People are wired for stories, and digital media allow us to bring life to those stories through words, images, sounds, and moving pictures. This webinar will explore the guiding philosophy, lifecycle, and elements of a digital story and consider pace-setting examples drawn from news media, colleges and universities. Download this webinar for free: http://mstnr.me/2bmCZEc If you’re looking for ways to become a better storyteller and extend the reach and impact of communications that you already produce, don’t miss this webinar. What You Will Learn: • Why storytelling matters. • How excellent digital stories are constructed. • What roles are necessary for a story team. • How to create a smart, sustainable solution for digital story content.

1. DIGITAL STORYTELLING
Tuesday, 3 November 2015
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CT
Post-Webinar Presentation PDF

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• 45 minute webinar + 15 minutes for Q&A
• Ask questions through the Zoom Control Panel
• Tweet during the webinar with #mStonerNow
• Fill out the post-webinar survey
• Check your inbox later this week for the webinar
recording and slide deck
THE PLAN

3. Voltaire Santos Miran
Co-Founder & CEO
voltaire.miran@mStoner.com
312.420.6778
@vsantosmiran
Mallory Wood
Director of Marketing
mallory.wood@mStoner.com
802.457.9234
@mallorywood

4. What Hogwarts house do
you belong to?
POLL:

5. Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was
lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair
over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These
tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the
hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor
McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line
facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of
faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering
candlelight … Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward
and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.

6. Learn more about the enhanced iBook
versions of the Harry Potter Series

7. 1. Why Stories?
2. The Elements of a Digital Story
3. Developing a Digital Story

8. WHY STORIES?

9. Learn more about the Lascaux Caves
and storytelling.

10. ”
“Story— whether delivered through
films, books, or video games— teaches
us facts about the world; influences
our moral logic; and marks us with
fears, hopes, and anxieties that alter
our behavior, perhaps even our
personalities.
Jonathan Gottschall,
The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human

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STORIES MAKE US HUMAN
Educate
Solve
problems
Connect
Provide
pleasure
Teach
Provide pattern
and order
Impart
traditions
Assimilate

12. ”
“Digital storytelling at its most basic
core is the practice of … combining
the art of telling stories with a variety
of multimedia.
University of Houston College of Education
Educational Uses for Digital Storytelling

13. ”
“Stories themselves are universal. The
way we tell them changes with the
technology at hand. Every new
medium has given rise to a new form
of narrative … people want to be
immersed.
Frank Rose
The Art of Immersion

14. SNOW FALL

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• Multi-chapter, long-form narrative with integrated
video and audio
• Multiple, interwoven story threads
• Interactive graphics for concepts difficult to convey
solely in words
• Curated comment function to invite conversations
THE TECHNIQUE

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• Published by The New York Times in December 2012
• Received more than 3.5 million views in the first six
days of its release
• 20% of Snowfall references came from Facebook and
Twitter, half from mobile devices
• Touted as the future of journalism
• Won a Webby, Peabody, and Pulitzer
THE UPSHOT

17. Had you seen Snow Fall
before today?
POLL:

18. If you did, did you make it
through the entire piece?
POLL:

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• Required the team to build the story outside of The
Times’ content management system to give them
enough flexibility to do what they wanted to do
• Eleven-person graphics and design team, plus a
photographer, three videographers, a researcher, and
the reporter John Branch
• Took six months to create
• One in four readers made it through the entire piece
THE PUNCHLINE

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• Highly personal photography
• One multi-panel page, microtransitions, and parallax
• Custom illustrations and typography
• Audio clips
THE TECHNIQUE

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• Created for Alcade, the official publication of UT’s
alumni association
• Created by an internal team that has won awards for
their interactive work
THE UPSHOT

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”
“
THE PUNCHLINE
When we first started this we were more taken with the flash than we
are now. It’s like a young writer who is amazed and thrilled at first by
her ability to turn rhetorical cartwheels. As we have matured, like
young writers tend to do, we try to move the reader back into the
center of every decision. Is this feature necessary? Does it add
something to the story? You can see The Times backing off the flash,
as well. And that’s natural and OK. Doesn’t change the fact that the
power is still there to tell stories better. It’s just about how you use it.
- Alcalde Editor Tim Taliaferro

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• Responsive design
• Replicable format
• Part of Bostonia’s digital ecosystem
• Thoughtful transition from print to web
• Use of comments
• Tagging allows visitors to see related content
THE TECHNIQUE

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• Produced for Bostonia, Boston University’s alumni
magazine
• Digital version of the print article for the Summer 2015
issue
THE UPSHOT

27. THE ELEMENTS OF
A DIGITAL STORY

28. ”
“Far too often for writers and editors
the story is done when you hit
publish. At The Huffington Post,
the article begins its life when
you hit publish.
Paul Berry, Huffington Post

29. Visual
Design
Structured
Content
Integrated
Media
Engagement
Opportunities
Technology
Infrastructure

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• Beautiful interfaces that encourage reading
• Thoughtful consideration of layout flexibility in
regard to viewport size and content load times
• Touch-optimized content interactions
• Micro-interactions
• Sufficient clear space to allow focus on the text
DESIGN

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• Story forms that support the narrative
• Atomic units of information
• Metadata and keyword plan to support search
engine optimization (SEO)
• Tagging and taxonomy
• Associated social posts and promotions
STRUCTURED CONTENT

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• Photography
• Video
• Audio
• Data visualization (infographics)
INTEGRATED MEDIA

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• Calls to action
• Commenting/reader contributions
• Ability to share socially
• Opportunities to follow the story through mobile
push alerts and email updates
• Subscription opportunities (podcasts, playlists)
ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

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• Content management system
• Cloud-based collaboration tools
• Experimentation capability to optimize content
based on audience behavior
• Analytics framework
TECHNOLOGY

37. ”
“In digital media, technology is not
a wingman, it is The Man.
How something is made is often
as important as what is made.
David Carr
The New York Times

38. DEVELOPING A
DIGITAL STORY

39. Strategize
1
Create
2
Publish
3
Assess
5
Promote
4
Curate
6

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• What’s the real story?
• What roles do we need on the production team?
• Who are our target audiences?
• What will enhance our audience’s understanding of the content?
• What will we measure? How?
• How will we promote this story?
• What related stories or information can we use or bundle with this
piece?
• How can we approach the build to make this story replicable or to
extend our storytelling technology toolkit?
THE QUESTIONS

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• Strategist
• Writer
• Editor
• Designer
• Photographer
• Videographer
• Social Media
Specialist
• Developer
• Analytics Specialist
• Project Manager
THE TEAM

42. Do you have have a team with
these roles in place at your
institution?
POLL:

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• Snow Fall’s team: 17 people
• Eater’s Panda Express team: 15 people
• Alcade’s team for Classroom at the End of the World: 8 people
THE SPAN

44. THE APP

45. And now, a word from our
sponsor …

46. Questions?

47. Whatever you can do, or dream you can,
begin it. Boldness has genius, power,
and magic in it.
”
“
W. H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, 1951
Thank you!

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• The New York Times Innovation Report
• StoryCenter
• Rockefeller Foundation Digital Storytelling Report
• Rockefeller Foundation Digital Storytelling Primer
• Hatch: Digital Storytelling Concierge
DIVE DEEPER

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• Project management software: Redbooth
• Content collection and production: GatherContent
• Prototyping and design: Invision
• Cloud-based storytelling app: Storied
• Cloud-based video production apps: Steller, WeVideo
• Integrated software suite: Adobe Creative Cloud
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

50. Voltaire Santos Miran
Co-Founder & CEO
voltaire.miran@mStoner.com
312.420.6778
@vsantosmiran
Mallory Wood
Director of Marketing
mallory.wood@mStoner.com
802.457.9234
@mallorywood
CONTACT US