Story, Storyteller, and Storytelling

Abstract

Nothing has had so much impact on our daily lives in the past two decades as the revolution in technologies of communication. Across the resulting debate in industry and academia the notion of ‘storytelling’ has come into prominence. It is a term in need of conceptual placement and theoretical framing. Publishers may feel that they have first call on storytelling as primary producers of the written text. When oral traditions documented by scribes gave way to authorship of the written text, the dissemination of knowledge became by way of print. But since the invention and adoption of other media—film, radio, internet, web, book apps, interactive mobile media—storytelling has been the exclusive domain of none. This paper provides a definition of ‘story’, ‘storytelling’, and ‘storyteller’ based on contemporary examples and historical usage, and traces how the affordances of new technologies have opened up pathways in storytelling by looking at examples from the origins of media convergence in the early 20th century to today.

Towards a Reduced Pollution Society: Systematic Review on the Role of Storytelling, Social Media, Humor and Celebrities’ Influence for Research Communication

“…Ensures. Storytellers are literally individuals that bring to existence strong seductive and convincing power that very often involves the vivid description of ideas, beliefs, personal experiences and life lessons to people or organizations (Simmons, 2001;Serrat, 2008;Weedon, 2018). Storytelling is therefore an interactive art that consists of using words and/or actions to reveal the elements and images of one or more stories while encouraging the imagination of its audience in the sense of convincing, seducing, or impacting them of something-capturing their attention, stimulating their desire for change, and winning their conviction using reasoned arguments (Denning, 2007;NSN, 2021).…”

Impact of product vs brand storytelling on online customer experience

“…In the digital era, the role of storytelling in marketing has been magnified, yet the concept of storytelling remains dynamically undefined, stretching across various academic and practical domains. The rise of digital storytelling, especially on social media and e-commerce platforms, underscores the necessity for content that not only captivates but also ensures enduring engagement through vivid and memorable storytelling techniques (Weedon, 2018; Weissenfeld et al , 2017).…”

“…Brand narratives, particularly those rich in meaning and resonating with audiences, have been shown to significantly impact consumer perceptions, enhance recall, streamline communication (Brechman and Purvis, 2015;Zabrucky and Moore, 1999) and encourage less critical evaluation of arguments (Krause and Rucker, 2020;Bullock et al, 2021). In the digital age, the role of storytelling has expanded, reflecting diverse application across academic and practical domains, particularly on social media and e-commerce platforms, emphasizing the IJWBR 36,3 need for engagement and memorable storytelling techniques (Weedon, 2018;Weissenfeld et al, 2017).…”

Engaging through storytelling: the interplay of engagement with a story, cause, and charity

“…Storytelling, a process of composing narratives, translating the concept (a story) into the material product of telling the story (a narrative) through medium (Sibierska 2017), serves to move a recipient away from the here and now (Gerrig 1993) and forms a basis of the narrative transportation effect. The best stories are the ones people get lost in (Weedon 2018), but the narrator is not the only architect of that experience; therefore, storytelling opens the way for the recipient to change attitudes and beliefs, and exhibit post narrative behaviours.…”

“…As storytelling is a tool for preserving and transmitting information (Weedon 2018), narratives not only help people understand issues and explore reality but also draw them into another world (van Laer et al 2019); transported people express story-consistent attitudes (Green 2014). The theoretical assumptions of the project are based on two pillars: narrative transportation theory (Green 2008) and customer engagement theory (Brodie et al 2011).…”