Jul 31, 2018

Telling Good Stories - Part II

Telling Good Stories - Part II

Last post, we turned the spotlight on themes: the “so what” of good storytelling that connects people with content in focused, powerful ways. Themes reveal the meanings inherent in your resources and make them relevant enough to elicit curiosity and get audiences thinking. They’re ideas that really stick.

So now that we know what themes are and why we need them, let’s take a look at how to develop one.

Telling Good Stories - Part II Last post, we turned the spotlight on themes: the “ so what” of good storytelling that connects people with content in...

Themes vs. Topics

Themes are not the same as topics—and topics aren’t themes. A topic is your gallery’s or exhibit’s subject matter. Topics can be things like:

Telling Good Stories - Part II Last post, we turned the spotlight on themes: the “ so what” of good storytelling that connects people with content in...

Let’s grab a few topics from the real-world examples we shared in Part I to explore the difference.

  • the human body
  • spies
  • innovators


All great topics, but what about the human body, spies or innovators do we want the audience to understand? Describing a topic in greater detail might seem like a theme, but remember: a more specific topic is still a topic.

  • bacteria in the human body
  • the secret life of spies
  • 20th century American innovators


So if these aren’t themes, what is? A theme expresses the main idea about a topic that we want to communicate. That idea connects tangible resources to their intangible meanings in ways that are relevant to your audience. It should capture, organize, and sustain their attention, providing opportunities for each person to make their own connections to the meanings of the resource.

  • Your body is teeming with bacteria, viruses and other microbes—and that’s a good thing!
  • A spy must live a life of lies.
  • America’s greatest innovators ask big “what if” questions—and answer them in even bigger ways.


Telling Good Stories - Part II Last post, we turned the spotlight on themes: the “ so what” of good storytelling that connects people with content in...

A Theme in Four Steps

Crafting a theme is easier than you might think. Here are four useful steps to help you get started:

  1. Investigate your story potential. Select a topic and complete the following sentence:
    “Generally, this gallery or exhibit is about ____________.”

  2. Get specific. What is it about this topic that you want to communicate? Describe the topic in greater detail:
    “Specifically, I want my audience to know about ____________.”

  3. Dig deep. What’s unique or significant about this specific topic? What’s the most compelling thing you can say about it? Express this “big idea” by finishing the following sentence:
    “After exploring this gallery or exhibit, the one thing I want my audience to take away from it is ____________.”

  4. Refine. Examine this “big idea” and try writing it as a new, complete sentence. Be succinct, and remember that any statement that ties a tangible resource to information (even if this information describes or elaborates upon the resource) is a factual statement, not a theme!

So-So or Stellar? Making a Good Theme Great

Developing a theme requires considerable thought, and it’s normal to run through a few drafts before you get it right. Once you’ve put pen to paper, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Does your theme express more than one idea or even a mash-up of unrelated ideas? Check that it is focused and specific.


  • Is your theme average? (translation: is it, dare we say, dull?)


  • Could anyone develop a theme like yours by swapping a key word or two? Vague, fill-in-the-blank themes that could be true virtually anywhere quickly become irrelevant to audiences.


  • Does your theme state the obvious? Unnecessary adverbs, adjectives like “interesting” or “cool,” and the always controversial exclamation point are red flags for bad themes. All topics can be interesting. Tell your audience why it’s interesting, and tell them why they should care.


  • Is your theme relevant to only a handful of people? Great themes speak to as wide an audience as possible because they likely contain a universal concept: an intangible meaning that has significance to almost everyone, but may not mean exactly the same thing to any two people. Universal concepts are things like love, loss, fear, death, survival, family, and other values, challenges or needs that speak to the human condition.


  • Is your theme a call to action and nothing else? Often we’re so eager to effect change that we forget to connect our audiences to the resource first.


  • Does your theme challenge people to think? Themes are most effective when audiences understand the big idea and can relate its meaning to their own lives. A theme’s job is to help facilitate personal connections, not to simply transfer an interesting idea to another person.


With a great theme in hand, you’re ready to start telling great stories—but what, exactly, should you do with it? Next up we’ll explore how to use that stellar theme with Codex to unite text, images, and video or sound recordings into powerful digital galleries for all the world to see.


If you missed Part I of this blog series be sure to check it out Here - its all about why good storytelling starts with themes.

Or, move on to Part III Here- how to share this great theme we've worked so hard on!

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