communication skills. She understands the power of a story to improve communication and knowledge.
Annette's book, The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence and Persuasion Through Storytelling, contains six kinds of stories we all need to be able to tell to improve our communication. These skills are also useful for the teacher/storyteller. Students and teachers comprise a gestalt that needs stories. Teachers also need stories to make history live for their students, and these techniques are transferable from communication to enlivening dry historical facts.
Story 1: Who Am I? This is the story that shows the students who you are and helps them establish trust in you. The connection you have with your students is initially determined by the way you present who you are.
Story 2: Why Am I Here? This allows you to tell people what's in this for you before you try to sell them on what's in the situation for them. When students think you are hiding what you stand to gain by their cooperation, they may see you as insincere ot deceitful. What do you gain by students cooperating with you? Tell them!
Story 3: My Vision Once students know who you are and what you are getting out of the situation, they may be ready to hear what's in the situation for them. Your vision for your students must be presented so that they connect with it, adopt it, own it. People who follow your vision must be able to see it before they own it.
Story 4: Teaching Stories Teaching stories combine what you want someone to know with how you want them to work with it. For example, a story about a successful student who did a particular assignment goes a long way toward illustrating your expectations about that assignment. That story makes the assignment visible, and helps students grasp it better - and perhaps want to grasp it as well. When skills are linked to the story, new information is linked to existing knowledge and retained far better.
Story 5: Values in Action How do you tell students about expected behavior? You tell them a story that shows them what the value looks like. A values in action story allows you to demonstrate what you want but keeps your students thinking at the same time.
Story 6: "I Know What You Are Thinking" When you are with people who appear to agree on the surface but are sabotaging your efforts beneath the surface or behind your back, "I know what you are thinking" stories are a potent tool. People may have negative thoughts they don't express publicly but share with others outside of your presence, i.e the parking lot meeting. Another technique is to use derogatory terms repeatedly, such as marginalizing someone by speaking negatively or disparagingly about them while smiling. Telling a story or taking control of the vocabulary is one way to limit or neutralize the toxicicity without a confrontation.
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