By: Shelina Adatia
In January 2019, back in the good ol’ pre-COVID days, we were only two short weeks away from the deadline for submissions to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) Storytellers Competition. This competition “challenges postsecondary students to show Canadians, in up to three minutes or 300 words, how social sciences and humanities research is affecting our lives, our world and our future for the better” (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, 2020, Quick Tips, para. 1)[i]. I had first heard about the competition in 2017 when a friend and colleague, Professor Mimi Masson, had presented her winning SSHRC Storytellers video during a professional development session for the Second Language Education cohort (cL2c). Mimi spoke so passionately about the competition that I vowed then and there that if I was fortunate enough to receive SSHRC funding, I too would participate in the competition. As luck would have it, I did receive funding but soon grew busy with the hustle and bustle of academia, moving SSHRC Storytellers to the bottom of my ever-growing to-do list.
The universe, however, had other plans. As I was sitting in my room one January evening, casually procrasti-browsing through Twitter, I came across a tweet from SSHRC reminding students to send in their submissions to the Storytellers competition. Apparently, that was all it took to jog my memory. While I’m not normally one to write an essay or complete a project in one night, inspiration struck and I ended up writing the first full draft of my Storytellers submission that same night – a spoken word piece that would later, with some fine-tuning (i.e., numerous edits), become the video brought to life by four shining stars: Leo Ito, Nina Ito, Jasmine Rawji & Sofia Rawji.
Watching these children bring my vision to life and viewing my video submission, so beautifully filmed and edited by the ever-talented Nori Ito, brought tears to my eyes. This in and of itself was already a win. Luckily, though, the fun was just beginning. In early March, I received THE email. I had been selected as one of the top 25 finalists from across Canada! Vancouver, here we come! To find out what happened in Vancouver, you’ll have to wait for my follow-up post but in the meantime, get busy! You’ve got a competition to enter.
Given that COVID-19 forced SSHRC to delay the 2020 Storytellers Showcase to 2021, SSHRC has announced that it will be skipping the 2021 edition of the competition. But have no fear, Storytellers, the 2022 edition will soon be here!
Check out the rules and regulations to find out more information about participant eligibility, possible types of submission, deadlines, etc. Then, read through these tips courtesy of SSHRC:
1. Tell the audience the most important thing they need to know about your research. In other words, why should they care about your research? What makes it so special? (Something other than the fact that you’re the researcher 😊.)
2. Avoid jargon or technical language. Use metaphors or analogies that anyone could relate to when sharing your research story.
3. Grab your audience’s attention in the first few seconds or words. Like most of us these days, your audience will have a short attention span so you need to capture their interest right away. This doesn’t mean introducing yourself, thanking them in advance for listening to you, or saying ‘is the mic on?’. Rather, your words need to capture their minds and their hearts. Give them a reason to keep listening.
Most importantly, remember that your story is worth telling and it’s time the world heard it. Best of luck, Storytellers!
[i] Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. (2020, May 6). The Storytellers: Quick Tips. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/society-societe/storytellers-jai_une_histoire_a_raconter/index-eng.aspx
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