The Power of Stories

By Gabbi Figueroa

The power of stories and effective storytelling has been a theme throughout my first semester as a PhD student. This was shocking to me to say the least since my undergraduate career painted academic papers and presentations as factual communication with minimal attention to flavor or pizzazz. In fact, when learning about giving presentations throughout undergrad, we were told repeatedly that the information in your presentation was more important than the way you presented it. I cannot help but giggle at this way of thinking since it could not be further from the truth!

Why do I say this? Well, as I move through the Center for Teaching Excellence’s Academy for Future Faculty program, I continue to learn the do’s and dont's of teaching students from a learner focused perspective. In order to foster a community of learners within the classroom, the instructor must present the necessary information using a series of storytelling tactics to keep their listeners engaged. For example, if you want to engage students’ memories and analysis skills, you could switch from lecture slides to think-pair-share discussions and then back to lecture. The subconscious story you are telling your students with this pattern of information presentation is one where you are interested in sharing information not only for them to remember, but also for them to share their opinion on.

Now, I propose that the subconscious story should be more forefront in our minds as we present information to others in a variety of situations and mediums. Specifically, when crafting presentation materials, instead of wondering what information to cover, I want to first ask myself: what story do I want to tell? Making this distinction has been monumental for me as I have become accustomed to life as a PhD student. I’m not sure about you, but the presentations and papers I feel most engaged with are the ones with a clear story and a strong purpose for every word, section, and statement. This program offered me the opportunity to learn how methodology and statistical analyses can be made engaging to non expert audiences through the power of storytelling.

The question then becomes, how does one present their ideas with a strong coherent story that fosters successful communication of the essential information? From watching a series of presentations in my department and many Ted talks on various topics, I have found a couple guiding principles and questions that have helped my personal understanding of engaging academic storytelling.

To be a great storyteller is to remain focused on why you are presenting the information. What are the main points you want your audience to engage with? Are there points you are spending too much time on that lose the momentum of your audience’s engagement? Additionally, to be a great storyteller is to see your audience as learners you want to engage with.

Engaging storytellers respect their audience’s role as learners with curiosity and take perspective on how their story can lead them down novel paths of thinking. When you present your ideas, are you thinking of how you could explain it in various ways to engage different learners? Furthermore, are you thinking about how you want your audience to follow your story as you present it?

I hope these questions can help you ponder your next presentation of information as they have helped me to ponder my academic questions as well as my personal story as a first year graduate student. More and more I realize stories are driven by purpose, and I never want to lose my story or my purpose. The less I focus on my purpose for being here in graduate school, the more I lose my motivation to push myself forward beyond my limits.

For a little while, I was losing my fire that started in my first week here in Aggieland, and the story I was telling myself became dulled. My story was losing its shine the more I was losing my purpose in the grind of everyday tasks. However, it was the power of stories that rekindled my purpose. Every time I listened to a new story or watched a cool presentation, I felt my mind cleared and my heart prepared for another day of pushing myself forward as an academic. The story you tell yourself about your time in graduate school is always being crafted. You do not have to always maintain positivity by only remembering the highlight reels of your story without the losses. You also do not have to tell the story of your mistakes on repeat. This may sound cliché, but we have the ability to write our own stories, and rewrite them when they wander without purpose.

What story do you want to tell?