AAAS Video: ABT Framework/Story Circles
Summary
TLDRThe video script emphasizes the importance of narrative in effective communication, drawing from the speaker's experiences as both a scientist and filmmaker. It discusses the evolution of storytelling from ancient times to modern applications in various fields, including science. The speaker shares a personal anecdote about transforming a boring documentary into a compelling story by focusing on a central problem. The script introduces the ABT (And, But, Therefore) narrative structure as a tool for clear and engaging storytelling, applicable in both scientific research and everyday communication. The speaker advocates for narrative training, such as 'Story Circles,' to develop 'narrative intuition' and create a 'narrative culture' among peers, ultimately improving understanding and impact in an information-saturated world.
Takeaways
- 📚 The importance of storytelling is emphasized across various fields, including science and filmmaking.
- 🎥 The speaker's realization of the power of narrative came from the editing process of their film 'Flock of Dodos'.
- 🔍 The initial structure of presenting information in a segmented manner was found to be ineffective and boring.
- 💡 The turning point was building the film's narrative around a central problem, which made it more engaging.
- 🧠 Neuroscience supports the idea that narrative structure, specifically problem/solution dynamics, activates and unifies audience thinking.
- 📉 The 'and, and, and' pattern of listing events or facts is identified as monotonous and less engaging.
- 📈 The ABT (And, But, Therefore) narrative structure is introduced as a powerful tool for effective storytelling.
- 🌐 The ABT framework is prevalent in various forms of communication, from speeches to scientific papers.
- 🛠 The speaker developed 'Story Circles' as a training method to help individuals master narrative structure.
- 🔑 The key to effective communication in an information-overloaded world is mastering narrative skills.
- 🌟 The narrative culture, fostered through training and practice, leads to better collaboration and communication among peers.
Q & A
What is the central theme of the advice given in the transcript?
-The central theme is the importance of narrative in storytelling, emphasizing that narrative structure is crucial in making any communication, including scientific communication, engaging and effective.
How did the speaker first realize the importance of narrative?
-The speaker realized the importance of narrative while editing a movie called 'Flock of Dodos.' Initially, the movie was structured as a series of unconnected segments, which was boring to the editors. By reorganizing the content around a single central problem, the movie became more engaging.
What is the definition of a narrative according to the speaker?
-A narrative is defined as a series of events that occur in the search for a solution to a problem. This problem-solution dynamic is essential to creating engaging and effective stories.
Why is the 'and, and, and' structure considered ineffective?
-The 'and, and, and' structure is considered ineffective because it merely lists events or facts without any narrative structure, making it monotonous and boring. This form lacks the problem-solution dynamic that engages the audience.
What is the ABT structure and how does it improve communication?
-The ABT structure stands for 'And, But, Therefore.' It embodies agreement, contradiction, and consequence, which are essential elements of narrative. This structure helps to create a clear and engaging storyline, making communication more effective.
How does narrative structure impact brain activity according to the speaker?
-Narrative structure significantly impacts brain activity. When people watch films with high narrative content, their brains show increased activity and high similarity in active brain regions. In contrast, films without a story result in low brain activity and low similarity among viewers' brain scans.
What are the three central forces of narrative represented by the ABT structure?
-The three central forces of narrative represented by the ABT structure are agreement (And), contradiction (But), and consequence (Therefore).
What is the narrative spectrum and what are its two extremes?
-The narrative spectrum ranges from AAA (no narrative content, resulting in boredom) to DHY (too much narrative content, resulting in confusion). The optimal form lies in the middle with the ABT structure, balancing narrative elements effectively.
What are story circles and how do they help improve narrative skills?
-Story circles are training sessions where groups of individuals meet weekly to analyze and develop narrative structures for their work. This training helps participants practice and refine their storytelling skills, leading to better communication and collaboration.
What benefits have been observed from the implementation of story circles in scientific communities?
-Participants have reported improved communication skills, better narrative structure in their work, and more engaging presentations. The training has led to more effective project plans and a shared narrative language among colleagues, fostering collaboration and understanding.
Outlines
📚 The Importance of Narrative Structure
The speaker emphasizes the significance of narrative in effective storytelling, drawing from personal experience as a scientist and filmmaker. They recount the creation of their film 'Flock of Dodos,' which initially lacked a compelling narrative structure. Through the process of editing, they discovered that focusing the film around a central problem (the intelligent design movement) made it more engaging. The speaker highlights that narrative structure is crucial in various fields, including science, and that a well-structured narrative can transform a collection of facts into a compelling story. They also mention the need for simplicity, metaphors, and analogies in effective communication.
🎬 Avoiding Monotony in Storytelling
The speaker discusses the common issue of monotony in storytelling, particularly in first drafts, which often consist of a series of events or facts listed in an 'and then' pattern. This approach is noted to be ineffective and dull. The speaker shares anecdotes from their film school days and the advice of a screenwriting expert, Frank Danielle, who warns against this pattern. The speaker also points out that even scientists fall into this trap when presenting data without a narrative structure. Neuroscience research is mentioned to support the idea that a problem-solution dynamic in storytelling activates and unifies the audience's brain activity, making the narrative more engaging and memorable.
🔍 The ABT Narrative Structure
The speaker introduces the ABT (And, But, Therefore) narrative structure as a key to effective communication. They explain that ABT encapsulates the central forces of narrative: agreement, contradiction, and consequence. The speaker provides examples from popular culture, such as 'The Wizard of Oz' and historical speeches, to illustrate how ABT is used to create compelling narratives. They also discuss the prevalence of ABT in scientific papers and the benefits of using this structure in research communication. The speaker further explains the 'narrative spectrum,' which ranges from too little narrative content (AAAA) to too much (DHY), and positions ABT as the optimal form of narrative.
🌐 Building a Narrative Culture
The speaker shares their experience in developing a narrative training program called 'Story Circles,' which aims to teach scientists and communicators the art of storytelling. They describe the process of the training, which involves analyzing narrative structures in published abstracts and developing narratives for their own research projects. The speaker highlights the benefits of this training, such as improved communication skills and the creation of a 'narrative culture' among participants. They also mention the success of the program in various institutions and the growing adoption of the ABT framework in scientific journals and other organizations. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of narrative in being understood in today's information-saturated world.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Narrative
💡ABT Structure
💡Problem-Solution Dynamic
💡Story Circles
💡Scientific Communication
💡Monotony in Communication
💡Functional MRI
💡MRAD Structure
💡Narrative Intuition
💡Engagement
Highlights
The importance of storytelling in various fields, including science, and the necessity to understand narrative structure.
The author's realization of the power of narrative through the process of making the film 'Flock of Dodos'.
The initial boring assembly of the film, leading to the discovery of the need for a central problem to create a compelling narrative.
The transformation of the film's structure around a single problem, making it more interesting and coherent.
The prevalence of narrative structure in different areas such as sports, religion, politics, and its increasing recognition in the science world.
The challenge of improving the narrative structure in scientific communication quickly enough.
The comparison of presenting facts without structure to a bowl of spaghetti, illustrating the need for a clear narrative.
The definition of narrative as a series of events in the search for a solution to a problem.
The recommendation from senior voices in the science world for scientists to engage in storytelling.
The potential of narrative to make scientific work more citeable, as suggested by a 2017 scientific paper.
The distinction between narrative and other elements of communication such as simple language and metaphors.
The critique of the 'and, and, and' pattern in storytelling, leading to monotony and lack of engagement.
The neuroscience behind why narrative structure is more engaging and unifying for the audience's brain.
The introduction of the ABT (And, But, Therefore) narrative template and its application in effective communication.
The prevalence of the ABT structure in historical speeches and everyday media, highlighting its universality.
The development of the Narrative Spectrum as a tool to understand and improve narrative structure in communication.
The creation and impact of Story Circles, a training method to enhance narrative skills among scientists and communicators.
The long-term benefits of narrative training, as experienced by participants who saw improvements in their work over time.
The establishment of a narrative culture among groups of people who have undergone the Story Circles training.
The integration of narrative structure into scientific reporting and its adoption by scientific journals and organizations.
The importance of narrative in an information-overloaded world and the call to action for individuals to improve their narrative skills.
Transcripts
there's a little piece of advice that's
been going around in recent years which
is that we all need to be storytellers
we know that we've been telling stories
since back when we were hanging out in
caves it's a great thing to aspire to
but how the answer is you need to
understand one thing and that one thing
is narrative narrative is everything I
realize this first as a scientist then
as a filmmaker but the problem with
narrative is that it can take a long
time to grasp how important it is let me
tell you a little story about how I
first realized this
I made a movie called flock of Dodos it
was about the controversy over the
teaching of evolution vs. intelligent
design we interviewed a bunch of
creationists and scientists and then I
had a team of editors who began to put
the footage together and in the
beginning we assembled it as a series of
segments so we had a segment on
evolution segments on creationism
segment on intelligent design one on
school boards one on Charles Darwin on
and on and as we watched the movie week
after week
my editors began to find it so painfully
boring it wasn't boring for me I was
interested in the material and
furthermore this is my life's project I
had everything at stake with it but to
them it just was boring and we began to
build more and more tension until
finally in the sixth week by the editing
suite I ended up throwing everybody out
locking the door locking myself in for
the next three days as I worked around
the clock and slept on the couch and
ordered in pizza and Chinese food trying
to figure out what was wrong with this
movie until it finally dawned on me what
if I built all the information around a
single problem the question of who was
behind this intelligent design movement
as soon as I set it up that way and
began to build this structure all the
other information focused on that
central problem it began to make sense
and be much more interesting and that's
what is meant by narrative structure
when I brought it back to the editors
they loved it they took at the final
distance we ended up premiering at a
major Film Festival and it aired on
Showtime for a couple of years so that
was my life altering experience with
narrative since then I've come to
realize it's everywhere from sports to
religion to politics you name it
including science
I think the science world is getting
better with communication the real
challenge that I have is are we getting
better fast enough like a narrative
structure is critical to telling a clear
tale in science or in any communication
I watch people take a whole bunch of
facts and ideas and they kind of throw
them together it looks like a bowl of
spaghetti and then you say to them let's
let's apply a little bit of structure to
this let's think about the order in the
way in which we present it and suddenly
it untangles into one long nice piece of
string there's a tail that goes from
beginning middle to ending wonderful
narrative is different there's lots of
different parts to communication there's
being able to use simple language being
able to express yourself in metaphors
and analogies even improv acting
training can be useful but those are all
elements of content a narrative is about
form which is more important but also
can be a more difficult challenge the
word narrative is being used everywhere
these days what exactly does it mean in
Houston we have a narrative I offered up
the simple definition of a narrative
being the series of events that occur in
the search for a solution to a problem
this problem solution dynamic may be the
strongest bridge between science and the
humanities
and this means that the failure to grasp
the power of narrative can be deadly yes
senior voices in the science world are
now recommending that scientists engage
in storytelling even science popularizer
Alan Alda urges scientists to story tell
in 2017 a scientific paper proclaimed
narrative will make more people cite
your work but how to do this as the
question let's begin by talking about
what is not a story as part of my
training as a filmmaker I went to film
school at the University of Southern
California one of the real gems at USC
film school was Frank Danielle a
legendary expert on screenwriting in a
1986 speech he talked about first drafts
of screenplays but his words apply to
first drafts of pretty much everything
he said monotony is a problem in first
drafts there are several reasons for it
one usually is the fact that the scenes
follow in the forbidden pattern and then
and then and then notice what he
identifies this pattern of and and and
this is referring to just listing events
or facts which can be numbing my film
school classmates Sean hood who's now a
major screenwriter in Hollywood
remembers this problem from back when he
was just getting started after film
school I'd go out and I'd teach and I
would I'd sit down and I'd start telling
my story and I could see the executive I
could see her eyes to start to glaze
over I would lose them slowly through
the pitch this happened and this
happened and this happened and then this
happened and that's boring he's talking
about the and and and for me it happens
to everyone including scientists who
give a talk where they say and here's a
graph of this and here's a graph of that
and here's a pile of data when
scientists are called to testify before
Congress they often march into those
committee rooms thinking that if they
show up with the right set of facts
they're going to be able to win the day
but presenting only facts is the N
Mandan form which is a recipe for failed
communication that's a horrible thing to
say but the annan ends are quite
forgettable and I so if you were to ask
me some
and ends I've heard I forgot them I mean
that's one of the wonderful things about
getting older you can use that as an
excuse
somebody said did you go to such and
such a lecture I don't remember all you
have to do is go to any cocktail party
and the first five stories you hear are
all gonna be and and and and and and
it's all about the me me me me me of the
person telling you that story the core
problem is what social psychologists
Paul slovic says citing Daniel Kahneman
that the brain is lazy the and and an or
a a a is basically the default form it's
what we start with very easy to do just
rattle off pieces of information and in
fact it's what happened with my movie
our first draft just as Frank Danielle
would have predicted was AAA structure
now it's not that there's anything wrong
with this structure so long as all the
facts are accurate it's fine it's just
that it's boring and that's our problem
so what's the matter with AAA it just
doesn't excite neuroscience is beginning
to shed some light on this for example
Yuri Hasan at Princeton University uses
functional MRI to study the brain
activity of people watching films one
group watches films that don't tell a
story for this they use video footage of
random people at a park there's no
problem solution dynamic at work this is
what AAA is here's some kids and there's
some trees and there's a trash can and
nothing to focus on really with no story
two things are seen in the brain scans
of viewers very little activity and very
little similarity in which parts of the
brain are active from one person to
another the index of similarity is low
around ten to twenty percent one person
is watching a car drive by another might
be watching people then they use footage
from suspense stories this is high
narrative content very clearly
problem-solution material he's got a gun
but it's pointed at someone therefore we
may be about to see something bad not
surprisingly there's lots of brain
activity and the index of similarities
are
70% as everyone is thinking the same
thought will he pull the trigger this is
the power of narrative the
problem/solution dynamic activates the
brains of the audience and unifies their
thinking so how do you draw on this
power actually some people figure it out
on their own when I started lecturing
students I used to do the end and and
and at least in lists and lists and in
fact in my early days but clumsily but
still black so that I started throwing
in butts I started throwing and did you
know there's this other crazy thing
related to it and you see students going
from this to that suddenly to more
formally understand this transformation
from boring to interesting we return to
Frank Danielle's speech he went on to
say in a dramatic story the pattern
usually for the connecting scenes is and
but therefore these are the ABT words
they embody the three central forces of
narrative agreement contradiction and
consequence we like to color code them
blue for agreement red for contradiction
green for consequence the ABT is a one
sentence template that conveys the core
elements of narrative whether fiction or
nonfiction for example we can talk about
the story of a little girl named Dorothy
and her life on a farm which is boring
but then one day a tornado takes her to
Oz therefore she has to find her way
home
that's the ABT narrative summary of The
Wizard of Oz or we could talk about a
scientist who works on biochemistry and
physiology but has come to the
realization that the important questions
are at the molecular level therefore is
now doing the following molecular
experiments once you absorb the ABT
structure you begin to realize it's
present wherever there's effective
communication like the Gettysburg
Address it's only three paragraphs and a
perfect abt we have a great and mighty
nation but now we're engaged in a
terrible Civil War therefore is up to us
the living to make sure these men did
not die in vain
Martin Luther King jr. began his I have
a dream speech with an abt paragraph and
every day on the front page of the New
York Times you see the ABT structure
where paragraphs even start with the
word but
look for the ABT enough and you start to
feel like it's everywhere learning about
the ABT for the first time is like when
someone tells you there's an arrow in
the FedEx logo once you see it you're
never gonna unsee it the ABT really
shows up everywhere and now here's the
clincher guess where I first learned of
the ABT elements from the co-creators of
the animated series South Park they
talked about the power of the words but
and therefore in a documentary it's been
the secret of their success over the
years so our scientific papers written
this way the answer is yes narrative
structure already exists in the
reporting of scientific research and by
definition it does and there's a well
understood formula for that under
structure the structure is called mrad
and the scientific community came up
with it around a century ago as a way of
forcing the scientific community to use
this narrative structure so it goes
previous researchers have looked at this
and this but they haven't looked at this
element before therefore we had these
methods we found these results and this
is our discussion after formulating the
ABT I took it further by creating the
narrative spectrum for which the ABT is
the optimal narrative form to one side
of it is one way in which communication
goes bad the dreaded aaaa we've already
discussed where the narrative content is
zero and things become boring at the
other end is too much narrative content
we call this D H y standing for despite
however yet three words of contradiction
you sometimes get this form among
academics who can talk on five narrative
planes at once despite this however this
yet this but this contrary to this they
can follow each other but outsiders are
totally lost the ABT is both template
and tool that can lead you to the real
goal what I've termed narrative
intuition the ability to sense narrative
structure in all situations guess what
you need to achieve this narrative
structure can seem simple at first but
it takes a long time to master as
Christopher Vogler says the journey to
understand and articulate these ideas of
narrative is truly endless what this
means is that everyone could bend
that from narrative training the version
of what we've developed is called story
circles it has two parts it begins with
the one day teaser event called a demo
day where up to 50 people are shown the
basic elements of story circles out of
that group are formed the story circles
of five individuals who will meet for
the 10 one-hour sessions one per week
these can be held over teleconferencing
or in-person each hour is a set workout
consisting of narrative analysis
analyzing the narrative structure of
published abstracts and narrative
development using the narrative tools
and language to strengthen the narrative
structure of their own research projects
writing and presentations after running
for prototypes we now have groups
putting the training into practice for
example research scientists at the US
Department of Agriculture we started
story circles with a small group of
scientists and there was some initial
skepticism about it the people came
together I don't think they quite knew
what they were doing and the thing that
was surprising was that within this
first couple of weeks they were coming
back to us and telling us how they had
seen applications in the work that they
were doing but the results didn't happen
immediately it took a year of putting
the training to work for them to really
see the transformation the great thing
about story circles in the way it's run
is it was run we met every week for
about ten weeks it was very difficult
like going to practice but I also am a
musician and I recognize that you have
to practice you have to practice your
scales you have to practice your
arpeggios and by the end of the ten
weeks I felt I got a lot out of story
circles but it wasn't until I was
actually into this and using it for over
a year that I felt like I really got it
recently we had to put together a
project plan and usually involved a
group of scientists standing together
and saying this is what I'm gonna do and
how can I work together with everybody
and this was a very difficult project
because we went from the molecular to
the remote sensing and I brought the ABT
concept to the table
they were very frustrated they were like
we don't have to do it this way we just
want to write it up and it was terribly
boring it was horrible we couldn't get
it but I always put the ABT in there and
eventually people started coming around
and when we got evaluated we got the top
score no revisions necessary we were
told it was one of the best project
plans ever written yes the training does
take time you can't learn it all in a
day but it's worth the investment so in
Australia we have this saying you don't
to be that guy that's too busy digging a
hole with a spoon that he won't go over
and pick up the shovel this is what
Heidi Kuntz the USGS graduate of story
circle said at the end of their circle
that quote the hour per week dedicated
to flexing abt tactics is indeed helping
me find more time in my schedule that's
what happens when you pick up the shovel
so we interview graduates of story
circles from USDA and USGS in Fort
Collins Colorado
for their thoughts on the training I
found I was an and and-and-and-and-and
type of scientist it started in ways
that didn't expose us our own work
immediately but just sort of our
thoughts about other people's work and
then went deeper into our own work it
really has helped me refine how I look
for news and I felt like I could become
a better researcher that's the real
power of doing the story circle is that
you know you you have all these great
perspectives and we now have a more
narrative culture among co-workers
the net result of the training is what
we call narrative culture groups of
people who now speak the same narrative
language of the ABT as described by jeff
Morissette who ran a circle for usgs in
colorado the aha moment I think for us
was realizing that by going through the
story circles we created a little
network of people who kind of could
speak the same language I think you call
it the culture you create that culture
and it's really kind of small tight-knit
sort of like collaboration and
friendship or you know you've got the
person that then you can say now I've
got four people that when I'm submitting
an abstract and it's a quick turnaround
it's due tomorrow is you send it to alls
I mean you say can you guys check this
out and they can say a little much on
the and you haven't what's the Dubs key
template you kind of just have this this
efficient way to really break down but
you really got a group of people that
can help bounce ideas off of and
communicate better the ABT framework is
now spreading at least two scientific
journals have incorporated it into their
writers guidelines and the National Park
Service recently released a 50 page
report that presented the ABT twice and
used it to structure their case studies
between story circles demo days in the
actual story circles we've now involved
over 1,000 scientists and communicators
from government agencies universities
and corporations one of the most
important resources emerging is the
Facebook group we've created for
graduates of the full 10 one hour story
circle sessions
I said in the beginning that narrative
is everything and it is it's been the
most important thing that I've learned
in my 40 year journey from science to
cinema and back I've gotten at least a
little bit better with narrative and you
can too and you need to because trust me
in today's information overloaded world
narrative is the key to being understood
to learn more about this read houston we
have a narrative or visit our story
circles training website
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