What’s storytelling’s role in this AI era?
More on storytelling. Your question:
When it comes to appealing to prospective students in this age of AI, what role should storytelling play in our communications?
Let’s recall how we defined storytelling last week. A story has three parts:
A plot (things that happen)
A goal
The inner change of the protagonist — the most important part
People resonate with the struggle, not the plot.
People don’t resonate with the plot or the goal. They connect with the inner change.
That’s why the more individual stories you tell, the more opportunities for connection you create — even when the audience’s circumstances don’t match the protagonist’s.
You know the story of the tortoise and the hare? We don’t connect to the racing a hare in the woods — we connect to the change from doubt to victory. 🐢
In admissions, stories are the bridge from them to you.
Case in point:
I learned this from rockstar admissions leader Kathryn Bezella. When her former team at Penn started sharing more student stories in info sessions and materials, they noticed something remarkable: applicants began referencing those stories in their essays.
The stories became the bridge between prospects and the institution. That’s storytelling doing its job — making connection personal.
AI can help you leverage your stories.
AI doesn’t change or replace the power of storytelling. But it can help you leverage it.
AI as a curator.
Ask ChatGPT to search your site (and the web) for student or alumni stories. Prompt it with the inner change you’re looking for — not just keywords about the plot.
Share your content outline along with a link to your news site. Prompt ChatGPT to suggest stories that reinforce your key points.
AI as a creator.
Don’t make up fake stories.
But if you’re writing with chatGPT, feed it the essentials: the plot, the goal, and the inner change. Then let it build a narrative for you to refine.
Side note: Romeo and the Magnetic Dragon 🐉👦🏻
I’m teaching my son about ChatGPT by co-writing a story based on his favourite series, Dragon Masters. I ask him to outline what happens in each chapter, and ChatGPT helps us turn those outlines into narrative. We use it to make images, too — he describes what belongs on each page, and we turn that into prompts.
I’m teaching him how to use AI by showing him it can help, but it can’t create better than he can.
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