This is a presentation for journalists and anybody interested in why and how stories can have impact. This is all about on how to find the best form for a strong story. This is not easy. There are so many options and new tools. The key message of this presentation is that the focus should be on creating the story. Which calls for an understanding why some stories are strong and lasting, while many are not. Additionally one must understand how the creation process works, which is best done by example and practice (of course). The original presentation was held as the TASC Storycamp for the finalists of the African Story Challgenge, in Marrakesh, on August 11, 2014. http://africanstorychallenge.com Note: This version has been adapted, extended and linked to make up for the missing narrative. I added numerous links to examples, picture credits and tried to get rid of embarrassing typos. Please feel free to download, link and tweet this. Leave comments on examples for good and great stories and on how to create them - much appreciated.

1. A F R I C A N S T O RY C H A L L E N G E • M A R A K E S H • A U G U S T 1 1 , 2 0 1 4
M I R K O L O R E N Z , I N F O R M A T I O N A C H I T E C T
Photo Credit: kevin dooley
F O K U S O N S T O RY
( D O N ’ T B E S E D U C E D B Y S E X Y S O L U T I O N S )

3. S C O P E : T R A I N I N G
J O U R N A L I S T S T O C R E AT E
L A S T I N G S T O R I E S I N
W H AT E V E R F O R M A N D
W I T H W H AT E V E R T O O L .

4. !
W E WA N T
Y O U
T O B E C O M E A
B I G V O I C E
G O A L

5. Will you be able to…
(a) write a four abstract article about your topic.
(b) extend with data photos, videos in four weeks?
(c) to answer „Why“ and „How“?
?

7. If you know how
to tell stories,
you can weave magic.

8. P H O T O C R E D I T: T H O M A S H A W K V I A C O M P F I G H T " H T T P S : / / C R E A T I V E C O M M O N S . O R G / L I C E N S E S / B Y- N C / 2 . 0 / " > C C < / A >
TA S C S T O RY C A M P • M A R A K E S H

9. ! !
T E L L I N G
S T O R I E S I S
A L E A R N A B L E
A RT.
(Tools & Technology just help us doing it)

10. Q :
W H AT I S A S T O RY ?
C O N D E N S E D I N F O R M AT I O N
S U R P R I S I N G / I N T E R E S T I N G
T R U E / R E L E VA N T
M E M O R A B L E / S H A R E A B L E

11. WA N N A
B E T ?

12. http://dangerousminds.net/comments/ernest_hemingway_and_the_six-word_short_story

13. K E Y P O I N T S
!
1 . P R E PA R AT I O N
2 . F O R M
3 . T I M E

14. Preparation, planning &
form are more important
than the technology or tools
you have.

15. Copyright: Monkey

16. P R E PA R AT I O N
S T E P 1

17. A repeating pattern leading to
quality stories
is focus
combined with a dilligent,
persistent,
step-by-step process.

18. U S E S K E T C H E S T O
V I S U A L I Z E A N D S C O P E
Y O U S T O RY O N
O N E PA G E

19. http://konigi.com/book/sketch-book/why-we-sketch

20. http://konigi.com/book/sketch-book/why-we-sketch

21. http://konigi.com/book/sketch-book/why-we-sketch

22. http://konigi.com/book/sketch-book/why-we-sketch

23. F I N D T H E B E S T F O R M
S T E P 2

24. Fairytale
Crowdsourcing
Big Picture
Newsletter
Explainer
Article
VideoSoundslide
SMS
Data
Longform
Jokes

25. M A S T E R T H E F O R M …
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/ernest_hemingway_and_the_six-word_short_story

27. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ

28. Before you create,
feed yourself with many,
many examples.

30. Exceptionally
good writing
has value.

31. Sample option for Longform.

33. http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/

39. Tell the story of one person, not a group.

43. T H E P R I N C I P L E AT
W O R K , B Y E X A M P L E .

44. E X A M P L E S

46. T H I S I S T H E TA S K O F
T H E S T O RY T E L L E R :
F I N D A L A N TAY L O R

47. T I M E
S T E P 3

48. If you don’t make choices and cuts,
you will be trapped by too much material and too many options.
STRANGE, BUT TRUE:
THROW AWAY GREAT
CONTENT

49. Gathering vs. Publishing
A L O T O F R E S E A R C H ,
R E A D I N G , G AT H E R I N G .
O N E
S T O RY
If you throw away a lot of quotes that are really good to find the best quote,
you are en route to quality.

50. T I M E
S T E P 3
Opening: Why should I care?
Facts & Model
Article
Middle: Conflict/Barriers
ONE character in trouble
Video/Pictures/Radio
End: Cliffhanging resolution
Suspense/revelation
Morale or truth of the story

52. B A C K S T O RY O F T H I S O U T P U T…
T H E B E A T L E S I M S T A R – C L U B
H A M B U R G 1 9 6 2
© D A N N Y WA L L / K & K
http://www.vinylrecords.ch/B/BE/Beatles/Live-Starclub/live-starclub-beatles.html

53. PAT T E R N : E N T H U S I A S M , C O P Y I N G ,
R E M I X I N G
The Song/tracks on "Beatles Live At The Star-Club in Hamburg 1962" are
• Introduction/I Saw Her Standing There (Lennon/McCartney) 3:01
• Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry) 2:15
• Hippy Hippy Shake (Chan Romero) 1:52
• Sweet Little Sixteen (Chuck Berry) 3:20
• Lend Me Your Comb (Wise/Weisman) 2:00
• Your Feets too Big (Benson/Fisher) 2:24
• Twist and Shout (Medley/Russell) 2:20
• Mr. Moonlight (Johnson) 2:23
• A Taste of Honey (Scott/Marlow) 2:10
• Bésame Mucho (Velázquez/Skylar) 2:46
• Reminiscing (King Curtis) 2:05
• Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey (Leiber/Stoller) 2:56
• Nothin' Shakin' (But the Leaves on a Tree) Colocrai/Fontaine/Gluck/Lampert 1:24
• To Know Her Is to Love Her (Phil Spector) 3:23
• Little Queenie (Chuck Berry) 3:57
• Falling in Love Again (Hollander/Lerner) 2:14
• Ask Me Why (Lennon/McCartney) 2:33
• Be-Bop-A-Lula (Vincent/Davis) 2:29 - Featuring Fred Fascher on lead vocal.
• Hallelujah, I Love Her So (Ray Charles) 2:08 - Featuring Horst Fascher on lead vocal.
• Red Sails in the Sunset (Kennedy/Williams) 2:11
• Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby (Carl Perkins) 3:04
• Matchbox (Carl Perkins) 2:37
• I'm Talking about You (Chuck Berry) 2:06
• Shimmy Shimmy (Massey/Schubert) 2:20
• Long Tall Sally (Johnson/Penniman/Blackwell) 1:47
• I Remember You (Schertzinger/Metter) 1:56
• Where Have You Been All My Life? (Weill/Mann) 2:09
• Till There Was You (Meredith Willson) 2:02
• Sheila (Tommy Roe) 2:00
• I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) (Thomas/Biggs) 2:43

54. U G LY PA R T:
L E A R N T O M A S T E R D E S A S T E R
Audiorecorder not running.
Battery empty.
Video unusable
Interviewpartner not showing up
Missed the plane/train/bus.
Not enough material.
Too much material.
Equipment stolen.

55. O N E L A S T T H I N G …

56. M O N E Y
S T E P 4

57. O V E R C O M E B A R R I E R S
W E H AV E N O T I M E F O R T H I S .
T H E R E I S N O B U D G E T.
W H Y N O T D O J U S T A N A R T I C L E ?

58. S H O W
T H E M
T H I S :
K E Y
P O I N T
— - >

59. http://gigaom.com/2014/07/16/the-news-about-reader-attention-and-the-evolution-of-media-isnt-all-bad-theres-the-hill-of-wow/
W H I C H
M E A N S
— - >

60. „A significant number of people are willing to
spend significant amounts of time with articles that
are relatively long, and are willing to share them —
in other words, there is a demand for things other
than just shallow clickbait.“
G O O D S T O RY = B I G A U D I E N C E

61. Now go tell a story.
!
Six words,
many words,
cool photos,
awesome video,
visual data.
Whatever.
!
But do tell a story.

62. Have fun
and good luck!
Copyright: The Monkey

63. P R E S E N TAT I O N H E L D AT S T O RY C A M P
I N M A R A K E S H , M A R O C C O .
- A U G U S T 1 1 , 2 0 1 4

64. G E T I N T O U C H :
H T T P : / / M I R K O L O R E N Z . C O M