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Stop Telling Stories

Leila Johnston
October 26, 2011
95

Stop Telling Stories

A quick tutorial explaining why, despite popular opinion, storytelling and content are not in fact the same thing.

Leila Johnston

October 26, 2011
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Transcript

  1. 1. It’s not an English lesson •Tone of voice •Language

    •Stories •Character •Audience •Points of view Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  2. 1. It’s not an English lesson •Tone of voice •Language

    •Stories •Character •Audience •Points of view Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  3. 1. It’s not an English lesson •Tone of voice •Language

    •Stories •Character •Audience •Points of view Content? Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  4. WHY ‘STORYTELLING’? •Sounds warm and wholesome •Implies a connection •Sounds

    like something anyone can do, while implying a skill •Sounds social and/or interactive = hip •Sounds like meaning and learning will result •Sounds accessible. We all think we know what it is Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  5. •All issues are united by CONTEXT, not content •Grids are

    rules. MAGAZINES ARE GRIDS OF REASON Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  6. •Unlike stories, content is needy. •Rationale comes from formalism, not

    English lessons. 3. Content is needy Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  7. “Content is a glimpse of something, an encounter like a

    flash. It’s very tiny, content.” - Willem De Kooning Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  8. We don’t need more content strategists We need more content-ambivalent

    formalists Because you can’t start with content Because stuff needs a reason to be there Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  9. •Truth-seeking. •Testable. •Frameworks for inserting optimal ideas. •Precede everything. •Don’t

    need an ‘expert’; do need intelligence. •Go hand-in-hand with the unrepresentable. 4. The argument for arguments Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  10. Stories don’t like arguments •They’re representational •...and self-contained •Online, social

    storytelling means expressing feelings and showing off •No reason here. You either ‘get it’ or you don’t Wednesday, 26 October 2011
  11. CONTENT ISN’T STORIES! EVERYTHING IS A MAGAZINE ARGUMENTS AND REASONS

    GIVE CONTENT NECESSARY LIMITS SO... Wednesday, 26 October 2011