Brett Schmader 

 Using Storytelling to Gain Attention from Teenagers 

 Challenge and Selection 

 As a high school student , it is very challenging to grasp the attention of my audience as 

 they are grumpy , tired teenagers . When I ’m presenting , I am constantly turned off by my   audience as half wo n’t listen to me but at least look my way and the other half simply puts their   heads into their phones . Although some teachers try to prevent this issue by having a   designated place for phones so they are forced to pay attention , it just turns into all of the class   looking at me but not listening . I needed to find a way to present that gained my audiences full   attention , so I started using storytelling . Storytelling is a great tool that I have incorporated into   my work . What ’s great about stories is the need for a beginning and an end . Once the beginning   has started , it ’s hard to leave before the end . As the plot thickens , people ca n’t stop listening to   find out the resolution of the story . This tool has helped me gain the attention of my audiences   as I present my school projects . 

 Application 

 In my US History class this year , we were learning about the Civil War . My teacher gave 

 our class an assignment to make a presentation about a battle during the Civil War . I chose to   do the Battle of Gettysburg , as I had already known a bit about it . I knew it was a historic battle   and a huge victory and turning point for the Union . When making my presentation , I decided that   telling a story of the Battle of Gettysburg would be most effective to teach my audience about   this event and get across the information I needed to . 

 I started with introducing major people in both sides of the army such as Robert E. Lee 

 and George G. Meade . After a brief description of both , I decided to go from the perspective of   the Union Army and George G. Meade because I believed they would make for a better story   and help my audience understand the battle better . I then started the story off during their   preparations for the battle . During this time I went over their battle plans for their defense   against the Confederates . Meade had just been appointed General of the Union army , so he   had a lot to prove going into this battle . I then went through the actual battle mostly focusing on   the Union side and going over all their struggles and achievements during the battle . I ended my   story off when the Union finally forced the Confederates to retreat back to Virginia .     Insight and Approach 

 I have learned many things about the storytelling tool by using it for presentations . 

 Throughout my presentation , I noticed how my audience actually seemed to be listening . Their   heads were up and eyes directly on me and the board . I even got a couple of questions about   my presentation after I finished which rarely happens . This new activity from my audience 

 shows me how useful storytelling can be for presentations . I even quizzed a few of my   classmates about the battle and my presentation and they all did great answering my questions   showing me that not only did they listen , but they also gained and comprehended the   information . The storytelling tool proved to be very effective for presenting . 

 To go with quizzing my classmates , I also asked for some feedback about the way I 

 presented and if the storytelling method was effective . They definitely liked the storytelling   method , but they all suggested that for future presentations , I should try to make the story more   relatable to the audience . One told me to either continue the story a bit longer or add on at the   end about how this event relates to us , being the United States , or what outcomes have come   from the battle . Now , I will approach my storytelling presentations a bit differently for the future .   Instead of only focusing on a story for what I am presenting on , I will incorporate more relatable   parts of my subject towards the audiences I am presenting to . With these improved results , my   presentations will without a doubt engage and teach my audiences effectively . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Brett Schmader 

 Using Storytelling to Gain Attention from Teenagers 

 Challenge and Selection 

 As a high school student , it is very challenging to grasp the attention of my audience as 

 they are grumpy , tired teenagers . When I ’m presenting , I am constantly turned off by my   audience as half wo n’t listen to me but at least look my way and the other half simply puts their   heads into their phones . Although some teachers try to prevent this issue by having a   designated place for phones so they are forced to pay attention , it just turns into all of the class   looking at me but not listening . I needed to find a way to present that gained my audiences full   attention , so I started using storytelling . Storytelling is a great tool that I have incorporated into   my work . What ’s great about stories is the need for a beginning and an end . Once the beginning   has started , it ’s hard to leave before the end . As the plot thickens , people ca n’t stop listening to   find out the resolution of the story . This tool has helped me gain the attention of my audiences   as I present my school projects . 

 Application 

 In my US History class this year , we were learning about the Civil War . My teacher gave 

 our class an assignment to make a presentation about a battle during the Civil War . I chose to   do the Battle of Gettysburg , as I had already known a bit about it . I knew it was a historic battle   and a huge victory and turning point for the Union . When making my presentation , I decided that   telling a story of the Battle of Gettysburg would be most effective to teach my audience about   this event and get across the information I needed to . 

 I started with introducing major people in both sides of the army such as Robert E. Lee 

 and George G. Meade . After a brief description of both , I decided to go from the perspective of   the Union Army and George G. Meade because I believed they would make for a better story   and help my audience understand the battle better . I then started the story off during their   preparations for the battle . During this time I went over their battle plans for their defense   against the Confederates . Meade had just been appointed General of the Union army , so he   had a lot to prove going into this battle . I then went through the actual battle mostly focusing on   the Union side and going over all their struggles and achievements during the battle . I ended my   story off when the Union finally forced the Confederates to retreat back to Virginia .     Insight and Approach 

 I have learned many things about the storytelling tool by using it for presentations . 

 Throughout my presentation , I noticed how my audience actually seemed to be listening . Their   heads were up and eyes directly on me and the board . I even got a couple of questions about   my presentation after I finished which rarely happens . This new activity from my audience 

 shows me how useful storytelling can be for presentations . I even quizzed a few of my   classmates about the battle and my presentation and they all did great answering my questions   showing me that not only did they listen , but they also gained and comprehended the   information . The storytelling tool proved to be very effective for presenting . 

 To go with quizzing my classmates , I also asked for some feedback about the way I 

 presented and if the storytelling method was effective . They definitely liked the storytelling   method , but they all suggested that for future presentations , I should try to make the story more   relatable to the audience . One told me to either continue the story a bit longer or add on at the   end about how this event relates to us , being the United States , or what outcomes have come   from the battle . Now , I will approach my storytelling presentations a bit differently for the future .   Instead of only focusing on a story for what I am presenting on , I will incorporate more relatable   parts of my subject towards the audiences I am presenting to . With these improved results , my   presentations will without a doubt engage and teach my audiences effectively .
### Output: 