Tool Objectives:

1. to overcome anxiety about speaking and interacting with persons from other cultures
2. to use the storytelling technique to develop speaker credibility
3. to allow sharing of cultural backgrounds when introducing participants on the first day of a group collaboration or class.

Tool Description:

For use in a professional development workshop, first meeting in a committee or workplace group setting, or to use in an instructional setting with students. Participants will give a one minute speech of narrative. This storytelling technique will help to reveal cultural backgrounds and raise awareness of different cultural perspectives of all participants. This activity may be completed in person or virtually synchronously. If an asynchronous option is needed, this activity can be completed by submitting videos or written stories – allow one week of time for asynchronous peer review and online discussion.

Tool Procedures:

1. Provide instructions to participants and allow them 3-5 minutes of silent reflection time to prepare to speak.
   1. Decide if you are going to tell a story about the history of your name or if you are going to tell a story about something that happened to you in your childhood. Remember, narratives/stories reveal who you are as a person. Narratives have a beginning, middle, and end. They are not just a list of things that happened.
   2. Example 1: My name is Allison Joy. I am named after my maternal grandmother, Alice Joyce. However, my mother did not like my grandmother’s name, so she changed it slightly. I have always loved my name and felt very special to be named after a woman I admired so much. However, four years ago, my mother adopted a teacup Yorkie – named Alice – which my mother says is also after my grandmother. Therefore, I and my mother’s dog are both named after my mother’s mother, and my mother refers to us both as her daughters. I don’t feel as special about my name as I did when I was younger, because of my puppy sister.
   3. Example 2: My father was in the Army; when he wasn’t stationed at a base somewhere, we would return home to Louisiana. I also spent summers with my grandparents in Louisiana on a farm – well, they stopped with the cotton farming before I was born – so for me the farm meant pigs and chickens, a couple of horses, and whatever else happened to stop and stay awhile. When I was a little bit younger, my grandfather let me keep the runt piglet and bottle feed it. I named it Pickles. Kind of my own real life version of Charlotte’s Web – without the spider. I helped my grandmother gather the eggs from the hens, and they never ever let an egg hatch. So I’d never seen a baby chick. So I begged my grandfather to let me have just one baby chick. One day, when I came home from school, I found a crate on the doorstep. Cheep. Cheep. Cheep. And it wasn’t just one little cheep. It was a chorus of cheeps, – 103 baby chicks. Even the extra ones were cheeping. Yes, that’s right. I asked for one chick, and my grandfather gave me 100 little yellow fluff balls. My parents were not happy to be in the chick business. I took care of them. I played with them after school. I named them as they turned into Rhode Island Reds, Bantams, Indian Fowl, and more. And because I want to tell you a happy story from my childhood, I will end my story here with you imagining a little girl in her gingham dress and ribbon tied hair laughing and chasing chickens around the yard of her Louisiana farmhouse.
2. Allow each person to share their introduction narrative for 1 minute without interruption until all persons have had the opportunity to share.
3. Facilitate open discussion with these question prompts:
   1. What cultural norms did you notice about naming conventions?
   2. What were some of the similarities of the childhood stories told from persons of different cultural backgrounds?
   3. What did you learn about others who are participating in this group or class that informs you about how they may collaborate with others?

Optional: If a large group – you may divide into smaller groups based on type of introduction – story of name or childhood story. This will allow for all persons to have an opportunity to contribute to the discussion.

4. Allow for 3-5 minutes of silent reflection or journaling at the conclusion of the discussion. 

Tool Evaluation:

N/A

Tool Time Requirement:

Small Group/Committee: 25 minutes

Large Group/Class of 30: 45 minutes

Tool Author:

Dr. Allison J. Bailey