by Danielle Prince

Time for another interview with Phil.  I sat down with Phil only two days after he returned from a month-long journey in Nepal. Still warding off jet-lag, but full of interesting stories, he enthusiastically talked to me about storytelling, sharing his passion, thoughts and ideas around it.

Phil Borges Taking Stills with Curious Kiddos (Photo: Danielle Prince)

Today we’d like to hear about storytelling. I’m wondering if you can tell me what the most important aspect of telling individual stories is and why you tell individual stories.

I usually use stories to illustrate a situation or a social issue. Story is the best way to do this. It’s the centuries-proven way to deliver information. It’s the way cultures pass down information; the story has been used ever since cave paintings to transfer information. Stories of individuals are especially compelling to us as human beings. So I use individual stories to illustrate larger social issues. You just look around at our culture and see that people love individual stories. Think: People Magazine, biographies. It is just something we are attracted to. It’s just a vehicle for talking about bigger issues, to illustrate social issues.

So what are the crucial components to storytelling?

I’m doing my best and learning all the time. It is an art and you get better by doing it. To me one of the hardest things and one of the first things I look for is how to cast the story. Make sure you have the right individual to illustrate the story you’re wanting to tell, especially when you’re doing it with multimedia. You want to have somebody that has a compelling story and a compelling back story, one who presents well, and who an audience will be able to identify with. That’s the main thing: you want the audience to be able to identify with that person, see themselves in that situation, so they can really empathize. Then come all the other things that go along with storytelling: pacing, how you illustrate it, how you mix music and alliteration and visuals to make it really work and make it really compelling.

As the storyteller, what is your goal to share with your audience?

The main goal is to have people empathize. To have them take an issue that they may have never even thought of, wasn’t even a part of their world view or they knew nothing about, and illustrate it in a way that makes them care about it. If they care about it, hopefully they’ll be motivated to do something to address it. Maybe they’ll change their behavior, contribute more, or tell a friend about what moved them.

I assume that through your work you have been able to see this happen, that people are moved to act on certain issues you’ve brought to their attention.

I’ve heard about it, I haven’t seen it. People tell me: I got into this when you told a story on that topic; I went to your lecture, or read your book. I hear things but that’s the only way I really know. Metrics is a big thing. We’re starting to touch upon it in our workshops, trying to work with organizations in this capacity but sometimes it takes years to find it out. To be honest it’s mainly anecdotal any evidence I have. I go on what I feel is common sense. If enough people see it, it will do good and there will be certain percentages of that group who will be moved enough to do something.

Here is an example of a story that focuses on one person to illustrate the larger issue of poverty.  This film was created during our 2-week Social Documentary Workshop. If you would like to learn more about our workshops, including our upcoming opportunity in Vietnam, check out our application page.   

Foundation for Women Hero – Nancy from Stirring the Fire on Vimeo.