{"id":1198,"date":"2011-02-14T10:44:49","date_gmt":"2011-02-14T16:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=1198"},"modified":"2011-09-07T22:32:23","modified_gmt":"2011-09-08T04:32:23","slug":"how-to-use-personal-stories-for-teaching-difficult-subjects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/14\/how-to-use-personal-stories-for-teaching-difficult-subjects\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Personal Stories for Teaching Difficult Subjects"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Open the door to your life a little and see the results!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[This is a part of the\u00a0Evangelization Basics<\/a> Series. Have you read the other parts?]<\/p>\n

Telling personal stories<\/a> is extremely effective for evangelization. It has a way of cutting through uncomfortable situations when discussing difficult subjects.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also one of the hardest things to do! Most of us don\u2019t like getting personal with people we hardly know.<\/p>\n

Believe me, I understand. I had a hard time doing this at first.\u00a0But I’m telling you, if you take a leap of faith and open up certain aspects of your life, it will pay huge benefits in your evangelization efforts.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a technique for telling personal stories I\u2019ve found extremely helpful in dealing with tough issues among even tougher audiences<\/a>.
\n<\/p>\n

My Story<\/h2>\n

When I started teaching catechists at the diocesan level, I did training sessions with a phenomenal public speaker. He mentored me and taught me his tricks.<\/p>\n

Over and over again he told me I needed to include personal stories. I didn\u2019t want to, though. I was a bit reserved and wasn\u2019t used to opening up about my personal life. Also, I wasn\u2019t a story teller and didn\u2019t think I had any good stories.<\/p>\n

He kept after me, and eventually I had to sit down and dig deep into my past. At first my stories were kind of lame, but still I saw a huge difference in how my audience engaged. They paid attention and even bought into what I was telling them.<\/strong> I was hooked!<\/p>\n

The Technique<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s my technique:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I share an opinion, perspective, feeling or conviction from my past the listeners can identify with in their present situation.<\/li>\n
  2. Then I tell them the story of how my perspective changed.<\/li>\n
  3. Finally, I tell them what a difference this new perspective made.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, the story is about my personal journey from one perspective to the discovery of another and how that made my life better. Basically, it illustrates the action I want them to take.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    An Example<\/h2>\n

    I\u2019ll give you an example. One of the hardest things I teach is sexual morality in RCIA. Talk about resistance<\/a>! Nothing makes a group of adults squirm more than talking about sexual sins because almost all of them are breaking the biggies! And, they don\u2019t want to be told they have to stop.<\/p>\n

    It just so happens that my conversion story hinges around my own rejection and eventual acceptance of Catholic sexual morality and artificial birth control. I craft the entire lesson around my own personal story of coming to believe in the Church\u2019s teaching and deciding to quit using\u00a0 contraception. Along the way, I tell them all the stuff the Church deems wrong and why.<\/p>\n

    The Effect<\/h2>\n

    Doing this within the context of my own journey of acceptance cuts through the negative emotions.<\/strong> I don\u2019t point any fingers. I don\u2019t tell them they\u2019re all living in sin. However, the point is clear. By the end of the talk they know what is and what is not acceptable in the Catholic Church as far as sexual practices go.<\/p>\n

    Because I\u2019ve been on both sides of the fence, I speak with a certain authority of experience when I say life is better on the Church\u2019s side. The effect? It gets them thinking, \u201cMaybe he\u2019s right!<\/strong> Maybe I shouldn\u2019t be doing this. After all, he said it didn\u2019t bring him happiness. Perhaps I should consider what he\u2019s saying.\u201d Instead of objections to why the Church\u2019s teaching is wrong or why they don\u2019t agree with it, I get questions about my decisions.<\/p>\n

    How do you use personal stories or testimonies in your catechesis or evangelization? Have you had good success with it? Do you notice the difference? I’d love to learn about it in the comments!<\/p>\n

    [This is a part of the\u00a0Evangelization Basics<\/a> Series. Have you read the other parts?]<\/p>\n

    Image: Michelle Meiklejohn \/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Evangelization thrives on using personal experience. It’s also one of the hardest things to do. Here’s how to tell personal stories to teach tough issues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catechesis","category-evangelization-2","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Use Personal Stories for Teaching Difficult Subjects - Marc Cardaronella<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/14\/how-to-use-personal-stories-for-teaching-difficult-subjects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Use Personal Stories for Teaching Difficult Subjects - Marc Cardaronella\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Evangelization thrives on using personal experience. 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