The head and heart of storytelling: how to create captivating content through collaboration
Emanuel Díaz (he/him), Head of Content Marketing at IE University.
Simon Fairbanks (he/him), Head of Student Recruitment Events at the University of Nottingham
Every story is different.
Every storyteller is different too.
You might write with your head like Simon: drawing upon tools, techniques, structures, plotting.
You might write with your heart like Emanuel: trusting your feelings, emotions, instincts, improvisation.
Both approaches have their strengths.
Once you recognise your favoured approach, you can lean into those strengths to keep your creative blocks at bay.
Better yet, you can partner with somebody who favours the other approach for winning creative collaborations.
Storytelling is a spectrum.
Takeaways:
How you might identify your storytelling preference - head or heart
How you can embrace your approach to make your head whir or your heart stir
How you can collaborate to create an even more captivating hybrid of head and heart.
Bio
Emanuel Diaz lives for a good story to weave, so he describes himself as a storytelling lover and aficionado. His passion for content started in the banking industry in his native Puerto Rico, where he was leading copy and digital marketing for the institution. The challenge of making a bank soulful caught him.
A Fulbright grant took Emanuel to Madrid to study at IE, where he stayed as the Associate Director of Alumni Communications. Emanuel has a passion for creativity, emotional content, and weaving stories that showcase the beauty of working in the educational sector.
He is also a proud collaborator in LGBTQ+ initiatives and does improv theatre in his free time.
————-
Simon Fairbanks has 15 years of experience in the Higher Education sector. This includes student recruitment, marketing, and events roles on four different campuses in the UK: Nottingham, Birmingham, Warwick, and Coventry.
Simon spent 2 years working at Pickle Jar Communications, advising international schools, colleges, and universities on their content projects.
Simon has spoken at a variety of conferences, including CASE, ContentEd, FindAUniversity, HELOA, HighEdWeb, SU Digital, and Utterly Content. He has been Chair of the Newcomers Track at CASE Europe Annual Conference since 2020.
As a published author, Simon is particularly interested in storytelling within the education sector. He spends his free time reading, writing, running, and finding new ways to make his children laugh.
