Story Spark Day 34 - Zoom Frame Walk

Awesome, so welcome everyone to day 34 of the StorySpark session where we meet every day at 6 AM for 15 short minutes to learn a new concept, to practice something interesting and go with a smile. So let's start with today's session, this is again one of the concepts of delivery that we discussed in detail in our Storython session, and that is how do you— how do we use the stage? So called staging the stage. So this activity is called the Zoom Framework. So before we move on, I want to ask Venkat, what do you understand by, you know, using the stage when speaking?

Yes, to cover the audience, stand in the middle of the stage. Or if you're not able to cover the audience, then walk in the stage left side and right side.

Yeah, true to large extent. So basically, when you have movement, it adds clarity as well as energy to your message. So we feel like it is only when we have physical speech that we can add movement. But even with Zoom, you have a lot of things you can do trying to add energy, trying to add emotions to the message. So this is our exercise. What we are going to do is we are going to— you can take one of these prompts. You can talk about the time you achieved something you didn't think it was possible. You can think about a decision-making moment. You can think about meeting someone who inspired you, motivated you. So any one of these, you are going to write a story about that. So it could be any story used previously or a new one that you just remember. And then once you have composed the story in 2 minutes, I want you to use the different parts of Zoom frame to convey different emotions, to convey different timeline. So how you can use it? You can come really close and go back. So that is called zoom in and out. You can use left, right, and center for different timelines, and so on, so forth. So you can use, and then we'll have a— you'll have a practice, and then I'll give feedback. All right, so clear with the activity?

Yes, yes, Haritosh Srivastav.

Okay, so let's, uh, write a story for 2 minutes and then we'll get into the exercise. Hi, Dr. Alka. You are on mute. Yeah, so we are— what we are doing is we are doing an exercise of using the stage, the virtual stage. So we are writing a story. And then we are going to use the different parts of the stage for conveying different emotions, different events, and so on, so forth. So you can also write or reuse one of the stories or write a new one. And then after 2 minutes, we'll probably start with the story of Venkat and then go around the room. Last 20 seconds. All right, Srivastav, are you ready with your story?

Yes, Haritosh Srivastav.

Go ahead.

After pandemic situation, all the shops are open because the business, all the small business, everything was gone. So when I went to first, uh, after lockdown, going to office, I saw many shops are open and I couldn't find even tea shop. In my office opposite, only one small tea shop. I was excited that why don't Venkat don't open his shop, tea shop? Because in our office, total 1,000 employees are looking for tea. Then I asked the owner, shop owner, and about my opinion about opening the shop. She said, okay, uh, rent is this much and this may— this is the advance. Within 15 days I opened bakery. I spent money and arranged everything. Initially I didn't invest in to make the product. I get from vendor and supply in my shop. So this way I started my bakery within 15 days. And do you remember how it goes? Within 2 months I closed the business. Even I got a great vision, I couldn't continue because every day morning I, uh, secretly watching the business because opposite my office, I am always thinking about you. Anybody, my colleagues will come and meet me, so I say I close my face and, um, come to my, uh, bakery. I always come to my bakery too as a customer, not an owner, my point of view. And I didn't In the car, within, in front of customer, I don't speak. And the business, what I expected, was not much, not much done. So that's the reason I couldn't continue my business. I, so I closed the business within 2 months. Thank you.

Great job! Awesome! I love your— I love seeing your progress, and I can clearly see many progress today. First, let's hear it from Dr. Alka. First of all, let's write Story Power to You, SPTY. And yes, let's hear it from Dr. Alka. What did you think? Unmute yourself.

I have to tell my story, right?

You can give feedback about Venkat's story and then we'll get into it.

Very nice and very inspiring. Your stories are so practical and and down to earth. I like that about you, and you are relating it with your own life. So I really like your stories. Thank you for sharing those simple, beautiful lessons that you give in day-to-day life. I really love that.

Awesome. Thank you so much, Dr. Alka. And love that. I mean, two things you did amazing. One is when you said, no, instead of saying I looked everywhere, you actually practically looked everywhere. So that was like, yeah, great way of showing that, no, you're not just telling, you are actually showing, and that is how your eye contact was there. So that was amazing. Second thing you did great was, uh, you said, 'No, I wanted to hide my face.' So you just did— you just didn't say, 'I wanted to hide.' You actually hide your face with your palm. So that was great gestures, and that also covered part of stage movement because it is also how you are conveying yourself. So great job. Yes, there are a few ums and ahs that we need to work upon, and some of it will cover in the next Todithon session, but great job. Love that bakery story. Awesome. Let's now hear from Dr. Alka.

So there was a time in my life when I was very low. I was working as an associate professor in the medical college, and something that my professor told me I did not like. I wanted to leave because there was— my child was not feeling well. And when I went to apply for leave He just looked at me and he said, "You're not giving your full time to this work. Every time you want to run away for whatever reasons it may be." So I felt very hurt. I went to my room and I started crying. And I was thinking like, what does he mean by that? If I'm not giving time to my work? And then it so happened that there was this Chief Justice of India who was taking classes next to my house. On pranic healing. One day I just walked into his class and he was showing us breathwork and he was showing us many things. And he just said one sentence which has stuck with me for all my life, and he said that, 'Be a giver, not a taker.' And I realized that I was not giving enough time to my department in where I was working. I was only thinking about my child which was newly born, and I was giving more time mentally and physically to my child. And it reflects on your work. If you don't do your work properly, it reflects. And that changed my life, that whatever you do, give your best to that particular thing. Whatever project you have, whatever work that you do, give your attention to it. Work 100% and 50% on that. So that was my learning when I met Justice Doodat. Thank you so much. I forgot gestures. Oh my God.

Okay, awesome. Let's go to Venkat. What's your feedback?

And the content and the takeaway message is so good, and that relates to my— one of my book reading. In that also, I understand that we are setting the goals and to-do list and focus, and we go very fast.

Yeah.

And we, we forget to live a life and achieve the goals. So when we go and do the action with, um, love the action and take time to achieve, to not rush to achieve, but the main thing is live and love that moment. So that is related to Alka ma'am's story.

Awesome, awesome. I think we need to improve on the feedback part, but that's okay. All right, so I'll go ahead and I'll be the, what do you call, devil's advocate. Okay, and you already know the feedback, so I'm gonna cut straight through. I think it's a great story, uh, could have been much more if you use the framework It could have been much more vivid, but I know it's— this is what we do in short time, right? So this is how— this is giving you a thought to work on the content. Maybe you can use it for the next story. There are a lot of opportunity for you to use things like vocal variations, things like even the eye contact and the stage movement that was there. For example, I'll give you— there were at least 3 characters in the story. One was, of course, the What word was the professor or head of the department? Head of the department, right? Who is saying that you're not giving your full time. So you can use a little bit of vocal variation to show that he, that person, is a little bit angry with you, a little bit frustrated with you. So in terms of not changing the tonality, which we'll cover a little bit in the stuthan as well, but even changing a little bit of angle to show that it is a dialogue, not a narration. And then you yourself and thinking about— so when you're thinking, you can look up and thinking like, yeah, I'm giving so much of time to my family, but I'm not able to give that. I'm trying to give my time to— I'm basically confused. So that is the second one. And the third one was the person that he said, be a giver, not a taker. Not a taker. Okay, yeah, I didn't have the word taker. So that was again, uh, what do you call is foundational phrase, the main crux of the story, that this is the takeaway message. 'Be a giver, not a taker.' So there also you can add another vocal impression to make people understand that this is important, right? So you can even come close. So when talking on stage, you can also be a giver, not a taker, something to add a little bit more poise to the message you are conveying.

Yes. Why is it that we forget to enact the story? I'm only concentrating on the story. I completely forgot the framework. You taught us so much challenge and conflict and—

because we are not practicing it, and that is one of the reasons, right? So if you don't practice something, you keep forgetting, right? So the research shows that if you learn something, you don't revise it within 24 hours, 50% of it is anyways gone. So, and if you don't practice it within, within a week again, then again 75% of it is gone. So that is how our brain works, because brain has got so many things to do it forgets. And you are, you are a student of neuroscience, you know all of that, right? So I don't need to tell you, but it's just the revision. So you, so you have to keep doing so that it goes from the conscious part to the unconscious or subconscious part of the brain, so it becomes part of you. So, so then you don't have to remember. But till the time it reaches there, you need to— that is why there are strategies like 21-day challenge, 30-day challenge, and all, which, which makes you part of your psyche. Yeah, great question.

No, I like the way you said it. And I never take part in the challenge, but I think I must take part in the challenge. I only tell myself I don't have time, I don't have time, but time has to be created. If you have to improve what you have to improve, a time has to be created to do the challenges.

It is not about— so I read this book which is, uh, Attention Management something. So basically It talks about that, no, it's not time management. You can't manage time, you can't generate a new second, you can't destroy a second. It's all about focus and priority. If something is in your focus, something is your priority, you make time for it. If you have a near and dear one coming from far, far place, you make time regardless of whatever going on. So if it is your priority, you will take time, you will create, generate money, and you will do everything aside and focus on that. But if it is not on that priority, then it will go on the Backburner.

What's the book's name? You remember what the book's name?

I will, I will share that name. I think it's called Attention Management or something. I'll have to check. I long back I created a review of the book, I think 3 years back, so I should have that somewhere.

Thank you, thank you so much.

Awesome. So yeah, story power to you as well. Everybody write SPTY to Dr. Alka. And this was day 34 of Story Spark session. I hope this is bringing some Habits of becoming a storyteller, because you don't become a good storyteller in a day. You have to keep practicing it for a few days, few weeks, and sometimes few months to become better at it. So thank you so much, have a great day, and we'll probably meet tomorrow for Storython and Mastermind session combined based on the polls. I've not seen many people put the poll, so we'll have—

tomorrow will be what time?

Yeah, tomorrow at 7 PM. So Sunday, 7 PM, we'll meet for the Storython and Mastermind combined session. So that will be the last session of the year in the Confident Storytelling Hub. And we'll also meet tomorrow morning for this StorySpark session. So before I close, as I say every time, until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep going out of your comfort zone. See you tomorrow. Take care.

Bye. Thank you.

All the best.