When thoughtfully aligned with course goals and objectives, storytelling becomes an important tool to promote active learning in the classroom.
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Practical Tips for Becoming a Better Storyteller
Many instructors hesitate to incorporate storytelling into their pedagogies because they doubt their ability to do it well.
- FOLLOW A TRADITIONAL NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
- Stories that are easy to follow have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Focus on making the beginning of the story as engaging as possible so that students are invested early. Conversely, be careful to end the story with a strong key point or insight to avoid rambling (Brady, 2023).
- MAKE THE STAKES OF THE STORY CLEAR
- Students should understand how the story relates not only to course learning outcomes, but also to their personal learning experiences (Hughes et al., 2022). The included details need to reinforce the problem or central conflict taking place (Brady, 2023).
- SHOW AND DON’T TELL
- Instead of telling the audience how you felt at a particular point in the story, provide descriptive details that serve a specific purpose. While your story will be crafted to evoke a certain response, anticipate a plethora of reactions from the audience (Brady, 2023).
- DRAFT YOUR STORY AND PRACTICE BEFORE YOU TELL IT
- Create a rough draft of your story and practice telling it out loud. You may do so in front of a variety of audiences or by yourself. (Brady, 2023).
How to Use Different Storytelling Modalities in the Classroom
DIGITAL AND MULTIMEDIA PROJECTS
Example: Ask students to use multimedia software (Adobe, Canva, etc.) to complete a digital story map where they craft researched narratives that engage course concepts. This project enhances the ability to synthesize information while developing practical research skills (Berendsen et al., 2018; Rose & Johnson, 2025).
WRITTEN NARRATIVES
- Example: Instruct students to write text-based personal anecdotes that relate to specific class objectives to make recognizing real-world applications feel more personal (Eodice et al., 2019; Rose & Johnson, 2025).
ORAL EXPERIENCES
- Example: Tell traditional spoken word stories during lectures or class discussions. Capture students’ attention through intentional use of pacing, expression, and inflection. Using narrative in this way engages students emotionally and makes course concepts more memorable.
IMAGE-BASED STORYTELLING
- Example: Introduce a photo narrative assignment where students use images instead of text to explore a particular course goal or objective. Through this project, learners analyze the complexity of using visual representations to communicate complex ideas.
CASE STUDIES AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS
- Example: Invite students to read, watch, or listen to historical accounts or cultural stories and then write living history narratives from a historical or scientific point of view. This approach encourages students to develop first-person narratives that make connections across the disciplines, connecting the present with the past (Metz et al., 2007; Rose & Johnson, 2025).
ROLE-PLAY SCENARIOS OR EXPERIMENTS
- Example: Have learners investigate, design, and conduct a scientific or social experiment framed as a story. By interrogating the scientific method, learners make connections between the scientific method and narrative structure (Prins et al., 2017; Rose & Johnson, 2025).
PLACE-BASED PERSPECTIVES
- Example: Encourage students to visit a museum and/or monument to engage with material culture that relates to an idea or event explored in the course. Allow students to use documented information found at the site(s) as a source in a research-based narrative or project. Situating learning in authentic contexts prompts students to connect cultural artifacts with their own reconstruction of knowledge.