---
title: Why we Tell Stories
description: Rinaldi shares incredible stories of players, fans and coaches.
---

[The Colophon - Balfour Yearbooks Blog ](https://blog.balfour.com)

# [Why we Tell Stories](https://blog.balfour.com/why-we-tell-stories)

 Written by [Kel Lemons](https://blog.balfour.com/author/kel-lemons) | Oct 6, 2016 3:23:00 PM

*

Are you missing the Olympics yet? One of the best aspects of the two-week sporting bonanza is the storytelling. NBC spends months researching, filming and editing features on the athletes.*

Tom Rinaldi does it on a weekly basis for ESPN. His voiceover indicates you’re in for a great story. From heartbreaking to soul lifting, Rinaldi shares incredible stories of players, fans and coaches.

Those stories remind us everyone has a story to tell. And it’s important to share them. Your staff members’ challenge is to get people talking, relating their unique experiences, situations, histories, challenges and triumphs.

**As you seek out new stories to tell:**

- **Encourage your staff to talk to students they’ve never met before.** Consider sending them out once a week to discover new stories on your campus, not coming back until they’ve met a new person and have a great story to share.
- **Think about what will make their stories interesting** and worth reading or watching.
- **Have a beginning, middle and end to the story** to draw the reader in and keep them.
- **Include descriptions of specific, memorable moments**. Include strong details and colorful quotes.
- **Feature those stories in your yearbook** so they’ll be shared and permanently recorded.

**Need inspiration?** Grab some tissue and watch a few of Tom Rinaldi’s features for ESPN: a [Game Day story about a sick LSU fan](http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001OlDlR1BezJ21juy-UV_6_cGuRQgOxXTBmfc8N-G_9hpX7DK8IxH89PCieCumSUFZFDdreM-TXjuwRMss-ZPL5tYBgd7sLc3p62smPmrLq8-p8XPlNez01WVC9bYOnZqX8OnY0YO_YzxhhI45n_mK9teaj7vhe0S-1oh-lwUjkTw=&c=q0jxNf4kjZCFFzHhFUhZFQCZgHFVUcNAD9OZAmR-lbmfHHgoYFSu3A==&ch=Q7n1qHJpzbmj48sx6CMhMao89AHAlhJ07a_184uzVp5idSBmovjohw==), [sportsmanship on the basketball court ](http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001OlDlR1BezJ21juy-UV_6_cGuRQgOxXTBmfc8N-G_9hpX7DK8IxH89PCieCumSUFZy9-ybiG4MhFX2jUaA9bscQqRVqADwdx3twCxNKJb_Rf7FogBPMiBjG7px1VjAbePEwCzSDvPbpoa8e9V16pXT5eja7DA2vG0QaWLE_QEN20=&c=q0jxNf4kjZCFFzHhFUhZFQCZgHFVUcNAD9OZAmR-lbmfHHgoYFSu3A==&ch=Q7n1qHJpzbmj48sx6CMhMao89AHAlhJ07a_184uzVp5idSBmovjohw==)and the night a [basketball manager became the star athlete](http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001OlDlR1BezJ21juy-UV_6_cGuRQgOxXTBmfc8N-G_9hpX7DK8IxH89PCieCumSUFZaZ9oM7z-WTSaQGBvjGjOmY02wwNqOoZZ0WNoefZb8bEdqv89xf2oHNMCQF_6pYBblrriFMuNRXH5Iq2OImrKZVJT5gh7QzUGwqp56f9k7Mo=&c=q0jxNf4kjZCFFzHhFUhZFQCZgHFVUcNAD9OZAmR-lbmfHHgoYFSu3A==&ch=Q7n1qHJpzbmj48sx6CMhMao89AHAlhJ07a_184uzVp5idSBmovjohw==).

[View full post](https://blog.balfour.com/why-we-tell-stories)

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