The wonderful novelist, speaker, and storyteller Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie presented a TED Talk on the “Danger of the Single Story” in July of 2009. This is a presentation that I have seen many times and am quite familiar with. Her personal and authentic storytelling style is engrossing and impactful. I have presented it as a discussion piece in training for Court Appointed Special Advocates. We discuss how the danger of a single story might impact the children in foster care that we advocate for, and what the single story of foster care might be. I now have pleasure of considering the expressions and messaging that she used in the context of leadership communication.
Adichie shared a deeply personal story about her experience growing up in Nigeria and later moving to the United States. She began with observations about taking in media that focused on American and British people, stories and experiences. These are mere statements of facts. She did not elaborate to explain how they have impacted her or made her feel for some time into the story. She did, however, share her thoughts on the matter. Seeing only people with fair complexions and American sensibilities made her believe that people like her, with darker skin and Nigerian experiences did not belong in literature. This was her single story of literature. Adichie also shared how she felt pity for her domestic help as she developed her own single story about him being poor and helpless. The needs expressed in this story are not explicit. She does not state that the desire to dispel the myth of a single story was to satisfy a need, but it is apparent to me that it is when she reflected that “it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person,” (Adichie, 2009, 13:36).
An effective message contains all of the four elements named above; observations, thoughts, feelings, and needs (McKay et al., 2009). Adichie’s did to great effect. Adichie’s message reflects the core issue of whole message of expression when she quoted Mourid Barghouti saying “the easiest way to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do that is to tell their story and to start with, ‘secondly’” (Adichie, 2011, 10:03). So too, will a message be partial and ineffective if it does not contain all of the four elements of expression (McKay et al., 2009).
References
Adichie, C. N. (Speaker). (2009, July). Transcript of "the danger of a single story" [Video]. Retrieved February 20, 2021, from https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/transcript
McKay, M,, Davis, M., & Fanning, P. (2009). Messages The communication skills book. New Harbinger Publications.
Adichie shared a deeply personal story about her experience growing up in Nigeria and later moving to the United States. She began with observations about taking in media that focused on American and British people, stories and experiences. These are mere statements of facts. She did not elaborate to explain how they have impacted her or made her feel for some time into the story. She did, however, share her thoughts on the matter. Seeing only people with fair complexions and American sensibilities made her believe that people like her, with darker skin and Nigerian experiences did not belong in literature. This was her single story of literature. Adichie also shared how she felt pity for her domestic help as she developed her own single story about him being poor and helpless. The needs expressed in this story are not explicit. She does not state that the desire to dispel the myth of a single story was to satisfy a need, but it is apparent to me that it is when she reflected that “it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person,” (Adichie, 2009, 13:36).
An effective message contains all of the four elements named above; observations, thoughts, feelings, and needs (McKay et al., 2009). Adichie’s did to great effect. Adichie’s message reflects the core issue of whole message of expression when she quoted Mourid Barghouti saying “the easiest way to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do that is to tell their story and to start with, ‘secondly’” (Adichie, 2011, 10:03). So too, will a message be partial and ineffective if it does not contain all of the four elements of expression (McKay et al., 2009).
References
Adichie, C. N. (Speaker). (2009, July). Transcript of "the danger of a single story" [Video]. Retrieved February 20, 2021, from https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/transcript
McKay, M,, Davis, M., & Fanning, P. (2009). Messages The communication skills book. New Harbinger Publications.
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