In this in‑class workshop for NIFT students, the instructor introduces the IDEA storytelling framework—Identity, Discovery, Emotion/Realization, Aspiration—as a structured way to craft a 60‑second personal narrative. The session walks participants through four prompting questions (when the interest began, what was tried, what was felt/realized, and future aspirations) and has them write the questions in their notebooks before drafting the story. The instructor then explains where the framework can be applied—interview introductions, portfolio pitches, networking, LinkedIn bios—and why an engaging story creates an "unfair advantage" in competitive settings. Delivery nuances are covered: varying speaking pace, maintaining eye contact to build trust, avoiding word‑by‑word memorization, using natural hand gestures and a confident handshake, and handling forgotten points without admitting guilt. The class is given ten minutes to write their story using the framework.
Chapters
All right, so IDEA framework. First one is the identity. What is an identity? That you all are student of NIFT, right? You had some interest developed about this course, about this program. You need to get to that moment. When did this happen? What is it that triggered you to think about this as a career, as a profession, as the way to go, right? So think about that, maybe note it down in your notebook. When did this interest begin? The question, not the answer yet. Give you 30 seconds, right? And once you write, give it, huh, right? So just write down this particular question, when did this interest begin, and leave a space about a paragraph or so. This is where you're gonna write once we go into the writing section of it, okay? Everybody done that, writing the question? Okay, done, done writing the question. You don't even have a pen. All right, no worries. D stands for discovery. So when you had that moment of identity, what did you try? Like somebody was saying, Prem was saying that now he participated in that event where it was all about reusing. What was it that you tried, or you explored, or you created, or you struggled with? What were some of the things that you tried, right? Once again, leave a space for about a paragraph or so, so that you can write when you go into that, right? Everybody have written the question? Yes. Okay. E, emotion. Or realization. Remember when Prem was saying his story, I asked him that what did it made you feel, what did it made you realize? So you need to go to that, and this is the glue of your story, right? So there's a glue there, it makes you stick. So stories that stick have that emotional factor where you talk about how did it made you feel. You felt really good, You felt bad, you felt amazing, what you felt inspired. There are a lot of feelings and emotions, right? So you need to think about that emotion or realization that happened. And last one is the aspiration. So you started with the past and now you're going towards the future. Where, where do you see this shaping in future? Where is it leading to? So maybe you started as a experimented. You were just curious, what is this NIFT all about? What is this fashion technology? And then you went for one of those exhibitions and you really felt that material. You really felt that, okay, I feel like this is something that I want to do. And then it really made you inspired. So you experimented more, you went to different places, you went on Google, you research, and that made you that I want to be part of this institute, or I want to do this. Particular profession, right? So that is the IDEA framework: identity moment, discovery, emotional realization, and aspiration. So that is what you have written all the questions, everybody? Yes. Okay, fine. Everybody written all the 4 questions? All right, so this is what we are going to do. You're gonna— it's not volunteer now, you will have to be do. So originally planned as volunteer, but I think this is the assessment now. But before we get into you writing I just want to share where can you use this IDEA framework. So somebody said, okay, tell me about yourself, Akshita. You can just say that, okay, I am student this and this, or you use this framework to make an interesting conversation. And why you need to be interesting? Because people remember you. There's a lot of— I don't want to scare you all. But yes, there is a bit of competition outside, right? And if you want to stand out from 5, 10, 50, 20, 100, 1000 people, then you need to be little different. You need to have that unfair— remember the word? Unfair advantage, right? If you're doing your portfolio intro, whenever you do in future, you're doing your networking, you go to any networking groups, you're going to present your product, your services, that when you can use it. Or even for your LinkedIn. How many of you are on LinkedIn? Awesome, almost everyone except few. If you're not on LinkedIn, maybe you're missing out, so think about that, right? So you're gonna write your 60-second story using that IDEA framework: where did your interest start, what did you try, what did you realize, and what future does it give you? I'm gonna just quickly cover a little bit about the delivery nuances. And then I'll bring back this slide, uh, and you are gonna write it for next— how much, 10 minutes? To give him 10 minutes. Okay, so some delivery tips. Okay, do you think if the person is speaking very fast is a good communicator? Sure. Anybody? Nobody? Or you think the person who is speaking on the same tone, on the same pace Is a good speaker? Why? It gets boring. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. If it is the same thing, then you start feeling yawning, start feeling that I'm, I'm out of the place. Yes, ma'am, I'm looking at you, right? So you want to keep the interest alive, you want to make sure that your interviewer is interested in you. And not watching his or her phone, right? Number 2, what does eye contact have to do with the presentation? Why do you need to have eye contact? Confidence. Okay, let me give you an example. Okay, so how many of you feel that storytelling is very important for you and we all need to learn about storytelling? And yes, it is, it is a good skill. Right? Or I look at you and say, you know, do you have a story? You want to tell a story? Storytelling can make it— make or break your career. In which case you feel more connected to me? Why? Right. So what does eye contact do? It engages the audience. Yes. And it connects. It connects. Yes. And why do you need to engage or connect? Well, there's a word which starts with T and ends with T. It's a 5-letter word. It's trust. Absolutely. Let's give a big round of applause. Trust is the economy of 21st century, right? Because everything that you buy, everything that you hire, everything that you give is based on trust. If you don't know There are so many beggars. Do you give money to every beggar out there on the street? No, only people you feel that genuinely that person need help, then only you will go to your pocket and give 1 or 2 or whatever rupees you want to give, right? So if you are able to make eye contact with your interviewer, that's when the trust starts to build. That's when person feel that, okay, this person has confidence, is authentic what he's selling, telling or selling, and you want to give more attention to that. What's the third one? I've done that, guilty, pardon. What happens when you try to memorize word by word? It feels like you're reading out of a book and you tend to forget more often. Yes, very well. What else? Yes, there won't be any continuation. And the general tendency is that if you forget the word, you want to go right from the beginning and restart. But would that be interesting for your audience or for your interviewer, right? So that is why knowing or internalizing is important. So even when you come here Don't try to go word by word. And if you miss a word, this is a secret, speaking secret. All of you pay close attention, right? If I am telling you something and I forgot my first point, but if you don't know what was my first point, would you, would you ever know what was my first one if I don't tell you? No, right? But a lot of times speakers go on stage or on interviews and say, I'm sorry, sir, I forgot my first point. Now, do you know I forgot my first point? Yes. So I call it don't admit guilt before committing the crime. So even if you forgot your point, that's okay. Nobody knows it, nobody knows it, and nobody cares, frankly. These small nuances, you may feel, okay, why is it so important? How to do hand gestures? How to do handshake? But these small things make a big difference. When I said when you have two candidates at the same capability level, then these are your unfair— awesome. So that's the other thing. So now going back to the previous slide, I'm gonna keep this open. You have 10 minutes, so start writing your stories based on this question.
