View source for Mastering-Communication/C2/Narrating-a-story-in-PAR-format/English




Approximate duration of the tutorial: 

Title of the script: '''Narrating a story in PAR format'''

Author: Saisudha Sugavanam

Illustrations by: Rohit Bhasi



Keywords: storytelling, storytelling for effective communication, storytelling for job interviews, storytelling for imagination, storytelling for better recall,  PAR for storytelling, story narration using PAR format, video tutorial, spoken tutorial.


{| border=1

|| '''Visual Cue'''
|| '''Narration'''
|- 
|| '''Slide 1:'''


'''Narrating a story in PAR format'''
|| Welcome to this '''Spoken Tutorial''' on '''How to narrate a story in PAR format.'''
|- 
|| '''Slide 2:'''

'''What are we going to learn?'''
|| You remember, in the previous tutorial, we looked at PAR briefly. 

It stands for Problem, Action, and Result.
|- 
|| Show a college boy with a notebook in his hand and with a puzzled look


(on right side of present scene adding text “Use of PAR format” 
|| Imagine someone is asking you a question.

It could be your friends or parents or your interviewers in a job interview. 


Can we use the PAR format of storytelling to answer the question?

Let's figure it out in this tutorial.
|- 
|| “Animated circle with number 1”


Introduce a thought bubble to the boy’s image and in the thought bubble show
|| There are four steps to writing a story in the''' PAR format. '''

Let's understand them one by one

The first step in storytelling is to know who you are telling the story to.

We call them the target audience.
|- 
|| The same boy talking to a couple of friends
|| Your target audience could be your friends
|- 
|| The same boy talking to his parents
|| Or your parents
|- 
|| The same boy talking to his interviewers
|| Or your interviewers.
|- 
|| on right side of present scene adding text “Target audience”
|| In general, it's anyone who has asked you the question.
|- 
|| “Animated circle with number 2”

Show friends and in the thought bubble have our young protagonist joyfully riding a cycle or spinning a top
|| The 2nd step is to understand what information they are looking for from you.

Do your friends want to hear about an event that got you into trouble as a kid? 

Or 
|- 
|| Show parents and in the thought bubble show the protagonist walking into a college
|| Do your parents want to hear about an event you organized in college?

Or
|- 
|| Show interviewers and in a thought bubble show the progranist in an office set up 
|| Do your interviewers want to hear about your skills that would benefit the company?
|- 
|| Zoom to boy’s face with paying attention expression
|| Paying attention to the question will help you understand what they are looking for. 

If the question is not entirely clear to you, ask for clarifications.
|- 
|| 

Make a gender neutral image with a thinking gesture. The thought bubble should have a question mark. 
|| Think of a question someone asked you? 


Do you remember who that person is and the information they were looking for?
|- 
|| Change the expression of the thinking person to a smiling face and have a glowing bulb image in the thought bubble.
|| Great.

You now know what a target audience is. 

Keep in mind target audience can be a person or a group of people.
|- 
|| “Animated circle with number 3”


Show stories as text


Then transition the text to a collage of images like a child playing with friends, a young person walking into a college, talking in front of an audience
|| Let’s look at''' '''the third step 


The third step is to think about what you want to say. 


Stories are a great way to connect


Remember, this is about saying in a way that connects with the target audience.
|- 
|| 
|| But have you ever wondered what these stories are? 


They are nothing but experiences. 


They can be your own experiences or the experiences of others. 
|- 
|| “Animated circle with number 4”


Showing a young woman, Smitha, sitting in front of an interview panel.

Show interviewers asking questions to her.
|| Now lets see the fourth step and the final step. 

How to structure and present your experience in the PAR format. 

For that, I’m going to tell you about a final year college student, Smitha. She is attending her job interview. 

In the interview the interviewers tell her that the role requires multitasking. 

They want her to share her experience of handling multiple tasks at the same time. 

They wanted to know what challenges she faced.

How she handled them

And if she managed to complete the tasks.
|- 
|| Smitha thinks.
|| Smitha thought for a while and then structured her thoughts like this.

Who is the target audience: My interviewers

What information are they looking for from me: 

They want to know if I have the ability to multitask. They want to know how I handled challenges I facedThey also want to know if I managed to complete my tasks. 

|- 
|| 
|| What story should I tell?: Maybe about how I handled my project submission and played the lead role in final year at the same time?
|- 
|| 
|| She then structured the story in the PAR format of storytelling.
|- 
|| Text “ PROBLEM”Smitha has sheets of drama script in left hand, and a heavier academic book in the other hand. There are more academic books around her on the table. 


There are arc lights and curtains behind her on the left side. 
|| What was the problem:

Both my project work and drama practice needed my time. 

For the project work, I had to know my subject very well. 

To play the lead character in the drama, I had to memorize my dialogues.

I had to work on my voice modulation and body language

What if my project team meetings clash with my drama rehearsals? 
|- 
|| Text “ACTION”

Divide illustration into four parts as per smitha’s schedule. 

Show her handling both the drama and the project efficiently.


Smitha on whatsapp and phone communicating to her teams.
|| What action did I take:

I created a detailed to-do-task list, outlining specific activities for each day.

I allocated time slots for various activities. 

I informed both my project mates and drama team about my commitments. 

I made it clear to my project mates that my drama practice would get over by 8pm. I was available for project-related tasks after that. 

This ensured that my project meetings did not clash with my rehearsals. 
|- 
|| Text “ Result”


Smitha is submitting the project with team


Drama rehearsal with team
|| What results did I produce?


My teammates and I submitted the project on time.


During the culturals, my performance in the drama was highly appreciated by the audience



|- 
|| We are back to Smitha at the interview table.
|| I hope this experience showcases my ability to excel in multitasking.

Do you think Smitha’s story convinced her interviewers about her multitasking ability?

What smita told her interviewers is available as a script. You can access it by opening the file smita-script.txt available in the code file link.
|- 
|| '''-Slide 3:'''
|| Ok, let’s summarize what we learnt in this tutorial?
|- 
|| Summary


Can we show the summary pictorially? 
|| To answer a question in PAR format of story telling, the steps we need to follow are:


The first step: 

You need to know who you are telling your story to.


The second step:

You need to understand what information they are looking for.


The third step:

You need to think about the experience you want to share.


The fourth step:

Your experience must communicate the information they are looking for.

|- 
|| '''Slide 4:'''


Assignment
|| As an assignment,

I want you to tell your friends your experience of performing two tasks. Like Smitha, you must have worked on both the tasks at the same time. Use PAR format of storytelling to tell your story. 


After you narrate your story, ask them what they thought about your presentation. 


The more often you practice, you will get better at storytelling.
|- 
|| '''Slide 5:'''

'''About the Spoken tutorial Project'''
|| The video at the following link summarizes

the Spoken Tutorial project.

https://spoken-tutorial.org/What is a Spoken

Tutorial

• Please download and watch it.
|- 
|| '''Slide 6:'''

'''Spoken Tutorial workshops'''
|| We conduct workshops and give certificates.

• For more details, please write to us.

contact@spoken-tutorial.org
|- 
|| '''Slide 7:'''

'''Answers for THIS Spoken Tutorial'''
|| If you have questions in THIS Spoken Tutorial,

Please visit our website.

https://forums.spoken-tutorial.org

• Choose the minute and second where you have the

question.

• Explain your question briefly.

• The Spoken Tutorial project will ensure an answer.

You will have to register to ask questions.
|- 
|| '''Slide 8:'''

'''Forum for Specific Questions'''
|| The Spoken Tutorial forum is for specific

questions on this tutorial.

• Please do not post unrelated and general

questions on them.

• This will help reduce the clutter.

• With less clutter, we can use these discussions

as instructional material.
|- 
|| '''Slide 9:'''

'''Acknowledgement'''
|| The Spoken Tutorial project was established

by the Ministry of Education(MoE), Govt of India.

IIT Bombay
|- 
|| '''Slide 10:'''



|| With this we have come to the end of this tutorial. Its me Sudha signing off. 

Hope you enjoyed learning. 
|-
|}