DIGITAL STORYTELLING 
@nancyyxu
1. What’s the Story? 
2. Pick the Medium 
3. The Headline 
4. Story Arcs 
5. Selecting Visuals
DESIGNER
“What is the Story?” 
one
to inform to entertain 
fundraising campaign 
story of your work 
sharing your process 
story of a beneficiary
INTERVIEWING 
Empathy 
5 Why’s 
Tell me more… 
What do you mean by….
ACTIVITY find out why your partner do the work they do, 
using only why… and tell me more…
ACTIVITY share your story with your partner
“Pick the Medium” 
two
ACTIVITY pick a different partner and 
share what medium you want to use to tell your story
“The Headline” 
three
curiosity gap
ACTIVITY brainstorm your story headline in a group
pop culture analysis tools
distillation 
show don’t tell 
start late, end early
“Story Arcs” 
four
ARISTOTLE
HERO’S JOURNEY
WADE DAVIS 
Attention grabbing introduction 
Appeal to the heart 
Appeal to the mind 
Approachable call to action
ACTIVITY sketch out your story layout
tools demo
accountability buddy
“Selecting Visuals” 
five
action shots
text/image overlay
go for noiseless 
blur it
darken the 
image 
add a color 
layer
go BIG 
put it in a box
free image editor roundup
1. What’s the Story? 
interviewing tips, story types 
2. Pick the medium 
long article, photo essay, scrolling site 
3. The Headline 
relevance, timing and being part of a bigger 
story 
4. Story Arcs 
hero’s journey, Wade Davis, camp fire 
5. Selecting Visuals 
action shots & text overlays
RESOURCES 
 If you have a lot of text, try writing on Medium: https://medium.com/@scottharrison/the-last-walk-for-water- 
979160375b4a 
 If you have a lot of photos, try Storehouse: https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7tkj-nyirazana 
 If you want to pitch stories to press, find the nonprofit journalists that you like. You can also talk to our 
LiveStories CEO who writes on HuffingtonPost: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adnan-mahmud/ 
 If you have "lighter" content that has mass appeal, try contributing that on buzzfeed: 
http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/italy-is-beautiful#47kjip4 
 Inspiration for your short video, Splash.org's water story, watch at the 3min mark: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVDGSMvlwQM 
 Inspiration for headlines written withe "curiosity gap", but be careful not to overdo it: 
http://www.upworthy.com/
RESOURCES CONT. 
 Search for what topics people are searching for on the internet so you can better target your content: 
http://www.google.com/trends/explore 
 Search what conversations are happening on twitter so you can join ones with the most chatter. This tool 
shows you which related hashtags are more popular to your topic: 
http://hashtagify.me/hashtag/entrepreneurship 
 If you want to practice how to distill complex info and still preserve the essence of the story, check out this 
class on writing micro-fiction: http://www.skillshare.com/classes/writing/Mini-Class-Flash-Fiction-How-to-Tell- 
Pint-Sized-Stories/2104850910/project-guide 
 We didn't have time to cover this, but if you need to edit your photos to have them stand out more, free image 
editors roundup here: http://mashable.com/2013/07/22/free-image-editors/ 
 If anyone have data stories they want to tell (infographics, stories that include charts, reports), we would love 
to have them try our tool and get feedback! Request invite on our website: http://livestories.com/
thank you! 
DIGITAL STORYTELLING 
@nancyyxu
Digital storytelling workshop

Digital storytelling workshop

  • 2.
  • 3.
    1. What’s theStory? 2. Pick the Medium 3. The Headline 4. Story Arcs 5. Selecting Visuals
  • 4.
  • 7.
    “What is theStory?” one
  • 8.
    to inform toentertain fundraising campaign story of your work sharing your process story of a beneficiary
  • 9.
    INTERVIEWING Empathy 5Why’s Tell me more… What do you mean by….
  • 10.
    ACTIVITY find outwhy your partner do the work they do, using only why… and tell me more…
  • 11.
    ACTIVITY share yourstory with your partner
  • 12.
  • 13.
    ACTIVITY pick adifferent partner and share what medium you want to use to tell your story
  • 14.
  • 17.
  • 18.
    ACTIVITY brainstorm yourstory headline in a group
  • 19.
  • 20.
    distillation show don’ttell start late, end early
  • 21.
  • 22.
  • 23.
  • 24.
    WADE DAVIS Attentiongrabbing introduction Appeal to the heart Appeal to the mind Approachable call to action
  • 25.
    ACTIVITY sketch outyour story layout
  • 26.
  • 27.
  • 28.
  • 29.
  • 32.
  • 33.
  • 34.
    darken the image add a color layer
  • 35.
    go BIG putit in a box
  • 36.
  • 37.
    1. What’s theStory? interviewing tips, story types 2. Pick the medium long article, photo essay, scrolling site 3. The Headline relevance, timing and being part of a bigger story 4. Story Arcs hero’s journey, Wade Davis, camp fire 5. Selecting Visuals action shots & text overlays
  • 38.
    RESOURCES  Ifyou have a lot of text, try writing on Medium: https://medium.com/@scottharrison/the-last-walk-for-water- 979160375b4a  If you have a lot of photos, try Storehouse: https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7tkj-nyirazana  If you want to pitch stories to press, find the nonprofit journalists that you like. You can also talk to our LiveStories CEO who writes on HuffingtonPost: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adnan-mahmud/  If you have "lighter" content that has mass appeal, try contributing that on buzzfeed: http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/italy-is-beautiful#47kjip4  Inspiration for your short video, Splash.org's water story, watch at the 3min mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVDGSMvlwQM  Inspiration for headlines written withe "curiosity gap", but be careful not to overdo it: http://www.upworthy.com/
  • 39.
    RESOURCES CONT. Search for what topics people are searching for on the internet so you can better target your content: http://www.google.com/trends/explore  Search what conversations are happening on twitter so you can join ones with the most chatter. This tool shows you which related hashtags are more popular to your topic: http://hashtagify.me/hashtag/entrepreneurship  If you want to practice how to distill complex info and still preserve the essence of the story, check out this class on writing micro-fiction: http://www.skillshare.com/classes/writing/Mini-Class-Flash-Fiction-How-to-Tell- Pint-Sized-Stories/2104850910/project-guide  We didn't have time to cover this, but if you need to edit your photos to have them stand out more, free image editors roundup here: http://mashable.com/2013/07/22/free-image-editors/  If anyone have data stories they want to tell (infographics, stories that include charts, reports), we would love to have them try our tool and get feedback! Request invite on our website: http://livestories.com/
  • 40.
    thank you! DIGITALSTORYTELLING @nancyyxu