The Power of Story - The State of/In the Listener in Listening
In discussion the value of story, Steve wrote,
"I strongly agree that the value of the story lies in the state of reflection in the listener, rather than the surface value of the entertainment.
This is, in effect, the Copernician Revolution in storytelling. Thus Copernicus pointed out that the movements of the stars would be easier to understand if one thought of the earth revolving around the sun, rather than vice versa.
In storytelling, the shift in focus from the storyteller’s story to the story generated in the mind of the listener, is a similarly important shift.
In purposeful storytelling, the storyteller’s story is mere scaffolding, something to be thrown away, of no particular importance except for the role that it plays as a catalyst in the mind of the listener.
The important story is the story generated in the mind of the listener. Once we make this Copernician shift in perspective, we can start to get a clearer view of how and why stories work, and how to adjust them so that they do work."
Steve Denning - via virtualchautauqua.com. Thanks to Susan for starting this valuable dialogue initiative!
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December 21st, 2005 at 1:09 am
Thanks for this Steve - just adjusting my position.