Learn to tell your story quickly with the Grimme-Institut

If an idea is truly great, then it should definitely be shared. At last year’s conference, Germany’s Grimme-Institut and scholarship recipients funded by the Federal Foreign Office conducted a workshop introducing the concept of digital storytelling. The event was so well received that the two organizations have agreed to present it again this year. In an interview, Guido Kowalski of the Grimme-Institut explains the basic idea behind it.

GK: Everyone has stories to tell. These might be memories, experiences or family histories. Digital stories combine narrative elements with digital content. The idea behind digital storytelling is to convey a message’s essence through a personal story. There are also many other ways to use this method. For instance, the format can be used for digital “curriculartelling” to enrich your resume for a job interview. In schools it’s a good way to teach students about media. By using the personal perspective, the audio-visual context and conciseness of digital stories come across with special intensity and power.

DW: This year’s fellowship recipients come from North Africa, Asia and Ukraine. They’re an interesting mix of backgrounds. Based on your experience, how well does the intercultural interaction work?

GK: Frankly, we’ve never had any problems. Last year we did a lot with the participants, and of course this year we intend to do much the same. It’s fascinating to see how quickly people from different cultures find ways to collaborate.

DW: The project is a direct expression of the conference theme, participation. At the same time, it’s more or less a perfect introduction to the world of digital storytelling. Are there any other guidelines for the participants?

GK: We’ll work together for three days at Deutsche Welle’s broadcasting center to develop different stories. To do that, we’ll use all the different forms of media available to us. We ask the participants to bring along an item with personal meaning, something that could trigger the depiction of an event. Or they might be asked to report about a turning point in their lives in the brief length of time that it takes for a match to burn. These are two methods that serve to concentrate a storyteller's focus on a single, core message.

DW: What will happen in your two workshops during the conference?

GK: Anyone interested in digital storytelling can find out more about it on Monday. We’ll present a few examples and explain how they were produced. We’ll also answer technical questions and discuss the future of the genre. In addition, we’d like to demonstrate how it can be an interesting format for journalists. On Tuesday there will be a second workshop in which people can try it out for themselves. Our goal is to show that working quickly doesn’t necessarily mean inferior results. I’ll be mentioning it to people individually, but one thing should be perfectly clear: It's an offer to take part, but no one is required to participate.