Storytelling Builds Connection, column for Iron County Today

 Storytelling Builds Connection

by Sara Penny

Storytelling is a valuable skill for daily life. Dry facts and graphs do not connect with audiences as well as a good story. 

Whether it is a sales pitch or a grant application the better the story the more successful the outcome. Stories are not just for entertainment.  They build emotional connections and reveal truths that are otherwise not evident.

Think of the crucial value of stories in your life.  What books opened new insights? How do you see yourself in relationship to family stories?

I love reading because it takes me to places and times I would otherwise not know about. With a really good book it is hard to finish because it is like good friends are moving away. 

My daughter gave me "The Small and the Mighty" by Sharon McMahon. It tells the stories of twelve unsung Americans who changed our history. The author explained she wrote the book because "the best Americans are not the critics, but the doers. They are the people who went for broke when everyone else yelled to turn back. They are those who know that one becomes great because of who they lift up."

As an historian McMahon has a direct storytelling style that doesn't try to deny the flaws of her characters. Indeed, a flawed character is often more interesting.  She explained, " Our minds want to categorize people into one of two camps: Good or evil. Angel or demon. Most often, that viewpoint denies people the fullness of their humanity and can overlook positive contributions or ignore negative impacts." 

In one of the stories she talks about how Bernice Robinson was recruited to be a reading teacher because she knew how to listen. She was a hairdresser and "talked with people for hours every day, heard their problems, and made them feel important. Those were the soft skills many other people lacked."

That listening skill not only connects people, but also creates good writers because they can gather fascinating stories. Visiting with family and neighbors can reveal amazing stories.

 I so appreciate my Grandma Helen Hafen writing down her life history. Recently I had some old VHS tapes digitized and there was Grandma talking about how she used a rifle to shoot the rattlesnakes by the outhouse at the Calf Springs Ranch when her little children needed to do their business. She had wonderful flower gardens and I especially remember the tasty strawberries. 

I remember my father, Howard Nelson, telling about skiing to lower fences after an early snowstorm on Cedar Mountain near where they grazed sheep and how scary it was trying to get back up to the road. I had found his old wooden skis from the 1930s in the garage when we were cleaning. Sometimes cleaning out a box of old photos or papers can spark interesting stories. 

Everyone has stories to share.  What are yours?

(printed March 2025)