I have been teaching Public Speaking and other communication courses in both online and in-person formats for over a decade. One of the biggest things I tell my student is: do the research. Let the research guide the message and become the foundation for which you build an argument.
I have tried to bring that same thinking into my podcasts as we explore various big picture communication topics and how they fit into my current series. Family Communication breeds much discussion and research because so many people want to get it right! If you listen to my weekly podcasts, you will see I make it a point to include some basic research as the basis for my claims and digressions. Most of the research is recent too making it more compelling.
Once again, the research is clear this time, storytelling in families works on many different levels. Social scientists see major connections between parents who intentionally talk with their children, tell them family stories, etc. and those children finding social and emotional success as they develop. These children are showing remarkable abilities to problem solve on higher levels, be creative, and reason better. They can see the links and patterns between items because that is how our stories are told.
Children listen more than we think especially when a parent tells a vibrant, personal story. These are different experiences from books and TV because a story forces the child to use their own imagination nearly 100% of the time. They also have to decode the nonverbals coming from the parents which is also an incredible skill to gain.
So use our current world, you current experiences as a family to springboard into stories from your childhood and even farther back than that. You will show your children they are part of something truly bigger than themselves. They are part of a family narrative that stretches time and generations, and they play a huge role in continuing the narrative. They matter and most importantly, their decisions will matter down the road.
