1. Storytelling in College Health Practical and Meaningful Approaches

2. Jessica Greher Traue HELLO! Director, Wellness & Health Promotion
Bentley University
I am here because I like helping people find their voice.

3. Stories constitute the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.
Dr. Howard Gardner

4. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Identify sources of communication gaps
Describe core elements & benefits of storytelling
Discuss ways to infuse storytelling in college health work
Practice using frameworks for storytelling

5. Communication Gaps
Communication Gap is when the meaning intended by the speaker or sender is not what is understood by the recipient.

6. Social Penetration Theory
Depth and Breadth of Disclosure
Communication differs based on the depth of a relationship. So naturally we are going to disclose less with strangers we just meet. The challenge with colleagues and various stakeholders is that sometimes the formality of the relationship, or even just the lack of true relationships create a constant flow of communication that is just at the top layer of the onion. As a result, we are limited in our ability to share the breadth of what we do. The deeper we go, the broader we can be….
As relationships develop, communication moves from the superficial to more personal exchanges. It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion.
Prime example of this...what do you say when a colleague (outside of your office or area) asks “what’s up?” or “how’s it going in your area?” what do you typically say
But when a supervisor or colleague who you work more closely with asks the same question, “how much deeper do you go”?
What this theory posits though is as your relationship develops, you go deeper and in turn that other person goes deeper
So, if we provide more detail with colleagues, they will have a better understanding of what we do, and in tunr, we will have a better understanding of what they do...
Altman & Taylor 1973

7. TRANSACTIONAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
Giving/Receiving messages simultaneous and reciprocal
Sender/Receiver responsible for effectiveness of content
Relies on ability to encode and decode messages
Ability is based on “field of experience”
The transactional model communication is a simultaneous process--you are both a sender and receiver. Our personal experiences/background contribute to environment. In this diagram, you’ll notice the overlap between each communicator. This recognizes similarities between each communicator’s environment. But this overlap is not universal. So, when we speak to someone outside of higher ed, or college health, we have a smaller overlap and therefore have to compensate! Sometimes there’s no overlap at all! The model displays how communication becomes more or less difficult when communicator’s have more or less in common.
Barlund, 1970

8. SHARED KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE MATTERS
little overlap
greater gaps
greater overlap = greater understanding
SHARED KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE MATTERS
Overlap of knowledge/experiences are not universal. So, when we speak to someone outside of higher ed, or college health, we have a smaller overlap and therefore have to compensate or provide context! Sometimes there’s no overlap at all! The model displays how communication becomes more or less difficult when communicator’s have more or less in common.
To put it into context...let’s consider stakeholders and level of “presumed overlap”
Where are our knowledge gaps/where are theirs?

9. Place your screenshot here
ACTIVITY
Place your screenshot here
●For those of you in the room with a smartphone or computer, very quietly open up to the picture that is on your home screen. If you were to show this to the person next to you without any context, would they really know what it means.
●Withouth explaining, share it with the person next to you. Look carefully at the photos—do they make sense, are you putting context to it ?? What information is missing? What assumptions are you making?
●Now tell us a story about that photo and why it is on your background.
●If I just look at the picture, I am missing context, and information. You telling me the story makes it more meaningful and fills in the gaps!

10. Who are your various audiences for storytelling?
DISCUSSION
Who are your various audiences for storytelling?
Where do your experiences overlap, if at all?
How might you need to alter your message?
Are there other stories you need to tell?

11. Storytelling engages our noggins
Last great story you heard...what made it great?
There is a neuroscience of storytelling! We’ve been telling stories for years...think cave art oldest known is 40,800 years!
Process images faster than we do words
Stories activate several areas of our brains
Listeners can relate their own ideas/experiences to a good story
Dopamine is released when emotions are triggered leading to greater recall
Marketing faculty at John’s Hopkins conducted two-year content analysis of 108 Super Bowl commercials. He found that people rated commercials with dramatic plotlines significantly higher than ads without clear exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.”
Does anyone remember the Budweiser commercial with the clydsdale and the puppy? A researcher a Johns Hopkins was able to predict which commercial would rate the highest during the superbowl. He and his martketing students, reviewed the content of over 100 superbowl commercials and found that it wasn’t humor, or sex appeal that people related to or remembered most. It was whether the commercial told a complete story. We crave them.
So why don’t we use them more often? In what ways can you incorporate story telling into your work? Into reports? Into staff meetings?

12. WE ARE WIRED FOR THIS

13. UNEARTHING OUR STORIES
Describe the moment(s) where you feel your best about work?
What are the strengths of your department/team?
You are receiving an award for your work, what do the nomination letters say about you?
A student sends you a thank you note, what does it say?
What value are you adding to your campus environment?
What do you accomplish at work that no one knows or talks about?
Let’s get at the stuff our annual reports don’t get at! Let’s remind ourselves about what success looked and felt like by activating vivid memories of experiencing it

14. TOOLS FOR STORYTELLING

15. Reveals deeper levels of the onion
THE ELEVATOR PITCH
< 1 minute
8-10 sentences
Reveals deeper levels of the onion
Choose a stakeholder, and Take 5 minutes and write down some notes about everything you think you could say to that person about you, your department, or an upcoming project/proposal

16. HIGH FIVE METHOD
WHO
WHAT
WOW!
WHY
WHEN

17. Generating Intrigue Sam Horn
Did you know that you have only about 60 seconds to capture someone’s attention?
Did you know that there is a formula that is proven to capture intrigue?
Did you know that people’s eyebrows are a big tell whether they are intrigues or not?
Imagine if you could learn a model to easily engage stakeholders in conversation?
Who wouldn’t want that skillset?
Well, you don’t have to imagine, I’ve just modeled it.

18. YOU HAVE 1 MINUTE TO CAPTURE ATTENTION!
DID YOU KNOW?
Start with 3 unexpected dyk facts
IMAGINE
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis sit amet odio vel purus bibendum luctus.
Use “imagine” to link to your solution
RELATE
“Who wouldn’t want that?“
WE’VE GOT THIS
“You don’t have to imagine we’ve…”
YOU HAVE 1 MINUTE TO CAPTURE ATTENTION!

19. STORY SPINE
Disney Pixar studios films have received the academy award for best animated feature 8 times and have been nominated another two times. So why am I mentioning this... There’s a method of storytelling utilized by every Disney/Pixar (and Lucas films) movie called the Story Spine, created by Kenn Adams in 1991.

20. WELL CONSTRUCTED STORIES FOLLOW THIS RUBRIC
THE STORY SPINE
Once upon a time ___________
Every day ____________________
But, one day _________________
Because of that ______________
Until finally __________________
Ane ever since then _________
WELL CONSTRUCTED STORIES FOLLOW THIS RUBRIC
Once It follows a simple rubric. I’ll read an example from Finding Nemo
Disney/Pixar/Lucas films rely on
Take for example the plot of Finding Nemo.
1. Once upon a time there was … a widowed fish, named Marlin, who was extremely protective of his only son, Nemo.
2. Every day … Marlin warned Nemo of the ocean’s dangers and implored him not to swim far away.
3. One day … in an act of defiance, Nemo ignores his father’s warnings and swims into the open water.
4. Because of that … he is captured by a diver and ends up in the fish tank of a dentist in Sydney.
5. Because of that … Marlin sets off on a journey to recover Nemo, enlisting the help of other sea creatures along the way.
6. Until finally … Marlin and Nemo find each other, reunite and learn that love depends on trust.

21. STORYTELLING IN ACTION: STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
Are any of you using storytelling with your students?

22. EXAMPLES FROM BOSTON COLLEGE
ANNUAL HEALTH TALKS
FOR THIS I BELIEVE...
Students write and present about something they believe in based on a personal story 03 01 02
TED style ~4 min.
Application process
8 weeks practice
Open to entire university
HEALTH NARRATIVES
2 page narratives tell us your personal health journey
Health Narratives: Peer Health Coaches On-boarding
•Health Coach Leadership Team writes something they believe in, based on a personal story.
•Story and belief is presented to rest of the team
•Group Debrief
•What impact did this story have on you?
•How did you relate to it?
EXAMPLES FROM BOSTON COLLEGE

23. HEALTH TALK

24. DATA AND VISUALS

25. CONSIDER USING ALL THREE

26. DATA AND VISUALIZATION TIPS
USE INSTITUTIONAL BRAND ELEMENTS
Fonts
Color palette
Logo
Build theme in microsoft

27. MATCH CHARTS AND DIAGRAMS TO DATA TYPE
COMPOSITION
COMPARISON
RELATIONSHIP
DISTRIBUTION
VALUE OVER TIME
DIRECTION/STRUCTURE

28. SIMPLE/FREE TOOLS FOR VISUAL STORYTELLING
GRAPHS/CHARTS
Microsoft
Smartart
Google templates
Tableau*
INFOGRAPHICS
Canva
Venngage
Piktochart
OTHER MEDIA
Canva
Adobe Spark

29. IMPACT STATEMENTS: TOOL FOR VISUAL STORYTELLING

30. LET’S RECAP

31. What’s the story you’d like to tell?
NEXT STEPS
What’s the story you’d like to tell?
What is the benefit of telling your story?
Which of the tools or frameworks from today are most useful for your story?
What actionable steps can you take to make sure your story gets out there?

32. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story
Michael Margolis CEO getstoried

33. Any questions? THANKS! You can call or email me Jessica Greher Traue