The	
  Power	
  of	
  Story

Shelley Canright, Ph.D.

NASA Office of EducaTon

22 September 2015

shelley.canright@nasa.gov

1
Outline: Part	
  II

MeeHng PresentaHon-­‐Discussion (with Task Force)

Part	
  II: ReflecTons: NASA EducaTon’s Story

2
Structure Your PresentaTon Like a Story

Engage Through	
  Story:	
  

hVp://vimeo.com/14622215

3
NASA EducaTon PresentaTons

4
NASA	
  EducaIon PresentaIons:

Early ApplicaIons

MESSAGE MAPPING

Step	
  1: Single most	
  important	
  

thing you want	
  audience to

know;	
  

Step	
  2: Three key messages

that	
  support	
  this point; and

Step	
  3: Reinforce the three

messages with stories, staTsTcs,

and examples.

Build in So< Breaks and

mulImedia experiences

2015-­‐2017 EducaTon ImplementaTon Plan: Conscious shiE from simply transferring

Electronically Enhanced EdiTon informaTon to producing an experience

5
NASA	
  EducaIon PresentaIons:

Early ApplicaIons

GIVE VOICE TO DATA GIVE FACE TO THE DATA

PresentaTons: EducaTon Overview to Deputy Administrator (May), FY17 PAA Briefing

(July), and OMB FY 17 Budget	
  Hearing (Sept)

6
NASA-­‐ED 21CCLC: Success Story

Working Together to Build Tomorrow’s Workforce

Team Cupcake, Team Imaginators, Team Spaced Out,

and Thinkers of Tomorrow.

These are some of the hard-­‐working student	
  teams that	
  

can say that	
  they have tackled challenges similar to

those faced by NaTonal AeronauTcs and Space

AdministraTon (NASA) scienTsts and engineers.

Stories create ‘sTcky’ memories by aVaching emoTons to things that	
  happen. 7
8	
  

ReflecTons
ReflecTons: EducaTon Success Stories

What	
  is a success story?

A success story shows movement	
  in your

program’s progress over Tme –

its value and impact	
  

Why do you want	
  success stories?

9
ReflecTons: EducaTon Success Stories

How to develop an

effecTve success story?

Develop a system	
  for

collecTng success stories

10
CollecIon Methods

• Success Story

Watch System

• Official

SolicitaTon

• Stakeholder

Forum

11
Story Repository

12
Success Story Data	
  CollecTon Tool

Impact	
  and Value: Telling Your Program’s Story

hVp://www.cdc.gov/OralHealth/publicaTons/library/

pdf/success_story_workbook.pdf

13
EducaTon CommunicaTon Strategy

The 2008 EducaTon

CommunicaTon

Strategy was developed

by a subgroup of the

EducaTon CoordinaTng

CommiVee and

endorsed by the full

CommiVee.	
  

hVp://www.nasa.gov/pdf/224116main_Edu_CommunicaTon.pdf

14
The Power of Story

Believe Me: Why Your Vision, Brand, and

Leadership Need a Bigger Story, by Michael

Margolis

15
Summary

16

• Story. While gathering and analyzing meaningful data	
  is a criTcal step in the

research journey, it	
  takes more to really engage others so that	
  they

understand, engage with, and use that	
  data. Story is oEen the missing piece

of the puzzle. Stories convey meaning.

• EducaTon CommunicaTon Strategy. Opportunity presents itself to update

exisTng strategy to incorporate story plan.

• Facts Alone Fall Short	
  -­‐ Give Voice to Data. Facts alone are not	
  sufficient	
  to

persuade. Facts need to be complemented with just	
  the right	
  balance of

creditability and content	
  that	
  tugs at the heartstrings. Move from data	
  to

meaning.

• EducaTon Success Stories Repository. Having a systemaTc method for

collecTng and using success stories will allow having up-­‐to-­‐date informaTon

at fingerTps AND the process of collecTng facilitates learning for all staff.
17	
  
BACK UP SLIDES

Part II

18
Types of Success Stories Based on the

Phase of the Program

A Logic	
  Model Development	
  Guide is available from the W.W. Kellogg FoundaTon

at hVp://www.wwkf.org. 19
Types of Success Stories Based on the

Phase of the Program

20
Types of Success Stories Based on the

Phase of the Program

21
Success Story Watch System*	
  

•	 NASA	
  Community College

Aerospace Scholars (NCAS)

Online	
  Experience	
  Converts	
  

Influence to AcIon. The fall

2015 NCAS online learning

experience came to a successful

close last	
  week allowing external

evaluators to survey the 297

scholars.

hVp://ncas.aerospacescholars.org.

*OE Weekly AcTvity Report	
  09-­‐11-­‐15

•	 Chief	
  Dull Knife	
  College	
  

Story	
  Published.	
   The

Goddard Space Flight	
  Center

Offices of EducaTon and

CommunicaTon collaborated to

publish the story of how Chief

Dull Knife College, a Tribal College

with an enrollment	
  of 150

students in Lame Deer, Montana,

was able to take 24 students and

faculty from several Tribal

Colleges to parTcipate in the

RockOn! workshop at Wallops

Flight	
  Facility.

hVp://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/

tribal-­‐knowledge-­‐nasa-­‐funds-­‐montana-­‐

tribal-­‐college-­‐students-­‐to-­‐build-­‐rocket-­‐

payloads 22
Stories Come in All Forms

23
Story Comes in All Forms

A Sputnik	
  moment for STEM	
  

educaIon: Ainissa Ramirez at

TED2012

hVp://blog.ted.com/a-­‐sputnik-­‐

moment-­‐for-­‐stem-­‐educaTon-­‐

ainissa-­‐ramirez-­‐at-­‐ted2012/

LISTEN TO THE STORY

hVp://www.npr.org/player/v2/

mediaPlayer.html?

acTon=1&t=1&islist=false&id=432599

376&m=437291845

“I saw my reflection 

in her and was transfixed.” 

24
CHARM	
  

• Collect

• Hone

• Apply

• Renew

• Mine

25

Karen Dietz, Just	
  Story It!
Outline

Pre-­‐MeeHng PresentaHon (Member Review-­‐On Own)

Part	
  I: The IrresisTble Power of Story -­‐ Primer

MeeHng PresentaHon-­‐Discussion (Full Task Force)

Part	
  II: ReflecTons: NASA EducaTon’s Story

26
Once Upon a Time....

BLOG

hVps://pic.gov/content/great-­‐moments-­‐create-­‐future

27
What	
  is a Story?

hVp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4

28
Freytag’s	
  Pyramid	
  

What	
  is a Story?

WATCH: Lost Puppy

hVps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAsjRRMMg_Q

Ref: IrresisHble Power of Storytelling

as a Strategic	
  Business Tool

29
Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling

Storytelling may seem	
  like an old-­‐fashioned

tool, today – and it	
  is. That’s exactly what	
  

makes it	
  so powerful. Life happens in the

narraHves we tell one another.

– Harrison Monarth

The IrresisHble Power of Storytelling as a Strategic	
  Business Tool

30
Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling

I want	
  to tell you a story about	
  two neurochemicals...

hVps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHeqQAKHh3M&feature=youtu.be

• CorTsol–which people feel as distress and encourages them to pay

aVenTon to the story.

• Oxytocin–which promotes connecTon and care and encourages

people to feel empathy.

31
More on Brain Research...

• The brain is an energy hog.

•	 The ‘goldilocks zone’ is between 18-­‐20

minutes for a presentaTon.

•	 Paint	
  a mental picture with mulTsensory

experiences.

32
Science of Persuasion

Storytelling is the ulTmate

tool of persuasion.

Persuasion occurs when

three components are

represented

Credibility Evidence-­‐Data	
   EmoTon-­‐Feelings 33
Structure Your PresentaTon Like a Story

Telling stories	
  is the virtual equivalent	
  of taking

people on a field trip, helping them	
  to

experience the content	
  at	
  a much more

profound level.	
  

– Carmine Gallo

Talk Like TED: The 9 public-­‐speaking secrets of the world’s top minds

34
Structure Your PresentaTon Like a Story

Engage Through	
  Story:	
  

hVp://vimeo.com/14622215

35
Structure Your PresentaTon Like a Story

Audience

Message

Story

Media

Slides	
  

Delivery	
  

Impact	
  

1

2

3

Conceiving

Visualizing

PresenTng	
  

The	
  

PresentaIon

Development

Process	
  

hVp://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks

36
Structure: Storytelling Tools and Techniques

•	 Big Idea, 3 key messages

•	 Pictures instead of words

•	 Find the narraTve in the

data.

•	 Create slides that	
  people

can “get” in 3 sec.

•	 Have two natural ending

points

37
Story Templates Create Structure

PresentaTons should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Two clear turning	
  points (call to adventure	
  and call to acIon) in a

presentaTon’s structure guide the audience through the content	
  

and disTncTvely separate the beginning from the middle and the

middle from the end.

The Contour of

CommunicaHon

Beginning Middle End

T

P

T

P

Audience-­‐Message-­‐Story

38
Give Voice to Data	
  

A story can go where quanHtaHve analysis is

denied admission: our hearts.

Data can persuade people, but	
  it	
  doesn’t	
  inspire

them	
  to act; to do that, you need to wrap your

vision in a story that	
  fires the imaginaHon and

sHrs the soul.

-­‐-­‐ Harrison Monarth

The IrresisHble Power of Storytelling as a Strategic	
  Business Tool

39
Give Voice to Data	
  

Data suggests there are compelling

stories waiTng to be told. Data	
  slides are

not	
  really about	
  the data. They are about	
  

the meaning of the data.

Get a rise out of data.

•	 Add a mulTmedia	
  

element	
  in the form of

visuals to bring the data	
  

alive -­‐-­‐ help audience

‘feel’ the emoTon behind

the numbers.

•	 Bring the data	
  to life by

including personal stories

of those lives behind the

data.

•	 Don’t	
  think about	
  what	
  

you want	
  people to know;

think about	
  how you want	
  

them	
  to feel.

40
Give Voice to Data: Power of Story

hVps://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=cIp_gtkBP5U&list=PLvdwyPgXnxxVC0MIbNuH2XCt5noUcFA9&index=6

41
Give Voice to Data	
  

EXAMPLE:

New perspecHve:

Seeing the Holiday Lights from	
  Space

Miguel Román, Research Physical ScienTst	
  at the NaTonal

AeronauTcs and Space AdministraTon (NASA) Goddard Space

Flight	
  Center (GSFC), shares a fascinaTng perspecTve on

viewing culture from space and the EKG of ciTes through the

lens of satellite data; and drawing from a study of holiday lights

that	
  examines how energy usage can be dictated by the society

we live in and rouTnes of that	
  society.

hVps://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=c4WtcW_Q_Lk&index=3&list=PLvdwyPgXnxxVC0MIbNuH2XCt5noUcFA9

42
Give Voice to Data	
  

EXAMPLE:
 

The Best	
  Stats You’ve Ever Seen

There is no beVer way to illustrate what	
  it	
  means to tell a clear

and powerful story using data	
  than Hans Rosling’s famous TED

2006 talk. He tells his story enTrely based on numbers. With

the drama	
  and urgency of a sportscaster, staTsTcs guru Hans

Rosling debunks myths about	
  the so-­‐called "developing world."

hVp://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen

43
Part	
  I: Primer Summary

44

• Story. While gathering and analyzing meaningful data	
  is a criTcal step in the

research journey, it	
  takes more to really engage others so that	
  they

understand, engage with, and use that	
  data. Story is oEen the missing piece

of the puzzle. Stories convey meaning.

• Structure.	
   Use story	
  templates	
  to create structure for presentaTons to shiE

from simply transferring informaTon to producing an experience for audience

that	
  engage, transform and acTvate them.

• Facts Alone Fall Short. Facts alone are not	
  sufficient	
  to persuade. Facts need

to be complemented with just	
  the right	
  balance of creditability and content	
  

that	
  tugs at the heartstrings.

• Give Voice to Data. Move from data	
  to meaning. Telling the narraTve implied

in the numbers helps others see the meaning in the numbers.

-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐

Every	
  presenter has the potenHal to be great;

Every	
  presenta1on is high stakes; and

Every	
  audience deserves the absolute best.
References & AddiTonal Reading

• Duarte, Nancy, HBR	
  Guide to Persuasive PresentaIons,

Harvard Business School Publishing CorporaTon, 2012, ISBN

978-­‐1-­‐4221-­‐8710-­‐4

• Gallo, Carmine, Talk	
  Like TED: The 9 public-­‐speaking secrets

of the world’s	
  top minds, St. MarTn’s Press, 2014, ISBN

978-­‐1-­‐250-­‐04112-­‐8 (hardcover)

• Dietz, Karen and Silverman, Lori, Business	
  Storytelling for

Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2014, ISBN

978-­‐1-­‐118-­‐66121-­‐5 (paperback)

45
References & AddiTonal Reading

•	 ‘How to Tell a Great	
  Story,’ Carolyn O’Hara, Harvard Business Review (HBR	
  

Blog Network), 2014

hVp://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/how-­‐to-­‐tell-­‐a-­‐great-­‐story/

•	 ‘The IrresisHble Power of Storytelling as a Strategic	
  Business Tool,’ Harrison

Monarth, Harvard Business Review (HBR) Blog Network, 2014

hVps://hbr.org/2014/03/the-­‐irresisTble-­‐power-­‐of-­‐storytelling-­‐as-­‐a-­‐strategic-­‐

business-­‐tool/

•	 ‘Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling,’ Paul Zak, Harvard Business Review

(HBR	
  Blog Network), 2014

hVps://hbr.org/2014/10/why-­‐your-­‐brain-­‐loves-­‐good-­‐storytelling/

•	 ‘10 Hps on how to make slides that	
  communicate your idea, from	
  TED’s in-­‐

house expert,’ by TED Staff,

hVp://blog.ted.com/2014/07/15/10-­‐Tps-­‐for-­‐beVer-­‐slide-­‐decks

46
BACK UP SLIDES

Part I

47
TRY THIS

Exercise 1: Define the Big Idea

The one key message that	
  you MUST communicate.

CreaTng a TwiVer-­‐friendly headline. If you can’t	
  explain your big

idea	
  in 140 characters or less, keep working on your message.

The discipline brings clarity to your presentaTon and helps your

audience recall the one big idea	
  you’re trying to teach them.

48
TRY THIS

Exercise 2: Message Mapping

The technique helps to keep your content	
  clear and concise.

Step 1: Create a TwiIer-­‐Friendly Headline

-­‐-­‐What	
  is the single most	
  important	
  thing you want	
  audience to know?

Step 2: Support	
  the Headline with Three Key Messages

Step 3: Reinforce the Three Messages with Stories, StaHsHcs, and

Examples

-­‐-­‐ Add bullet	
  points to each of the three supporTng messages.

-­‐-­‐SupporTng points can include stories, examples, anecdotes, or meaningful

staTsTcs.

49
TRY THIS: Science of Persuasion

•	 Take your presentaTon and categorize the

content	
  into one of the three categories:

Ethos (credibility),

Logos (evidence and data), and

Pathos (emoTonal appeal).

•	 How does your pathos stack up against	
  the

rest? If your emoTonal appeal is minimal, you

might	
  want	
  to rethink your content	
  before

you give this presentaTon, like adding more

stories, anecdotes, and personal insights.

50