May 10, 2019 |

Professor Margaret McAllister – Narrative Competence in Healthcare

Healthcare is in the midst of transformation, with the increasing acknowledgement of the value of arts in promoting patients’ quality of life, relaxation and stimulation. Clinical students as healthcare leaders of tomorrow benefit from arts-based learning and skill development.

Narrative competence is the ability to listen and share life-enhancing stories and involves three interrelated skills: intentional dialogue; being conscious of the self-in-relation; and creating client ease. Story-sharing has therapeutic benefits, including building trust and open communication, facilitating understanding of clients’ unique health issues and goals, and motivating clients to find meaning, motivation, and satisfaction with healthcare.

In our innovative Narrative Competence project, we taught students how to deeply listen to peoples’ stories, and generate a short biographical narrative from them to share with the person’s community. This workshop will share our approach and findings, discussing ideas for how the intervention can be scaled up so that there is national impact.

Participants will gain an understanding of how well-developed Narrative Competence develops skills and capabilities in empathic engagement, communication, cultural competence and collaborative goal setting, improves therapeutic outcomes for clients including safety and quality of life, and produces work satisfaction and wellbeing in clinicians.

About Professor Margaret McAllister:

Professor Margaret McAllister RN, Ed D , Professor of Nursing at Central Queensland University, is an experienced educator, and mental health nurse. She is an expert in narrative competence research, mental health and education. She is widely published and some of her books that you may find interesting are: ‘Solution focused nursing’ and ‘The resilient nurse’.

May 10, 2019 |

Dr Tom Verghese – Hero, Hardship, Highlight

This workshop provides an opportunity for participants to:

  • Facilitate the building of relationships organically between team members.
  • Develop higher levels of trust within the team
  • Build a better collaboration between team members

It encourages the participants to reflect on 3 key questions revolving around Hero, Hardship and Highlight and utilise their reflections to bring better outcomes in their everyday lives.

Participants will leave the session having a better understanding of working collaboratively with groups by developing trust and building relationships.They will have the knowledge to be able to run the workshop themselves and teach other how to as well.

About Dr Tom Verghese:

Dr Tom Verghese is an internationally renowned consultant, author, presenter, executive cultural coach and founder of Cultural Synergies. He has 27 years of global consulting expertise in the areas of Diversity and Inclusion, Unconscious Bias, and high-performing teams and leaders. With an extensive global client base of Fortune 500 companies from oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, automotive, manufacturing, higher education, entertainment, FMCG and financial services, he is a well-respected thought leader in the CQ field. Dr Verghese is the author of 4 books and was born and raised in Malaysia. He currently resides in Melbourne.

May 10, 2019 |

Christine Yeung – Beyond Stereotype- Becoming More

In a world where our society highly focuses on rewarding our masculine characteristics, e.g. go go go, result-driven behaviours, etc. at times we tend to disconnect with or forget to leverage our feminine characteristics, e.g. being inner reflective, nurturing. etc. Both masculine and feminine characteristics are integral part of who we are and these natural traits live within both genders. It is 2019, and we need to look beyond our gender stereotypes, no matter what your gender is, let’s restore our natural intelligence and embrace all parts of us.

Join this thought provoking and highly engaging workshop, through drawing your own Tree of Life, a creative approach to self-discovery you can reconnect with your inner stories and your own unique qualities both masculine and feminine qualities. By the end of the workshop, you will feel empowered and have a sense of clarity about what actions you will need to take to bring out the best in you to lead an authentic and impactful life.

This workshop will help you:

– To understand and reconnect with their own version of masculinity and femininity (by discovering your values, strengths, shadow, passion, deepest drivers) – To be able to identify your limiting assumptions and learn to free them – To learn how to reduce judgement towards yourself and critical reflection skills for self- regulation and empowerment

About Christine Yeung:

Christine Yeung, an organisational psychologist, social innovator, founder and CEO of Beyond Story. In 2009, She started her career in psychometrics consulting at one of the leading psychometric companies. As Head of Organisational Psychology, she could indulge in her new love for data-driven research, and explore the complex yet regular patterns of human constructs, in particularly self-identity, emotions and empathy. Eight years in this role taught her to go deep. She was ready to go broad. She spent two years consulting and studying across Europe, Asia and Australia, working with businesses, non-profits and international agencies at the intersection of governance and culture. Her biggest learning was that ‘just data’ is not enough: to transform, she must connect with the stories and emotions of others, and for this, she must tap into her own emotions. In 2016, She took the next step in my social innovation journey to help people develop a strong sense of identity, understand their deepest stories and emotions, and use them to creative positive and sustainable changes in their environment. For this, She founded Beyond Story – an organisation weaving data-driven and creative approaches to expand our human capacity to thrive in complexity, and restore human-ness in our collective reality.

May 10, 2019 |

Cherelle Witney-Are you hustling or owning your own vulnerable story?

The paradox: Vulnerability is the first thing I look for in you and the last thing I want you to see in me….

Stories of courageous vulnerability are the essence of how we all connect yet we spend very little time with our own. Without a toolkit of “owned” stories to share, how will we inspire and productively support others to know their story and stop the hustle? Owning our stories means we are the author, we determine any changes needed and we write the end. No one writes our story for us!

Join Cherelle in a safe and skilfully facilitated space to explore:

  • Your stories of Courage and Trust
  • How these stories have the power to lift our work, health and well-being?
  • What you will do differently after today?

About Cherelle Witney:

Cherelle is the founder of LIFT Performance Solutions and the inventor of Tricky Treats. She is one of Australia’s few facilitators & coaches accredited by Dr Brenē Brown, to share her contemporary work on courage, vulnerability, shame, trust…all those elements a good story needs! Cherelle’s own business story is in Extra.Ordinary Businesswomen 2017 and her patented invention for dogs appeared on TV in Shark Tank last year. Her work with us at The Story Conference has one focus…. lifting your courage to create your own story. Cherelle believes that the “inward view” required to create your story, directly shapes our working life, our health and overall well-being. With the benefits seen in our families, our work teams and the communities we all live in. Her style is highly interactive, challenging your thoughts and feelings about your own story and leaving you with practical take-aways to share!

May 10, 2019 |

Pre-Con with Andrew Rixon and Cathryn Lloyd: The StoryCookbook Workshop

A Pre-conference workshop running on Wednesday 27th November from 8:30-12:30pm

Stories and storytelling have emerged as powerful creative processes for communication and change across personal, organisational and community contexts. With over 80 activities collected from contributors around the world, The Story Cookbook is one of the most comprehensive collections of story-based activities currently available. This special workshop by the editors of The Story Cookbook will provide a unique opportunity to engage with and explore the value and power of working with story and narratives.

This workshop will be useful to educators, consultants, facilitators, managers and leaders looking to work in more relational and creative ways.

Come along to this workshop if you would like to:
• Learn more about the application of story and narrative techniques in organisations, community building and beyond
• Fill your facilitator toolbox up with a number of new relationship and community building activities, methods and techniques
• Be inspired by the power of story telling and story listening

About Andrew Rixon and Cathryn Lloyd:

Andrew Rixon is the founder of Babel Fish Group and with one of the first PhD’s in complexity science has gained global experience in working with organisations, within Australia and internationally in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Andrew also holds an appointment with Swinburne Business School in the area of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Andrew is the founder of The Story Conference and co-editor of the recently published book “The Story Cookbook: Practical Recipes for Change”

Cathryn Lloyd is a facilitator, creativity coach, educator and holds a doctoral degree in Creative Industries (DCI). She is the Founder and Director of Maverick Minds, a creative professional development consultancy that designs powerful and flexible learning experiences to shift thinking, gain new perspectives and create positive change. She has extensive experience across the creative industries, arts, business, management, and education. With an arts and design background, she brings a multi-disciplinary learning approach to her work, drawing on experiential, arts-based and action learning methodologies and processes to create purposeful learning environments.

May 10, 2019 |

Pre-Con with Yamini Naidu: Lead with humour- Human Intelligence 2.0

A Pre-conference workshop running on Wednesday 27th November from 8:30-12:30pm

You know how you feel after a good belly laugh? Your brain and body flooded with endorphins, recharged, happier. There’s a spring in your step. You feel anything is possible. Imagine amplifying this across your business, team and organisation?

Today humour is the new frontier in influence, engagement and performance. Generating laughs is Southwest Airlines official corporate motto. They test for humour as part of recruitment.

Humour? You have to be kidding, you might say. ‘I’m not funny!’. Humour in business is NOT joke telling. It’s using ‘Humour Power’: using humour skilfully and appropriately to connect, engage and inspire. Humour power can be taught and learnt. No matter what your message, humour helps you stand out and succeed.

This master class is an invitation to learn how to use humour for unprecedented business success. Are you prepared to laugh all the way to the bank?

This workshop will see you learning:

  • How to use humour safely and professionally at work
  • How to jazz up any story with funny lines
  • Tools and tips on using humour in any context

About Yamini Naidu:

Yamini Naidu is the world’s only economist turned business storyteller. She helps leaders move from spreadsheets to story.

May 10, 2019 |

Pre-Con with Samantha Hardy: Conflict stories: taking the melodrama out of conflict

A Pre-conference workshop running on Wednesday 27th November from 8:30-12:30pm

More than 85% of employees experience conflict at work and when this is not managed well, there are negative impacts on the employees’ health and well-being (as well as negative impacts on the business).

In this workshop participants will explore the way that people tell stories about their conflicts, and how managers can work with employees to help them to create more constructive conflict stories. Conflict coaching helps employees manage their current conflict, but also builds their capacity to manage other conflicts in the future, improving workplace culture and saving management time!

This workshop will provide a better understanding of how people tell stories about conflict, and a coaching framework managers can use to support their employees to more constructively manage conflict now and in the future.

About Samantha Hardy:

Samantha Hardy is a leader in the field of conflict management and resolution. She has been described as both a practical thinker and a thinking practitioner.
 Sam has advanced postgraduate qualifications including a PhD in 
conflict resolution as well as many years of international experience as 
a conflict resolution practitioner. In addition to offering conflict coaching
 and mediation services, Sam is also a well-known trainer,
 university educator and writer in the field of conflict resolution.

May 10, 2019 |

Pre-Con with Lisa Evans: Storytelling for Business

A Pre-conference workshop running on Wednesday 27th November from 8:30-12:30pm

Storytelling is a powerful leadership communication tool. In order to stand out in a noisy world, we need to be able to touch hearts and minds with our message. Data and facts alone won’t work. It’s when we combine the logic with the emotion that we can effect change. Leaders are great speakers, and great speakers are great storytellers. Learn how to create compelling stories for any occasion and discover how a simple story, well-told will build your business, enhance your brand and boost your presence as a leader and a communicator. Lisa Evans, MBA is one of Australia’s leading business storytelling experts.

Discover how to use strategic narrative and the power of a personal story to enhance your business communication using Lisa’s 5 C’s of Compelling Storytelling.

About Lisa Evans:

Lisa Evans is known as The Story Midwife. Lisa is an international keynote speaker, author of three books, a Certified World Class Speaking and Storytelling Coach, a TEDx speaker coach, Media Trainer with Media Stable, and an improvisation actor with Perth Playback Theatre. Lisa helps her clients mine, refine and deliver captivating stories for their business or brand. Whether it is the boardroom, ballroom, platform or podium she helps them craft powerful presentations with compelling stories that are hard to forget. Before her transformational journey, Lisa worked for over 20 years as a midwife. Her purpose these days is to help bring life into the world in the form of stories and to empower others to speak with confidence.

May 10, 2019 |

Pre-Con with David Newman: Using Narrative Therapy: finding our stories through the stories of others and making contributions to others

A Pre-conference workshop running on Wednesday 27th November from 8:30-12:30pm

David will be sharing examples of how using the written word can richly and powerfully invigorate stories of well-being. The workshop will include the sharing of therapeutic work with young people in a psychiatric unit, discussion of some theoretical considerations and the exploring of the these ideas with exercises. Four themes that David will be exploring include:

  • How people can ‘find’ their own stories through the stories of others.
  • How people can ‘find’ their stories when making contributions to others’ lives.
  • Ways we use local language, not imposed or professional language as an ethical position.
  • Enacting the principle that people already have knowledge of what brings well-being to their lives and we can utilise stories to make such knowledge more visible to them.

This workshop will provide some reasonably simple ways to document stories of well-being that can in the process, see that well-being is strengthened. Included in this is how to structure therapeutic work with people so that they can make contributions to others as well as find their own stories via others’ stories.

About David Newman:

David is a member of the Dulwich Centre faculty, one of the ‘homes’ of ‘Narrative Therapy’, and an Honorary Clinical Fellow at Melbourne University’s School of Social Work. Recent teaching assignments have included Rwanda, Brazil, Nepal, Greece, Turkey, Hong Kong and Palestine and he is a teacher on the Masters of Narrative Therapy and Community Work. He works in Sydney in independent practice at Sydney Narrative Therapy as well as in ‘Uspace’, a psychiatric unit for young people. David is the author of many papers about Narrative Therapy including ‘Rescuing the Said from the Saying of it: Living Documentation in Narrative Therapy’ and is working on a book with a draft title ‘Narrative Practice with young people and their families in a psychiatric setting’.

To find out more about some of David’s work it is possible to watch the following online talk and access a resource he has written together with Marnie Sather; Assisting young people to find their language through the language of others and Holding our heads up Sharing Stories not Stigma after losing a loved one to suicide

December 18, 2018 |

The Story Conference 2019 — Call for Workshops Proposals Open!

Call for Workshop Proposals Now Open!

Call for Workshop Proposals Now Open!

Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Story Conference and the community of people passionate about working with story and narrative techniques, I’d like to announce the call for workshop proposals for the next one!

Scheduled for 27-29th November 2019, in Melbourne, The Story Conference: Work. Health. Well-being.” seeks to open and hold the space for conversations and explorations around the many rich and powerful ways that Story and Narrative approaches can be used to influence and effect work, health and well-being in individuals, organisations and communities.

Please click here to submit your workshop proposal.

Looking for some inspiration around the theme and putting in a workshop proposal?
How about considering some of the following questions to help you stat thinking….
1. How have you worked with story and narrative techniques in a work-place setting to effect positive change?
2. In what ways have you seen the application of story and narratives provide health related impacts and outcomes?
3. How can story and narrative techniques provide benefits and impacts for well-being of individuals, communities and organisations?
The call for workshop proposals will close February 28th 2019.