Storytelling in Social Media at Kalaghoda Arts Festival 2011

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I was tucking into a plate of Tunday ke kabab at Lucknow unaware that my inbox carried the invitation to speak at the Kalaghoda Festival this year. What struck me first was that although Kalaghoda is synonymous with Arts and Entertainment, it was a bold move for them to take on an intensive 2 day workshop on social media for the first time. The workshop was largely aimed at people looking at social media as a vocation and especially writing for the web.

As the discussions around my session gained momentum I knew this was going to be an iconic workshop fit for a topic of my expertise- storytelling. Often an ignored element in social media, storytelling was the perfect medium to help aspiring writers for the web to understand the equation of content marketing and social media.

Social Media strategies are driven by content. The right kind of messaging makes content successful and storytelling is a medium to understanding this messaging better. All of this sounds logical but to put this in action is the real challenge. Through the two hour workshop, it was crucial for me to deliver not only why storytelling is a key to understanding messaging but also share tools on how they can implement it. Bullet points on a slide would’ve shot down the essence of storytelling in minutes. Hence, I chose a narrative technique to transform my entire presentation into a story itself. It made it easier to assimilate topics like the monomyth and detailing of the seven basic story plots.

In my past experience, I’ve seen some of the best campaigns fall flat if not fueled and nurtured with quality content. Moreover, digital Storytelling is non-linear and conversational which makes it different from conventional storytelling techniques. The workshop guided the participants on how to adapt storytelling for the online medium. Social Media is relationship technology which makes it the perfect medium to act as a ‘story carrier’ in the digital space.

Mystery of the words written by participants at the beginning of the session prevailed till the end of my talk. It was only revealed when I put forth the instructions for the activity. The room lit up as everyone made a run to ‘pluck’ their choice of words from the post-it wall. When everyone came back with their stories, it was delightful to observe the energy in the room. The best story was aptly awarded a Saraswati diary and was rightfully won by a story whose comic plot had everyone in splits.

If we look closer, each life event has a story to tell, a lesson to learn. On my way back home I couldn’t help thinking about the wonderful stories each participant carried within themselves, oblivious to the potential of these living stories. Through my series of workshop on Storytelling I aspire not only to teach businesses about power of narratives but also train the common eye to catch a shooting story.

I am thankful for the opportunity to share this passion through the illustrious platform of Kalaghoda Festival. None of this would have been possible with out Rushina who introduced me to Payal, the gracious host and I thank them both for their support.

Some of the other speakers were Moksh Juneja, Idea Smith, Nimesh & Sandhya.

Picture Story at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=286855&id=764804139&l=d1e7b9804c

In case you missed the workshop, but are keen on learning more about “Storytelling in Social Media”, I’d be happy to share some of my notes from the session. Please connect with me via www.about.me/snigdha

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