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Storytelling is an important life skill that doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves. As TED Talker Karen Eber notes in “The Perfect Story: How to Tell Stories that Inform, Influence, and Inspire,” storytelling skills can help individuals connect with others and stand out in their careers. For colleges and universities, helping students build these skills is important — giving students the confidence, empathy, and communication skills they need to succeed as professionals, leaders, and engaged citizens.
University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) instructor Amy Hauck has taught a series of experiential classes for the UTSA Honors College that focus on helping students cultivate these storytelling skills to help them be more successful in work and in life.
In previous courses, Hauck had her students interview subjects and produce podcasts based on their interviews, but last spring, she decided to try something a little different. Inspired by the work of Dr. Julie Scott-Pollock of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (who developed an ongoing storytelling partnership between her class and a local elementary school), Hauck combined storytelling with performance, pushing students out of their comfort zones in the process. The result was a brand-new class that Hauck called Storytelling for Life, where students interview members of the UTSA community, craft them into monologues, and then perform them in front of children at a nearby Title I elementary school.
Here, I discuss the course, its structure, and some of the key features and takeaways to consider for professionals looking to design a storytelling course.
Get Students Outside of Their Comfort Zones
“When we do interview training, I encourage [students] not to immediately select people that are their best friends or family members because sometimes familiarity can work against you during an interview,” said Hauck.
Instead, she encouraged students to choose people they were interested in and people who scared them a little.
“One of my favorite interviews this last semester was a student who talked to someone who is a vice provost and dean of students,” said Hauck. “Surprisingly, their story was not a big success story of how they arrived in their prestigious position, but of a class they failed in their freshman year of college. At that point, they thought it was over for them, but clearly it was not.”
Make Revision and Performance Central to the Process
The students paired off and were given instructions to speak with three UTSA students, three UTSA faculty, and three staff members. Hauck had each pair of students do three rounds of interviews, revising their approach as they went.
Many surprises emerged along the way, which taught students a valuable lesson about how things aren’t always what they seem on the surface and the importance of digging deeper. The multiple rounds of interviews were key to helping them refine the skills needed to elicit these deeper responses from their interview subjects.
After transcribing each of the interviews, students shaped them into monologues that followed the rules of dramatic structure. Then they workshopped those rough monologues in front of their fellow students. These revisions and performances were particularly valuable because most of the students in Hauck’s class didn’t have any kind of performance background.
“Students come in often apprehensive about speaking in front of people, but by the end of the semester, they’re not only vastly improved, but are really thriving as confident and engaging public speakers,” said Hauck, recalling one student who spoke like an “auctioneer” at the beginning of the semester. “He spoke so fast! Through practice [and] coaching his peers and submitting to the drafting process, he quickly learned how to pace himself.”
Consider Partnering with a Local Organization
Partnering with a community organization is often a win-win — students get valuable real-world practice with storytelling while giving back to the local community.
Hauck’s students performed their monologues in front of the 4th graders at Peggy Carnahan Elementary School, and thanks to several revisions and practice performances, they put on a wonderful show.
“By the final stage of the monologues, students were fully immersed in their roles, applying fundamental storytelling techniques such as sensory engagement, setting, character development, plot structures, and symbolism,” said Hauck.
She also noted that the stories resonated with younger students, saying, “The [elementary school] teachers shared that many students who do not usually participate in class for various reasons, such as language barriers and other learning challenges, routinely engaged during [the performances] in ways they hadn’t before.”
“We quickly found that stories led to more stories,” she added. “Sometimes it’s heartbreaking to hear their responses because the [elementary] students don’t shy away from discussing subjects like divorce, heartbreak, failure, learning challenges, etc.” Despite that, she said “there was [also] a lot of laughter, eagerness, and most importantly, connection, amongst the students.”
Show Your Gratitude to Interviewees
As a gesture of gratitude to those who participated in interviews, Hauck and her students compiled the monologues into a printed book and shared the PDF of the book with the interviewees.
Final Thoughts
Hauck’s Storytelling for Life course highlights the valuable skills students can gain from storytelling and offers practical ideas for other instructors, including pushing students beyond their inner circles, emphasizing revision and performance, and building community partnerships.
