Storytelling - Introduction

Photo courtesy: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkirkhart35/4984385396

"The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and institutions." --Michael Margolis

One of the things that I have learned over my almost 37 years of existence is that storytelling is not a luxury in today's society, it is an absolute necessity. Stories are not just the recounting of events, they are the way that we interpret and understand the world around us. Think about it; we "construct narratives" to tell us about major events, we use "personal accounts" to sell products and services, we share events from our lives in story format. We never say "I went to Cancun" and stop there. We always share the context of the events that happen and form them into a narrative for our listener.

This is why I've worked so hard to become a good storyteller, and why I'm always looking for opportunities to work on my storytelling with different groups of people. When I was dispatching EMS and fire, I would always try to form a story to help the crews understand what they were responding to, and to help them visualize what they might find upon arrival. Consider the difference:

Image courtesy Pixabay
"Pumper 31, Pumper 32, Rescue 32, Aerial 34, Command 3. Respond 123 Main Street, structure fire."
OR

Image courtesy: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewasmith/3791735958
"Medic 31, respond 123 Main Street, 22 Male chest pain."
Nothing wrong with those, they have all the appropriate information that crews need to get on the way.

But, consider how this would change the scenario for the crews responding to those emergencies:

Image courtesy Wikimedia
"Pumper 31, Pumper 32, Rescue 32, Aerial 34, Command 3. Respond 123 Main Street for a kitchen fire that has extended into the walls and ceiling. Evacuation is complete."
OR

Image courtesy Wikimedia
"Medic 31, respond 123 Main Street, 22 male chest pain after ingesting copious amounts of cocaine."

Can you see how storytelling makes all the difference? This is why I became a storyteller and why I think everyone should become a storyteller.

In Part 2, I'll talk about some of the basics of storytelling, including when and how to embellish!