A F R I C A N S T O R Y C H A L L E N G E • M A R R A K E S H • A U G U S T 1 1 , 2 0 1 4

M I R K O L O R E N Z , I N F O R M A T I O N A R C H I T E C T

P H O T O C R E D I T: K E V I N D O O L E Y, V I A F L I C K R ( C C )

F O C U S O N S T O RY( D O N ’ T B E S E D U C E D B Y S E X Y S O L U T I O N S )

S C O P E : T R A I N I N G J O U R N A L I S T S T O C R E AT E S T R O N G , I M PA C T F U L S T O R I E S I N W H AT E V E R F O R M A N D W I T H W H AT E V E R T O O L .

A F R I C A N S T O R Y C H A L L E N G E • M A R R A K E S H • A U G U S T 1 1 , 2 0 1 4

B R I E F B A C K G R O U N D !T H I S P R E S E N TAT I O N W A S G I V E N T O F I N A L I S T S O F T H E A F R I C A N S T O RY C H A L L E N G E 2 0 1 4 . !I T ’ S A C O M P I L AT I O N O F E L E M E N T S A N D L I N K S O N H O W T O C R A F T S T R O N G S T O R I E S . !T H E M E S S A G E : D O N O T O V E R R E LY T O M U C H O N T O O L S . !I N S T E A D : F O C U S O N T H E S T O RY M A K E I T R E L E VA N T, S T R O N G , U N D E R S TA N D A B L E . !T H I S I S A N A D A P T E D V E R S I O N T O C O M P E N S AT E F O R T H E M I S S I N G N A R R AT I V E . !

A F R I C A N S T O R Y C H A L L E N G E • M A R R A K E S H • A U G U S T 1 1 , 2 0 1 4

R E A D Y ? L E T ’ S S TA RT .

!

W H AT D O E S I T TA K E F O R A

S T R O N G

S T O RY ?

!F O R T H E S T O R Y T E L L E R I T I S T H E

Q U E S T A N D S T R U G G L E T O B E C O M E A

B I G V O I C E

W H AT I S A S T O RY ?

C O N D E N S E D I N F O R M AT I O N

S U R P R I S I N G / I N T E R E S T I N G

T R U E / R E L E VA N T

M E M O R A B L E / S H A R E A B L E

P H O T O C R E D I T: E S K I M O B L O O D ( C C ) , V I A F L I C K R

S T O RY

Listening to stories is how all humans understand the world around them.

One story at a time.

P H O T O C R E D I T: T H O M A S H A W K ( C C ) V I A F L I C K R .

TA S C S T O R Y C A M P • M A R A K E S H

A S T O RY B R I N G S T H I N G S

T O L I V E .

! !

T E L L I N G S T O R I E S I S

A L E A R N A B L E A RT.

(Tools & Technology just help us doing it)

WA N N A B E T ?

Ernest Hemingway challenged other writers that he would be able to

tell a story in just six words that would make people cry.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/ernest_hemingway_and_the_six-word_short_story

Disclaimer:

This anecdote about Ernest Hemingway

betting (and winning) is undetermined.

But the point is made. !

Takeaway:

Great Stories have Power

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/ernest_hemingway_and_the_six-word_short_story

S T E P S !

1 . P R E PA R AT I O N 2 . F O R M 3 . T I M E

Preparation, planning & form are

more important than the tools you have.

P R E PA R AT I O NS T E P 1

A repeating pattern leading to quality stories

is focus combined with a dilligent,

persistent, step-by-step process.

Copyright: Monkey

Why?

The difficult (and time consuming) part of preparation is to find an element of surprise.

How?When setting out to create a good story a common trap is that you drown in too much material. !

Keep in mind:This is not a thesis. Focus on story. !

Hint: Look out for telling anecdotes relevant to the make the point.

U S E S K E T C H I N G T O V I S U A L I Z E A N D S C O P E Y O U S T O R Y O N

O N E PA G E

H O W T O K E E P F O C U S

http://konigi.com/book/sketch-book/why-we-sketch

Iterate, shape, reduce.

http://konigi.com/book/sketch-book/why-we-sketch

Define the storyline.

http://konigi.com/book/sketch-book/why-we-sketch

From idea to completion: Not a straight line.

http://konigi.com/book/sketch-book/why-we-sketch

Work fast, trust that the shape will be revealed.

Will you be able to… (a) write a four abstract article about your topic.

(b) extend with data photos, videos in four weeks? (c) to answer „Why“ and „How“?

?Takeaway: Stories are shaped step by step.

F I N D T H E B E S T F O R MS T E P 2

Fairytale

Crowdsourcing

Big Picture

NewsletterExplainer

Article

VideoSoundslide

SMS

DataLongform

Joke DramaMultimedia

M A S T E R T H E F O R M …

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/ernest_hemingway_and_the_six-word_short_story

Do not dress up the story when it is not needed.

For starters: Tell the story of one person, not a group.

P H O T O C R E D I T: N A N D A D E V I E A S T ( C C - B Y ) , V I A F L I C K R )

P E O P L E J U S T D O N ’ T C O N N E C T T O G R O U P S , W E C O N N E C T T O O N E P E R S O N AT A T I M E .

Y O U N E E D T O T R A I N Y O U R S E L F O N W H AT S H O U L D B E PA R T O F Y O U R S T O R Y.

A video based on an interview with master storyteller Ira Glass (This American Life).

Define beginning, middle and end.

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

The shape of stories (Kurt Vonnegut)

Before you create, feed yourself with

many, many examples.

Example: A newsletter. A really good newsletter.

And of course,

exceptionally good writing

has value.

http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/14322/what-a-day/

Longform. (Try it. Medium has a great edit mode, which helps to focus).

A variation of form: Ask and answer questions.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/

Simple, but effective: Use full screen photos.

Avoid to be „everybody’s darling“, go and find a niche audience that really cares about what you have to say.

IMPORTANT

With more than a billion people online a niche audience can easily turn into amega niche (Clay Shirky)

Example of a small, big audience

Here is another example. What would be yours?

Best destination for high quality video stories.

Mediastorm thrives on quality, not quantity.

Great example of a data-story explainer.

Visualize in a smart way to surprise and educate.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html?_r=0

T H E P R I N C I P L E AT W O R K , B Y E X A M P L E .

D ATA S T O R Y T H I N K I N G

I N V E S T I G AT E D ATA F O R S T O R I E S

How this worked: - How many people run? - Where are the outliers? - Winners? Cheaters?

Then: - How do they cheat? - By skipping the course - What other ways are there?

W H E N U S I N G D ATA : G O F I N D A L A N M I L L E R

Source: Andy Lehren, The New York Times

Finally: Hidden in data, there is the story…

A S K T H I S : W H AT A R E T H E Y T RY I N G T O H I D E F R O M U S T O D AY ?

T I M ES T E P 3

If you don’t make choices and cuts, you will be trapped by too much material and too many options.

STRANGE, BUT TRUE:

THROW AWAY GREAT CONTENT

Boil it down!

W H AT Y O U N E E D T O D O : A L O T O F R E A D I N G ,

C O L L E C T I N G , S H A P I N G , G AT H E R I N G , I T E R AT I N G , C H E C K I N G .

!

O N E S T O R Y

If you throw away a lot of quotes that are really good to find the best quote,you are en route to quality.

B O I L I T D O W N

T O :

T I M ES T E P 3

Opening: Why should I care?

Facts & Model

Article

Middle: Conflict/Barriers

ONE character in trouble

Video/Pictures/Radio

End: Cliffhanging resolution

Suspense/revelation

Morale or truth of the story

O N E S T O R Y AT A T I M E !

T O G E T T H E R E : D O I T O F T E N …

T H E B E A T L E S I M S T A R – C L U B H A M B U R G 1 9 6 2 © D A N N Y WA L L / K & K

http://www.vinylrecords.ch/B/BE/Beatles/Live-Starclub/live-starclub-beatles.html

T H E R E I S A PAT T E R N H E R E : B E F O R E Y O U C R E AT E , P R A C T I S E T H E F O R MThe Song/tracks on "Beatles Live At The Star-Club in Hamburg 1962" are

• Introduction/I Saw Her Standing There (Lennon/McCartney) 3:01 • Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry) 2:15 • Hippy Hippy Shake (Chan Romero) 1:52 • Sweet Little Sixteen (Chuck Berry) 3:20 • Lend Me Your Comb (Wise/Weisman) 2:00 • Your Feets too Big (Benson/Fisher) 2:24 • Twist and Shout (Medley/Russell) 2:20 • Mr. Moonlight (Johnson) 2:23 • A Taste of Honey (Scott/Marlow) 2:10 • Bésame Mucho (Velázquez/Skylar) 2:46 • Reminiscing (King Curtis) 2:05 • Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey (Leiber/Stoller) 2:56 • Nothin' Shakin' (But the Leaves on a Tree) Colocrai/Fontaine/Gluck/Lampert 1:24 • To Know Her Is to Love Her (Phil Spector) 3:23 • Little Queenie (Chuck Berry) 3:57 • Falling in Love Again (Hollander/Lerner) 2:14 • Ask Me Why (Lennon/McCartney) 2:33 • Be-Bop-A-Lula (Vincent/Davis) 2:29 - Featuring Fred Fascher on lead vocal. • Hallelujah, I Love Her So (Ray Charles) 2:08 - Featuring Horst Fascher on lead vocal. • Red Sails in the Sunset (Kennedy/Williams) 2:11 • Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby (Carl Perkins) 3:04 • Matchbox (Carl Perkins) 2:37 • I'm Talking about You (Chuck Berry) 2:06 • Shimmy Shimmy (Massey/Schubert) 2:20 • Long Tall Sally (Johnson/Penniman/Blackwell) 1:47 • I Remember You (Schertzinger/Metter) 1:56 • Where Have You Been All My Life? (Weill/Mann) 2:09 • Till There Was You (Meredith Willson) 2:02 • Sheila (Tommy Roe) 2:00 • I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) (Thomas/Biggs) 2:43

W H AT T H E B E AT L E S P L AY E D B E F O R E T H E Y B E C A M E FA M O U S .

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-beatles/1962/the-star-club-hamburg-germany-3bdae050.html

F I R S T T R A I N , T H E N C R E AT E

Part of the story on how and why some people manage to be extremely good at something (like storytelling) is investigated in „Outliers“.

There is a pattern here.

The Journey: Experience, adapt, mix - finally create your own.

U G LY PA RT: L E A R N T O M A S T E R D E S A S T E R

Audiorecorder not running.Battery empty.

Video unusable

Interviewpartner not showing up

Missed the plane/train/bus.

Not enough material. Too much material.

Equipment stolen.

Lost notes.

O N E M O R E T H I N G …

M O N E YS T E P 4

O V E R C O M E B A R R I E R S

W E H AV E N O T I M E F O R T H I S .

T H E R E I S N O B U D G E T.

W H Y N O T D O J U S T A N A R T I C L E ?

W E N E V E R D I D I T L I K E T H I S .

S H O W T H E M T H I S :

K E Y P O I N T — - >

http://gigaom.com/2014/07/16/the-news-about-reader-attention-and-the-evolution-of-media-isnt-all-bad-theres-the-hill-of-wow/

W H I C H M E A N S — - >

„A significant number of people are willing to spend significant amounts of time with articles that are relatively

long, and are willing to share them — in other words,

there is a demand for things other than just shallow clickbait.“

T H E R E I S A N A U D I E N C E , F O R S U R E .

http://gigaom.com/2014/07/16/the-news-about-reader-attention-and-the-evolution-of-media-isnt-all-bad-theres-the-hill-of-wow/

Now go tell a story. !

Six words, many words, cool photos,

awesome video, visual data. Whatever.

!

But do tell a story.

Have fun and good luck!

Copyright: The Monkey

M E R E LY C O M P I L E D B Y M I R K O L O R E N Z , P R E S E N TAT I O N H E L D AT S T O R Y C A M P

I N M A R R A K E S H , M A R O C C O . - A U G U S T 1 1 , 2 0 1 4

T H A N K Y O U .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loxJ3FtCJJA

Before you go….Make sure you watch this (all four parts)