Brené Brown is the author of several books and an academic for the field of social work specializing in vulnerability and shame. A former supervisor of mine suggested that I look her up as a professional development activity. Since then I have heard several talks and podcasts that Brown has published. What strikes me about Brown’s research and way of presenting her data is that she tells a story in a very human and vulnerable way, leading through example what she has found through her research. In her twenty-minute TED talk at TEDxHouston Brown (2010, June) begins her story with how she once felt uneasy about the title of “storyteller,” but found the courage to embrace it as a Researcher-Storyteller. By sharing her own experiences surrounding vulnerability and wholeheartedness, Brown encourages others to accept that these sometimes uncomfortable experiences actually enhance the human experience rather than take away from it.
Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisguillebeau/7523483078/
Right at the start of The Power of Vulnerability Brown talks about how she came to understand her role as a storyteller and a researcher. She tells the Houston audience that her purpose in speaking on that day was to “tell some stories about a piece of [her] research that fundamentally expanded [her] perception” and changed the way she works and lives (Brown, 2010, June). Brown shared her own personal account of a journey to embrace vulnerability and the qualitative research that showed her that vulnerability is at the heart of a fulfilling and meaningful human experience. To prove that she is willing to lead by example, Brown shares about a time when she visited with a therapist to help her reconcile this newfound information. Brown experienced a breakdown, which her therapist helped her reframe as a spiritual awakening around this idea that vulnerability is something to be embraced rather than suppressed (Brown, 2010, June). This is a story of success and failure communicated to help inspire change in an audience and to expand our perceptions of the human experience (Denning, 2011). The story of an academic struggling and finding their way back to the stage proving to the audience that she too struggles with vulnerability, therefore, we too are allowed to struggle. This was the right story to tell in an effort to change the perspectives of listeners, transmit values, and perhaps even share a piece of who Brené Brown is (Denning, 2011). Overall an effective communication of her message.
Brown is an excellent storyteller and one that is attentive to their audience. At one point, Brown asks the audience “Am I alone in struggling with vulnerability?” It was clearly not a purely hypothetical question as she waits for the audience to respond. At another point in her storytelling, she stops for a moment of audience laughter to acknowledge what that lighter may mean. She says “I know that’s knowing laughter” reflecting that the audience must know what she means about drowning sorrows with a banana nut muffin and beer (Brown, 2010, June). Through the sparing and judicious use of visual aids, and moments of direct communication with the audience Brown ensures that the audience is in alignment with and fully understands her message (Denning, 2011).
These moments of reflection, which feels like a moment of breaking the fourth wall, creates a sensation within the audience. This feeling that Brené Brown must truly understand the human experience, and my experience as a person who perhaps at one time or another has eaten or drank to numb their feelings. This moment of shared consciousness, or felt sense puts the audience at ease and helps to solidify that these experiences are not only my own, and not only those of Brené Brown but a common feeling that almost anyone could identify with (Whalen, 2007).
References
Denning, S. (2011). The leader’s guide to storytelling: Mastering the art and discipline of business narrative. Jossey-Bass.
I will check Brown out. I have not seen her story.
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