Stephanie Troeth@sniffles

Code & Creativity Chattanooga, Tennessee

February 2014

Everyday Storytelling

OMG Storytelling FTW!

Such story.Very telling.

Wow.

Born here

Lived here

Living here

Grew up here

So, about this accent…

Last spring, I was in Avignon for a conference.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alendri/4484158092/s

“Stories are like flight simulators for the brain.” !

— “Made to Stick”, Chip & Dan Heath.

Anecdotal version: !

“The airbnb apartment I am staying in had a leak in the kitchen sink.”

Boring!Fact!

I wasn’t always a good storyteller. !

I had to learn it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ

The shape of stories

http://www.musik-therapie.at/PederHill/Structure&Plot.htm

Classic three-act structure

Act 1: Setting it up.

What is the context? Who is the main protagonist? What does he or she desire?

!

(Who, what, why, how, where)

Don’t bury the lead.

Act 2: Conflict & Obstacles

Crisis and escalating tension.

Things get worse!

“Drama comes from human decision.” !

— M.R. Hall

Act 3: Finale

Things get as bad as it can go. !

When the story finally resolves, tension dissipates.

!

Leave your audience in a safe place.

Design for clarity through storytelling

Three working examples so far:

✤ storytelling in UX design

✤ storytelling to get a practical method across

✤ storytelling in a presentation

Possibility ∞

Let’s try it.

Three acts:

Beginning, middle and end.

Setting it up finale obstacles

What’s driving the story?

Plot, character, or question?

circumstance issueperson

Exercise #1:

Tell your favourite fairy tale or fable.

Thinking time: 1 min Story time: 3 mins (each) Review time: 1 min (each)

Make your character(s) real.

What do they want? How do they react to something? What to do they see, smell, feel, hear, touch and think?

Exercise #2:

Tell your favourite joke.

Thinking time: 2 min Story time: 2 mins (each) Review time: 1 min (each)

Each sentence needs to either move story forward and show more of your character.

Pay attention to rhythm and pace.

Exercise #3:

Tell a story about something that happened to you.

Thinking time: 1 min Story time: 5 mins (each) Review time: 1 min (each)

Pay attention to describing feelings, and reactions.

Thank you!

!

http://bit.ly/storytechniquesforux

Stephanie Troeth@sniffles

A book on how you can use story techniques creatively in

UX research & design

Coming Soon!