Simplicity in Narratives

Two things this weekend reminded me how quickly and how often we can share important narratives with other people in simple ways.  

First, I was involved in worship training. One of the things we talked about was stage presence. Music worship leading is a tool. It's not an end in itself, and our hearts may feel one way, but there is nothing wrong with extending a welcoming attitude in how people lead from a stage. In fact, this is part of what can help invite people into this element of worship. Worship should be our approach to life, but why not try to use music to encourage people? A good stage presence can be a useful part of that story.  I know the topic is bigger than this short summary, but this is one element of the conversation. 

Second, this Forbes article on narrative advertising had my attention the whole time. It's the perfect length to both share why narrative is important in all forms of communication, and it made me want to watch the videos. I'm a sucker for family advertisements, and the one at the end was one I hadn't seen before. 

It isn't necessarily the length of what we communicate, it is how we communicate it. We should always be creating a story people want to read, listen to, or watch.  Complexity has its place. When communicating, we should be sure there is a reason for complexity.  Also, what we may term complexity may just be an excuse for being bad communicators. 

Here's the Edeka ad (a supermarket chain in Germany).  

Here's one of my favorite ads that may get you in a different way.