The Best Training of My PhD So Far Was Storytelling

A year and a half into my PhD in the US, the best training I have received is learning to tell a good story.

Author: Koutian Wu; GitHub: ktwu01

At its core, a good story makes different brains and nervous systems resonate on the same frequency.

What traditional Chinese education lacks most is training in storytelling and chances to express your own views freely. I was no exception. When I first came to the US, presentations scared me more than anything. I was so nervous I had to write a word-for-word script and memorize it, and then on stage my mind would go blank and I would freeze. I used to think, I can’t even present well in Chinese, let alone English.

Luckily I found a good advisor for my PhD. He is a great storyteller himself, and he creates a lot of chances for us to present our projects and tell stories. He gives comments and suggestions, and he teaches us the frameworks behind a good story.

Learning by watching him and listening to him, I went from fear to actually loving presentations. Without exaggeration, presenting is my favorite part of the PhD. When you tell a story well, it sparks real questions and exchange from the audience. That resonance between minds is deeply satisfying, and the satisfaction pushes you to share more and tell more and better stories.

I also learned that English itself is not necessarily the biggest problem. Whether a story grabs people depends on the story, on how much feeling the teller puts in, and on how it is told. A good story has turns. Telling it well means knowing who you are telling it to.

So why tell good stories?

Well, a good story is leverage. Put crudely, it brings you resources, connections and supporters. At a deeper level, it helps you complete your dream and your mission. Human civilization itself is one story continuing into the next. Think of Musk’s SpaceX going to Mars, early Tesla pushing the shift to sustainable energy, Trump’s Make America Great Again (the verdict is still out). Which of these did not start as a good story that then became real?

So whether you are an undergraduate preparing a PhD application, halfway through a PhD and feeling lost, or applying for a master’s, my advice is the same. Start practicing presentations on purpose, now.

How? Find chances to talk. Group meetings, project updates, study groups, dinner with friends all count. Don’t memorize a script, explain what you are working on in your own words. Afterwards, don’t ask people what they thought. Ask specific questions. Where did you get lost? Where did it get boring? Where did you want to interrupt me? You can also record yourself. Talking too fast, logical jumps, wandering eyes, you only catch these on playback.

Storytelling is not a talent. It is a skill, and skills can be practiced.