Creative Storytelling Competences for Innovative Entrepreneurship
The value of artistic and creative competences for innovation in (social) entrepreneurship is widely recognised. Entrepreneurs who possess artistic and creative competences are better equipped to identify novel opportunities, generate unique ideas, and develop innovative solutions. But, which competences are we talking about?
In this learning module we present storytelling competences as a model for creativity skills for innovation and social cohesion in socio-economic contexts, selected from the Storyteller Competence Model (SCM) developed by FEST. The approach is based on two steps:
- A ‘train the trainer/storyteller level’ with a course for professional storytellers as performers and as ‘trainers of social entrepreneurs’, focussing on the relevant competences in the researcher, craftsman, and artistic domains in the SCM model.
- Storytelling-competence-oriented training by storytellers for entrepreneurs (non-artists) to help them use story and narrative for communication, cooperative skills, integrated problem solving in their work.
Looking at the Storyteller Competence Model we can select 3 domains with competences that are relevant for entrepreneurs in this socio-economic context. They serve as inspiration for the learning programme of the entrepreneur.
Research competences: the entrepreneur as a (story)researcher.
A researcher is curious and interested, he/she likes to search and research, to broaden the horizon and to analyse and reflect. This domain includes the competences to search and find story material, to identify stories that relate to a given theme or a specific target group, to analyse a story in terms of content, theme, characters, metaphors, symbols, culture.
Craftmanship competences: the entrepreneur as a (story)craftsman.
The craftsman wants to prepare his/her material. Craftsmen want to master their tools and instruments, apply their techniques, have a way of working. The craftsman deals with quality. This domain includes the competences to master narrative and language, and to master oral storytelling techniques. They will help to adjust language to age or target group, to add description and dialogue, to switch to different times, places, and characters, to play with humour and suspense, and leave your audience with something to think about.
Artistic competences: the entrepreneur as a (storyteller)artist
The artist wants to create from an inner drive and wants to express him/herself in a personal way. The artistic domain in the SCM model includes the competences to express personal drive, to empathise, experiment, and create, to find personal expression and style. These competences deal with expressing one’s personal intentions and goals through storytelling and the values these are based upon, by tuning into the moods, and ideas of stories and story characters, and by making artistic choices to adapt and create stories for communication and social processes.
The train the trainer/storyteller course (level 1) is a competence-oriented course offering a reference frame to the storyteller with relevant creative competences for social entrepreneurs to help them develop their enterprises and to identify the artistic and creative skills for a cross-pollination of ideas for greater innovation and a more vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. The course also offers tools and techniques for teaching these competences to entrepreneurs in different socio-economic contexts.
The course also focuses on capacity building of the ‘socially engaged storyteller’, on how a storyteller/artist can deal with social challenges by introducing performative and artistic strategies to other sectors. It answers to the capacity gap of storytellers in the fields of applied storytelling and entrepreneurship in a shared artistic and socio-cultural context.
As such the course contributes to the development of the storyteller as an entrepreneur with elements such as:
- Broadening the market: marketing sector, business, health, creative industries
- Skills diversity: performing art, social work, communication skills, training non-artists
- Search for innovation: cross-disciplinary, activists.
This helps storytellers develop entrepreneurial skills to create a new business model, to develop new services and better reach out to new audiences, be it as a performer, a teacher/trainer or a community worker.
Storytellers can help social entrepreneurs develop a deeper understanding of the communities they aim to serve and help them design solutions that truly address their needs and aspirations.
The entrepreneur as a story-researcher
The research competences contribute to the capacity of the entrepreneur to relate to the target group, to find the right entry, the right imaging, the right story that aligns with his/her core message or idea. This allows to better connect with the audience and to make a message more engaging and memorable. Stories can also offer metaphors and images to help communicate the ‘unspeakable’, the things that cannot be addressed directly.
The entrepreneur as a story-craftsman
Story-craftmanship competences allow an entrepreneur to craft messages, content, and communication strategies that are tailored to the specific audience segments, ensuring relevance and resonance. He will be able to compel narratives that resonate with stakeholders and inspire action, to use appropriate and effective spoken language, narrative structures and vivid imagery to make the story more engaging. He will find, create and apply oral storytelling techniques that suit the story, the audience and the circumstances.
The entrepreneur as an artist
Artistic competences, such as the capacity to express empathy, adapt to different perspectives, and communicate effectively, enable entrepreneurs to navigate the complex social and emotional dynamics of business.
Potential Application:
- ‘Express personal drive’ will help entrepreneurs to share a message, to transmit history, to respond to a socio-cultural context.
- ‘Empathise’ will offer entrepreneurs insight into a story character, will help to embody different moods and ideas, to understand and relate to the experiences of others to connect with their target audiences on a deeper level.
- ‘Experiment’ entices to think outside of the box, to improvise, to try out different possibilities.
- ‘Create’ allows entrepreneurs to concretise and realise ideas, to imagine, envision, conceive, to make artistic choices, to deliver an original product.
- ‘Find personal expression and style’ enables them to be authentic, to find their own words and images, to add personal elements.
The power of imaginative narratives at work
by Tom Van Mieghem (BE), storyteller, self-employed
The Power of imaginative narratives at work is a training course for entrepreneurs and aims to practice skills to transfer any type of work-related content (in a speech, presentation, or announcement) in a narrative, imaginative and moving way. The course has 3 face-to-face training sessions (3 hours each) combined with online peer exercises.
Training session 1 focuses on how to use imagination in a presentation and contains exercises to work with descriptions and imagination. The exercise “I travel to a marketplace” forces participants to describe what they see in their minds (an imagined market place), to tell about it and add elements from other participants. This leads to a mental visual painting of the marketplace. In a next phase sensory elements are added. The image of the market gets ‘burned’ in the head of the participants.
In session 2 it turns out that the images of the first session are still in all peoples’ head, proving the power of imaginative telling. In session 2 they have to tell a story using jabbertalk (nonsense words) with movements and body language. This leads to the insight that we can transfer 60-70% of our messages without using words. This is a very powerful medium and several exercises are dedicated to it.
Session 3 brings all elements together. Participants are asked to think of a work-related message they want to bring and to define it’s essence. In groups of 3 they specify and compare images and look for emotive/moving elements. Then each person tells his/her story 3 times: the line of content, the line of images, the line of emotions.
The storyteller coaches on clarity, persuasion and order and balance of content, metaphor, and emotion.
Activities
Instructions:
Learning to describe and to use imagination. The participants are standing in a circle and are asked to imagine a marketplace. They take turns saying “I arrive at the marketplace and I see ….” adding and describing 1 new element on the market they ‘see’. They are all invited to add this new element to the virtual painting of the market they create in their heads. There is no note taking and the order of the added elements is random, to avoid ‘learning the words by hart’. This leads to a mental visual painting and participants learn to talk and tell about it as if they actually see it. Then, sensory elements are added to the image. The image of the market gets ‘burned’ in the head of the participants. In a next phase this exercise is applied to a place in the work-context of the participant.
Instructions:
An exercise about body language. Participants are invited to tell a story, using jabbertalk (nonsense words) with movements and body language. This leads to the insight that we can transfer 60-70% of our messages without using words. This is a very powerful medium and several exercises are dedicated to it.
Instructions:
Participants are asked to think of a work-related message and to express it’s essence in 3 sentences. They share the essence in small groups and get peer coaching on core messages, images, and metaphors.
Then follows an exercise in groups of 3 to specify and compare images and to look for emotive/moving elements.
Assignment: tell your story 3 times: the line of content, the line of images, the line of emotions.
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Competences for Storytelling Field
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