Last year I fell into a bit of a rut.
I didn’t feel challenged or like I was reaching my full potential. As an exercise, I began making daily notes of information or new tasks I had learned, and then spent an hour on Sundays reflecting on what I had learned. It wasn’t specific, but it held me accountable to be learning something, and to be putting my brain power to good use. This week I spent reflecting on what I learned in this course, some of which I will be detailing in this blog as my way of paying this information forward, to you the reader.
Storytelling
I used to believe that storytelling was something that could only be done by those with English B.A’s, something only the intellectually superior could excel. I’ve come to find that everyone is a storyteller, and the key to telling a story is not always about using complex word choices, but rather clear and concise language. It’s important to use a beginning, middle and end while telling a story. The use of Sub Headings also prevents congestion, and can make it easier for the reader to skim to find what they are specifically interested in. Equally as important is grammar, spelling and punctuation, as dialogue and description can lose effectiveness, and comprehension can prove difficult especially for a non native speaker.
Communication Styles
Communication can be difficult for most people, while it seems like it would be easy, given that it’s our main way of interacting with others daily, it is actually more difficult to do while telling a story than one might believe.
There are five main types of communication; Passive, Aggressive, Passive-Aggressive, Assertive and Manipulative. Each one serves a purpose in writing depending on the type of message you want to put out. A common mistake amongst amateur story tellers is consistently using a passive voice, it’s a natural habit that most start off doing, and while grammatically speaking it is not incorrect, an active voice tends to be more clear and interesting to the reader.
Interaction With the Audience
A large part of storytelling that often goes unlooked, is establishing what kind of experience you want for your reader. Reader feedback is critical to the success of written content, and garnering feedback is the best way to learn what sort of content your audience is interested in. A way to do this, is to end each blog with asking your readers to leave a comment about what they would like to see next, ways to improve the experience, even asking the reader to share your content in order to increase readership.
Do you often reflect? If so, what sort of things have you reflected on? Did you reflect this week? Leave a comment below, i’d love to learn what you have learned!
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 
Hey Joshua, your text catches my attention grom the beginning, to the end. It’s an easy text to read, Wich I like it. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!