Outline:
I. Intro
A. Attention-Getter: Video Clip: President telling a story
B. Thesis: Human beings are Homo Narrans: Humans the storytellers (Source: Walter Fisher, Human Communication As Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value and Action)
C. Preview:
1. Crazy World
2. Stories Help
3. Imagine: Stronger Relationships, Deeper Understanding, Better World
II. Body
A. Crazy World
1. Traditional connections are lost; anonymity & uncertainty prevail
a. Source: James Clifford, The Predicament of Culture: "A pervasive condition of off-centeredness in a world of distinct meaning systems."
b. Source: Anthony Giddens, Runaway World: How Globalization is Reshaping Our Lives
2. Economy, War, Technology- Uncertainty= Cosmology Episode (Source: Karl Weick, The Social Psychology of Organizing)
B. Stories Help
1. Sensemaking (Source: Karl Weick, The Social Psychology of Organizing)
2. Storytelling as sensemaking-collaborative
a. Freedman, Jill & Combs, Gene, Narrative Therapy: The Social Construction of Preferred Realities
b. Berger, Peter L. & Luckmann, Thomas, The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge
C. Imagine: Stronger Relationships, Deeper Understanding, Better world
1. Source: Journal of Applied Communication Research, February 2006: "Storytelling helps participants overcome barriers to deliberation... storytelling plays an important collective function for groups, allowing them to build a sense of moral community around issues without much explicit conflict." -- David Ryfe, p. 72
2. (Same source) Stories increase empathy, civility and friendliness in group interaction.
3. Think for just a second... colleagues, neighbors, friends, family... stories = better understanding.
III. Conclusion
A. Review:
1. Crazy World
2. Stories Help
3. Imagine: Stronger Relationships, Deeper Understanding, Better World
B. Thesis: At heart, we're storytellers.
C. Call to Action: Tell Stories! Listen to the stories of others
D. Clincher: The story of our lives can have a happy ending.