Story-Driven Dialogue: What is it and why does it matter?

Recently, the phrase “story-driven dialogue” has been rattling around in my brain. What does it mean? Why is it important? Here is my definition: a conversation in which the subject matter of a story provides the launching-off point for a broader discussion of ideas and meaning. 

I love these conversations because they are full of possibilities. People resonate differently with characters and their choices. A complex moral discussion arises from Chain-Gang All-Stars because one person argues that Dr. Patricia St. Jean should not have destroyed her laboratory in an effort to prevent her invention from falling into the wrong hands, while someone else argues that she made the only acceptable decision. If her actions also destroy the cure for Parkinson’s, should she be condemned? Does it matter that, ultimately, her efforts were futile? 

I have my own answers to these questions, but what makes story-driven dialogue so powerful is that other people have different answers. Whether or not we agree is far less important than how we engage in the discourse. The best discussions create space for people to share their personal experiences, their thoughts about the world today, and the lessons they resonated with from the story. In that vulnerable space, we practice the essential skills that make for good conversation: the ability to listen, to ask questions, and to make connections with our own experiences and beliefs.

Story-driven dialogue is not easy. You must arrive prepared with your own ideas and questions about the story. You must practice listening attentively. And then, because it is not enough just to listen, you must work on the art of “adding on”. Human learning is dialectic: we learn through a process of inquiry and dialogue. One person speaks, and they spark a new idea within us; we share, and they ask a question that we ponder together. Vulnerability is key. We can’t limit ourselves out of fear of saying the “wrong thing”. The best conversations create space for a half-formed idea to grow into a meaningful understanding that we could not have arrived at independently.

Thinking critically. Listening attentively. Asking relevant questions. Practicing vulnerability. Building collaboratively. These are skills I hope to cultivate throughout my life. Story-driven dialogue is one way to practice them.

I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss March’s Novel Exchanges stories with you. I am sure that I will learn something new (and I hope that you will too).