STORYTELLING

CHALLENGE & SELECTION

Behind every great achievement there is a great story, the story could be of education,

training, practice, discipline or even sacrifice. I personally feel storytelling is a great tool of

design thinking because a story can be told from heart and it is the reflection of our true

actions in past which when expressed can help attain deeper insights of our work, providing

a great scope for improvement. Sitting in a group, sharing and discussing each other stories

lead us to lot of different thoughts and innovative ideas. Asking questions, listening to

various stories, sharing experiences and explaining values not only engages people in

thinking deep but also establishes a sense of empathy in the peer group which is a basic

step in order to make the design success. After the experiences are shared solutions can be

decided through vivid verbal or visual accounts.

APPLICATION

Storytelling has no borders. Every person regardless of age, gender, race, involves and

engages in it.  Usually in a group discussion we all sit together and share our experiences.

Stories are captivating and we learn from them. They ensure full attention is paid and a tight

hold is maintained until the end.

There are different forms of storytelling for example digital, visual, skits or plays, images,

animations, videos, text, etc. These forms open up opportunities for many approaches

including content, thematic, structural, etc.  As a student I have applied design thinking to

understand the elements of success during my phase of choosing the right stream after

intermediate. And storytelling is what I chose to do out of all odds and it helped me gain

knowledge about the phase.

INSIGHT AND APPROACH

What I can infer from storytelling is that it’s a great tool to think innovatively and creatively.

Being creative is thinking of something that no one has ever thought of. So, storytelling

teaches us to think out of box by learning from different stories (experiences of your peer

group). There are several other outcomes of this. For example storytelling increases self-

confidence, on regular practice one can overcome fear of expression and be a good

speaker. It answered lot of my questions like, “is studying abroad a good decision?”, “Is

Computer Science Engineering my thing to do?” and many more. Listening in empathy is

something I strongly believe in and realised that its one approach to success.

