How to Tell Your Story Digitally
The World Wide Web has proven to be a legitimate challenger when it comes to traditional media. The music industry, for instance, was thrown into chaos earlier this century when the advent of file sharing and iTunes disrupted its long-standing business model. The newspaper industry, meanwhile, is going through a similar upheaval as the Internet continues to grow as a free alternative for news and information. Even radio and television have experienced erosions as more and more consumers go online to satisfy their entertainment needs.
While traditional media appears to be headed for a free fall, however, new and social media are on an upswing. Because of the lower cost of technology and the ease of posting original content online, we have reached the point where just about anyone can create and distribute their own media. It was in this spirit of empowerment that the first PodCamp—an “unconference” where practitioners of new and social media can conjugate, interact and learn from each other—was launched in Boston during September 2006. Over the weekend of September 17, 2010, Pittsburgh held its fifth PodCamp, offering numerous sessions on blogging, podcasting and various other forms of social media.
Chris Whitlatch was one of the presenters at PodCamp Pittsburgh 5. A former journalism major at New York University, he currently serves as manager of marketing and communications at the Pittsburgh Foundation as well as video curator for Pittsburgh on Video. Leading an interactive discussion entitled, “Once Upon a Time: Telling Your Story Digitally,” Whitlatch argued that due to the diminished role that traditional media now plays in our lives it is up to everyday people to fill the gap and become the new providers of news, information and entertainment. The problem, however, is that we have relied on traditional media for so long that we’ve forgotten the basic skills necessary to become good storytellers ourselves.
“We used to be very good storytellers,” Whitlatch began. “We used to sit around the fire and this is the way we passed our history, our religion. We got very, very good at being storytellers. Then over time we started to become less storytellers and more connoisseurs of storytelling. That first started when we started printing and sending that print out. When we started broadcasting it on the radio. When we put it into the big screen and then we shrunk it onto the small screen. So we actually became connoisseurs of storytelling and we’re not as good at telling stories now because of that.”
Fortunately Chris Whitlatch believes that we can once again become good storytellers by following the examples and guidelines set forth by contemporary practitioners of the trade. “Our best storytellers are very good at storytelling,” he continued. “They use the same basic principles that we all did when we sat around the fire. George Lucas, who made Star Wars, uses the playbook of Joseph Campbell. He’s sort of the guru of myths and legends.”
Campbell published a book in 1949, entitled The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he argued that the various myths that have survived throughout the centuries all share the same basic structure, which in turn forms a blueprint for all subsequent narratives. Each of the myths Campbell studied, for instance, contain a number of similar stages that the hero must follow in order to complete his journey—including a call to action, several tasks and trials that must be endured along the way and an ultimate reward that has benefit for the world-at-large.
Although Star Wars is the most prominent example of Joseph Campbell-style storytelling, Chris Whitlatch also mentioned a more recent web endeavor that likewise utilized the myth guru’s teachings: The Story of Stuff. The twenty minute online documentary is a critique of consumerist culture that has received over seven million views since its launch in December 2007. “Have you ever wondered where all the stuff we buy comes from and where it goes when we throw it out?” narrator Annie Leonard begins. “Well, I looked into it. In fact, I spent ten years traveling the world tracking where our stuff comes from and where it goes.”
“That’s the ‘call to adventure’ right there,” Whitlatch points out. “She spent ten years traveling the world; she went on a journey. That’s right out of the storytelling playbook.”
In addition to Joseph Campbell, Chris Whitlatch also turned to Ira Glass, host of the Chicago-based weekly radio show This American Life, for more guidance on how to become a better storyteller. In a short video, Glass presented two methods that he considers vital to creating good content—the anecdote and the moment of reflection.
“The anecdote is just the sequence of options,” the radio host explained. “This happened, and that led to this next thing, and that led to this next thing.” Glass argues that the anecdote has the ability to turn even the most boring of material into something gripping. “It has the momentum (and) suspense in that it just feels like something is going to happen. You’re on a train that has a destination and you’re going to find something.”
Another key component of the anecdote is questions. “You want to be constantly raising questions,” Glass suggests. “It’s implied that any question raised, you’re going to answer. Constantly raising questions and answering them. The whole shape of the story is that you’re throwing out questions.”
The other building block of good storytelling is the moment of reflection. “By that I mean, at some point somebody’s got to say, ‘Here’s why the hell you’re listening to this story,’” Ira Glass elaborated. “Here’s the point of the story, here’s the bigger something that we’re driving at, here’s why I’m wasting your time with all of this.”
According to Glass, the biggest flaw in regards to bad storytelling is when the narrative being told lacks either an anecdote or a resolution. “Often you’ll have an anecdote which just kills, it’s just so interesting—this thing happened that leads to the next that leads to the next—and it’s so surprising and so many things happen... and it means absolutely nothing. It’s just so predictable, it doesn’t tell you anything new.” The flipside, of course, is having a great resolution that ultimately gets lost because it follows a fundamentally flawed story.
“Either you don’t have a series of actions and the story part doesn’t work, or you don’t have a moment of reflection,” Ira Glass concludes. “And you’re going to need them both.”
Chris Whitlatch ended his session by offering a series of additional tips regarding how to become better storytellers.
“Tell your story, don’t talk. Most people don’t like talking heads.”
“You want to invoke curiosity.”
“Don’t necessarily end at endings. You want to leave a little bit of a cliffhanger.”
“Don’t forget the villain. It makes for a better story.”
“Honor the inevitable. Don’t be predictable but your resolution should really come out of your anecdote.”
“Keep your promises. If you make a promise that you’re going to tell them something, make sure you tell them.”
“Respect your audience. Know who your audience is.”
“Not every audience is the same so adapt your story to meet different audiences.”
The World Wide Web has already seen an onslaught of blogs, podcasts and original webseries by everyday people who previously lacked the access needed to become members of traditional media. While many of these endeavors are indeed enjoyable and informative when read, listened to or watched online, there are also a high percentage that lack the basic principles that Chris Whitlatch set forth at PodCamp Pittsburgh 5. As more and more of us turn to the Internet—not just to access news and entertainment but to create and become suppliers of new and social media ourselves—the overall quality will no doubt rise, thanks not only to the likes of Chris Whitlatch and all the participants in Pittsburgh but those at other PodCamps across the country as well.
Anthony Letizia (September 24, 2010)
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