| Telling a story in it's purest form is a simple task most people are not comfortable with. |
At least I feel, that when I need to tell a story I tend to over-think. Ira Glass, a succesful writer and reporter shared his work experience through a still video that even though wasn't visually atractive or interacted with media was actually very engaging. I found many important points through out the clips:
This is a component I was completely excluding from my work and will have to add in order to connect better to my public and make STORY TIME original. This applies when writing articles as well given that many times we read from a certain blog or publisher seeking for their own perspective on the subject even though we know what it is about.
As a succesful speaker Ira was able to give direct and natural advice on reporting. Yet, glass highlights that he wasn't a great "story teller" from the start and in order to lead national radio shows and his own program (This American Life) he spent years releasing hundreds of stories and producing ballistically.
It is important not to give up. For my own ten minute ted talk, practice will make perfect but what will make my talk truly powerful will be how deep I can get into reflecting from the anecdotes I choose to share.
- Telling an anecdote where the speaker tells a sequence of events that build up going one after the other can be extremely effective if you know how to pace your voice. It amazed me how Glass told a 40 second anecdote of how he woke up and went to the kitchen. Was it boring? Surprisingly... not at all! We should always remember that the human mind enjoys sequence as it creates suspense.
- Anecdotes are just plain statements set on the table if you don't add a reflection at the end. Reflecting on the subject adds value, tone and originality. I had never noticed how in E entertainment television there are multiple programs such as Chelsea lately, E news, the soup and others that cover the same exact story but they all attract different publics because the anchors appeal to it in different ways, putting their personality, view and opinion into each story.
This is a component I was completely excluding from my work and will have to add in order to connect better to my public and make STORY TIME original. This applies when writing articles as well given that many times we read from a certain blog or publisher seeking for their own perspective on the subject even though we know what it is about.
As a succesful speaker Ira was able to give direct and natural advice on reporting. Yet, glass highlights that he wasn't a great "story teller" from the start and in order to lead national radio shows and his own program (This American Life) he spent years releasing hundreds of stories and producing ballistically.
It is important not to give up. For my own ten minute ted talk, practice will make perfect but what will make my talk truly powerful will be how deep I can get into reflecting from the anecdotes I choose to share.
“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . .
is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.
But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.
It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”-Ira Glass”
― Ira Glass