The Art Of Storytelling

The word Storytelling makes one think of a time long ago. Storytellers were those who sat around campfires telling stories with scary endings or cautionary tales of beware but storytelling has come a long way since those times. Storytelling was often used to pass on cultural tradition and compelling stories of a different time within a society. The storyteller held a position of importance and stature, they were the ones who held untold knowledge and in many cases, predicted the future [Nostradamus was a storyteller].

Fast forward to today's modern world. Storytelling is everywhere. Everyone is telling their story. In music, books, reality television, even on blogs! Believe it or not, we're all storytellers and how we tell our story is as diverse as the stories we tell.

There is a saying, "Time changes but people remain the same." Doesn't matter where you're at, we all love a good story and this phenomenon hasn't gone unnoticed. Here is a clip from Mad Men where Don Draper uses The Carousel projector from Kodak to pitch the product and tell a story.



Today, we live in a world of hyper technology and we want to use technologies to tell our story on various platforms. Social media is a type of storytelling (Twitter is a micro storytelling platform/Facebook can be used to tell a broader story). Social networks are platforms for users to tell their individual story, seek out common ground and find connection through sharing.

The art of storytelling is used by authors, advertisers, marketers, recording artist, comedians, screenwriters, producers and just about everyone in the entertainment industry. What's your story and how do you tell it? We read and tell stories throughout our day. Throughout history, storytelling has been the way we share knowledge and information, it is the common bond we share.

"The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon." - Brandon Sanderson