My wife plays bridge so on the afternoons she plays I get to cook dinner. Last week I was looking forward to one of my favourite dinners … Thai-style chicken with cashew nuts. This dish reminds me of holidays. It makes us happy. It’s comfort food. I make it often.
So what could go wrong?
Dinner would be on the table when Robyn got home. The recipe is super-easy:
- Roasted unsalted cashew nuts
- Stir-fry onion, garlic, and chillies.
- Add chicken, then capsicums.
- Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, and lots of Thai basil.
- Add roasted cashew nuts.
- Serve with rice.
That night, distracted by phone calls, I messed up this simple dish.
I completely forgot the cashews.
No big deal, you might think. You still got the fragrant basil. The spicy chillies. The capsicum.
But no …
Without the crunchiness of the cashews, the dish did not meet expectations. It tasted wrong.
Storytelling is just like cooking.
You also need a balance of flavours and textures. I’ll tell you why.
Ingredient No.1 : Action
My story about cashews is an unimportant story. But it kept you reading, right?
That’s because of the action.
Actions add drama to stories, and they make you want to read on because you want to know what happens next.
In the story of the cashew nuts, the actions are simple. I always cook for my wife on the afternoons she’s playing bridge. I look forward to a favourite meal. I cook the meal.
I could have described cooking the dish in more detail. But this is a miniature story to hold your attention for the main article … not a novel.
The recipe gives you a quick idea of my actions in the kitchen and it allows me to use bullet points so it’s easy to skim read.
I use two other techniques to up the drama. First, I add emotion; I share how much we look forward to this dish. Secondly, I pose the question: So what could go wrong.?
Did you sense trouble ahead?
Ingredient No.2: Details
Details give credibility to a story.
Details also help readers imagine a story.
So, first, I share the details of our anticipation: this reminds me of holidays. It makes us happy. It’s comfort food.
Did you share that sense of anticipation: Where you riding along with me?
Also, there are details of the dish: The capsicum. The fragrant basil. The spicy chillies. The salty fish sauce.
Our brains process sensory details almost as if we can taste the sweet capsicums, as if we can smell the basil, as if we feel the spicy tingling in our mouth.
Sensory details transport learners into the story. It’s like your learners become part of the story.
Ingredient No.3: A transformation or Insight
Without a purpose, a story just becomes an empty anecdote.
So what’s the lesson in the cashew nut story?
It’s not about the cooking.
This is a metaphoric story and the lesson is about storytelling.
Just like you need a balance of textures and flavours in cooking, you need a balance of ingredients in storytelling, too; action, details and purpose.
Your stories matter.
Stories help you stand out, there’s plenty of boring narrative on the eLearning horizon … why be part of it?
Stories add personality and flavour to your eLearning, so you can start conversations and build relations.
Stories help you be more human.
And human learning content wins.