Persuasive Storytelling: An Oratory Training Lab

Today’s neuroscientists confirm what ancient storytellers knew all along: the human mind is hard-wired to absorb and recall vivid narrative. Because stories engage emotion, they are the most powerful tool we have for capturing attention and inspiring action. This is why storytelling is critical to success in business, politics, advocacy, education, and everyday life. In this immersive training experience, we’ll practice the rhetorical arts of pitching, advocating, and interviewing. Our primary focus will be on delivery; how we use the voice and body to captivate an audience and move them to respond. This includes the use of a variety of mind-body techniques to transform performance anxiety into performance energy. Each week, in addition to the 75-minute class meeting, there will be four 25-minute “home workout” assignments, for a total of 3 hours per week, including homework. Half-credit course. This course meets the Transformation Skills Requirement of the Conflict Transformation Academic Cluster./