Stories In The Middle

Maxwell Cofie
Aug 29, 2017 · 2 min read

Sarah: All men are cheats!
Thelma: why’s that?


Sarah: I caught him in the act!
Thelma: who are you referring to?


Sarah: Prince cheated on me with Beth!
Thelma: Sorry to hear about this.

Above is a typical dialogue between two friends. Spot the oddities.

Narrating an evident or a story to someone is an inevitable happening in our daily interaction in life. As we have verbal intercourse every now and then with people, there is the need to implore the right and simple strategies not to bore your listeners inorder to ensure an effective communication.

I have observed and discovered two ways of sharing a story. I call them Apex Inclination and Hold My Hands.

The Apex Inclination is when a narrative is started from the climax or conclusion and further probing brings it to the Genesis. This mode of communication is mostly preferred by people who are impatient with slow chatters.
Assuming a story is in 3 folds, that is , (a) Beginning (b) Mid Term (c) Apex. Here the narrator starts from the apex and a question from the listener brings him/her to the Mid Term bit and a further probe leads to the beginning. Equation; [c - 1] + [b - 1] +[a - 1] = Apex [where 1 represents a question]. In this case, even though at the end the same story is shared, the reverse approach helps to only focus on the relevant aspect as the listener literally steers the conversation.

I realised that I pretty much fall in this category as I prefer being told what exactly one is driving at outrightly inorder to prevent being in the know of unnecessary details.

Hold My Hand is generally a narrative technique which takes it form like a plank that is inclined at an angle of a 90 degrees to the base. This starts from the beginning, may take numerous detours to hike ones interest, plateaus at a point and finally climaxes. This technique is popularly an ideal way of communication as it’s incrementally progressive. This is a core attribute of great listeners and people who are somewhat methodical & systematic in their dealings.

Find your narrative pattern to ensure effective communication & feedback.

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