I am in my final week of lap swimming in this Storytelling and Digital Media pool and as I prepare to submit my series of blogs and our final assessment, I have looked back deeply into the water that I am about to step from and my return to study experience.
I can still taste the fear from when I took the plunge 12 weeks ago, it was palpable. The vulnerability I felt submitting my first task ‘about me’ and my first blog was paralysing. I hadn’t even heard the term ‘infographic’ before – how embarrassing! There have been so many moments like this where I have felt a tidal wave of emotions; fear then exhilaration, nerves then courage, embarrassment then relief, whelm and then more whelm 😉.
So, to say that it has been an incredible ride is an understatement!
Apart from learning a whole lot about myself through this experience, I have learned a mountain of skills that whatever my future holds, will have me swimming the laps of the marketing pool like I’ve got flippers on.
It’s difficult to summarise what learnings were the most profound for me through this unit, there were so many. I had moments that were eye-opening and heart-swelling. The Burberry storytelling example from week one really opened my eyes to the importance of brand narrative and then the power of emotion in Western Sydney University’s story about Deng Adut, child soldier to refugee lawyer took storytelling to a whole other level.
(Source: YouTube)
For me authentic, meaningful, relatable, shareable, and engaging are my go-to ingredients for crafting a successful story. And then of course knowing when and where to reach your audience through the variety of digital technologies and platforms. Planning with sequence and structure, measuring and monitoring, and staying true to your brand’s (consumer’s) values form the foundation for great outcomes to be achieved.
We learned about convergence culture and the importance of participatory culture where there is “some degree of social connection with one another” (Jenkins) – both terms I had not discovered until this unit. You can learn more about Jenkins’ viewpoint on participatory culture here:
Source: YouTube
There is a real art to successful storytelling. Through this 12-week period, we were equipped with learnings about the key elements, story structure, the power of visual and audio, and the science and technologies behind it all, to become powerful narrators of our own.
I have learned and discovered so much throughout this unit and not just course content, about me personally. I look into that icy water that was so intimidating to me on my first week and I see my reflection smiling back up at me – you did it, you made it!
Tell me about your return to study journey in the comments below. I’d love to hear all about it.
“Your mum has had a baby. It’s a boy”. This was the message from the neighbour down the road, telling us that there was another sibling (I have eight) joining the clan. We didn’t have our own telephone, so important phone calls were made to our neighbour Mary, who would then venture down the road to let us know any important news.
Heck, I sound like I am from the turn of the 18th Century!! I was born in the 70’s, from an age of spin dial telephones and 3 channel options on your ‘tellie’, ABC news on the radio and The Weekly Times newspaper. I come from the analogue age that existed before digital media, before the World Wide Web was invented ( https://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/ ), before mobile phone devices, iPod ‘n pads and all the other technologies that followed.
I come from an old media culture, a spectator culture where stories were controlled by corporate media, through television, newspaper and radio. Where participation meant penning a letter to the editor if you wanted to make comment. From an era where you ‘speak when you’re spoken to’ (one of my mum’s favourite sayings – probably in an unsuccessful attempt for quiet in our crazy bustling household).
“The ever-increasing usage of mobile devices has seen the world of communication and information transition from a ‘spectator’ to a ‘participator’ new media culture.”
Replay my mum having her eighth baby in today’s digital world of participator media culture: There’s a selfie with bub taken within minutes of giving birth posted to Instagram and linked to Facebook, siblings and relatives all tagged, nurses mentioned and celebrated, weight, length, acknowledgments and thanks, etc. Within seconds the first ‘like’ and after a few hours, hundreds of welcome comments, likes and shares. The story has been shared far and wide and has allowed for audience participation. No more phoning neighbour Mary to let the family know or waiting for the classifieds baby announcement ads in the local paper!
“To create and convey our own stories or engage and enhance others’ stories and share it with the world, instantly and across an array of available platforms has become our new storytelling way of life.”
Not only do our friends and family want to hear our stories, organisations, news corporations, journalists, PR and marketing agencies want us to come together, to share our interpretation and experiences. No longer are we expected to ‘speak when you’re spoken to’, rather we are encouraged to be heard, to collaborate, to share knowledge, news and opinions, to participate, to share, to engage and interact…to tell our story for the world to hear.
The world of media sure is different now!
I would love to hear how you’ve seen media culture shift in your lifetime – is digital media something you’ve grown up with, or have you had to transition from the old media world? Tell me your story in the comments below.
I think I might be crazy…but I have decided to return to school to complete a Post Graduate Degree in Marketing. That’s not the crazy part (well we could debate that), the vulnerable crazy part is that I am going to share my weekly study story with you here. Be kind.
DO I NEED A LIFE JACKET OR A PRETTY FLORAL BATHING CAP?
She was old, like really old. Why was she here with us, with all us young people about to embark on our final year of study? Talk about bringing down the vibe a notch or two…now we have mumsy hanging around for the whole of year 12!
I never knew why ‘she’ (her name was Sue) returned to study, I never asked. I wish I had. I wish I knew what her pursuit was and where she was headed. I wonder if she ever got there.
My name is not Sue, but I am her. I am older (probably older than Sue when she returned to study) and I am returning to study. It’s been 32 years since Sue and I completed our VCE. 32 years!!! There has been a lot of water under the bridge in those years; a husband, 3 children (boys who are beyond effervescent), 3 businesses that are just as effervescent as my boys, travel, a separation and devastation, new love, but no formal qualification. So, here I find myself, at the edge of the degree swimming pool, wondering if it’s cold in there, how deep the water might be, will I be able to swim, wondering whether Sue got to the end of her pool and whether the water was cold for her?
The starter’s gun has sounded, I am swimming…for now.
Have you felt the fear of a new life venture and found the courage to dive in? Tell me your courage story in the comments below.
