Thanks, Caitlin! I am glad you enjoyed it. I wish we had time to do the exercises that go along with some of the slides. I finally got around to updating the notes from the session on my site last night.
@silentk My first answer is ouch. To address it more directly I would say that there probably is a story there somewhere. Maybe the story is in the original reason the organization was started or maybe it's in the struggles that the organization had to overcome to get to the point it is at now. A good practice for starting to uncover the story is asking the following questions: Who are we? What do we do? Why does it matter? You'd be surprised how many stories those three questions set-up... assuming you can answer them.
@Eloy heh, finally I can see your comments!
#19 is interesting. Is that an absolute requirement. I think starting a business with a significant other is probably the toughest thing you can do. Good list. It's always good to have something to aspire to. #6 must be from your 'too good to be true' filter. Good looking guys doesn't have to equate with cheating anymore than good looking girls equates to stuck up bitchiness. ;)
These items are really intended to build the pieces of the story. For example if I were giving a presentation on work ethic I would either choose an overall storyline where the main character succeeds or fails, depending on how I wanted to communicate the message. The components of the presentation would be made up of "mini stories" or dramatic situations that are intended to add tension and move the presentation forward. Throw in personal anecdotes and you have a full story to present to the audience.
@Brad I use stories for nearly every teaching situation. Metaphors work really well too. There is actually a Metaphor dictionary that you can get to see some of the common stories that we use everyday.
Great post Erica. Looking forward to seeing what happens for you in 2010.
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