A Short Story About Story
Giovanni RodriguezSpring 2017
SF State
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
Pre-read … from a colleague
I was a shy science/math kid who really struggled speaking in public. It was painful.
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
My story
I was a shy science/math kid who really struggled speaking in public. It was painful.
With the help of a few great teachers I discovered I had a gift for communicating with the written word.
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
My story
I was a shy science/math kid who really struggled speaking in public. It was painful.
With the help of a few great teachers I discovered I had a gift for communicating with the written word.
Ultimately, this gave me the confidence to work with some of the greatest organizations, and help them communicate across a wide range of media -- online and offline.
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
My story
I was a shy science/math kid who really struggled speaking in public. It was painful.
With the help of a few great teachers I discovered I had a gift for communicating with the written word.
Ultimately, this gave me the confidence to work with some of the greatest organizations, and help them communicate across a wide range of media -- online and offline.
Along the way, I learned a few things about “story,” humanity’s greatest social tool.
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My story
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One: why story?
Story is the most effective and time-honored way to depict a personal journey, and in a way that motivates others to follow.
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
One: why story?
Story is the most effective and time-honored way to depict a personal journey, and in a way that motivates others to follow.
It’s how we’ve been wired to come together since the
beginning of time.
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One: why story?
On “coming together”: it’s about enlisting, educating, and empowering people to become better members of the tribe
(what today we call community).
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
One: why story?
On “coming together”: it’s about enlisting, educating, and empowering people to become better members of the tribe
(what today we call community).
How: by helping to create collective tribal stories (what today
we call narrative).
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One: why story?
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Two: but story lost something over time
“The talking stick”
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
Two: but story lost something over time
All stories used to be conversational -- with “call and response” -- because all events used to be live.
“The talking stick”
Three: stories can be “space-binding”
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Three: stories can be “space-binding”
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Harold Innis: through modern media, stories increasingly help people come together over large geographical distances.
Four: stories can also be time-binding
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Four: stories can also be time-binding
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
Throughout time, stories have helped people come together over great temporal distances (think of art, history, religion, and “The Great Conversation”).
Five: story can exist in any media and format
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
As long as it has purpose, conflict, and resolution (more about that in a bit), story can be as short as a slogan or a ‘bumper ad’, or as long a serialized novel/TV show.
Five: story can exist in any media and format
Six: stories do not need to be linear
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Six: stories do not need to be linear
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Even if it does have purpose, conflict, and resolution, the hero’s journey can have fits, starts, and pivots.
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story structure
Seven: purpose
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Seven: purpose
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All stories begin when the hero sets out in pursuit of something he or she wants.
Eight: conflict
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The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
Inevitably, the hero encounters obstacles. The bigger the obstacles, the better the story.
Eight: conflict
Nine: resolution
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The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
The story ends, in the interim, when the conflict is
resolved.
Nine: resolution
Ten: transformation
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The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
But there can be no resolution without transformation. And transformation is about accepting one’s “gift,” which comes naturally and through instruction.
Ten: transformation
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Eleven: story can be taught -- narrative is the modern talking stick
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
Eleven: story can be taught -- narrative is the modern talking stick
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
Eleven: story can be taught -- narrative is the modern talking stick
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
Eleven: story can be taught -- narrative is the modern talking stick
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
What’s your story? Three questions:
Eleven: story can be taught -- narrative is the modern talking stick
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
What’s your story? Three questions:
1. What do you want to do with your life? (purpose)
Eleven: story can be taught -- narrative is the modern talking stick
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
What’s your story? Three questions:
1. What do you want to do with your life? (purpose)2. What’s standing in your way? (conflict)
Eleven: story can be taught -- narrative is the modern talking stick
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
What’s your story? Three questions:
1. What do you want to do with your life? (purpose)2. What’s standing in your way? (conflict)3. How can we help you? (resolution/transformation)
Eleven: story can be taught -- narrative is the modern talking stick
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question
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what happened to story?
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About that pre-read ...
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The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
The Silicon Valley Story Lab �
teasing out “the gift”
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final thoughts
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thank you