Guide
What is digital storytelling?
Digital storytelling is a way of combining a human story with accessible media such as voice, photographs, writing, sound, short film or digital collage. The story matters more than the technology.
A simple definition
A story, shaped with digital tools.
A digital story might be a three-minute audio piece made from somebody's voice and sounds from a familiar place. It might be a sequence of family photographs with narration. It could be a short film made on a phone, a written memory presented with scanned objects, or an interview edited into a focused piece.
There is no requirement for digital storytelling to look highly technical. A strong story can be made with simple tools when the creator has something they want to notice, remember, explore or communicate.
Common formats
One idea can take many forms.
Audio story
Voice, interview and environmental sound.
Photo essay
A sequence of images shaped into a story.
Short film
Moving image, sound and text made with accessible tools.
Spoken word
Writing created to be heard.
Narrated photographs
Still images carried by voice and sound.
Digital collage
Photographs, scans, handwriting and fragments combined digitally.
How it starts
You do not begin with software.
- Notice. Start with a person, place, object, memory, sound, photograph or question.
- Explore. Gather the pieces that might belong in the story.
- Choose a form. Decide whether audio, images, writing, film or another format fits.
- Make a rough version. Create before trying to perfect.
- Refine. Edit the structure, sound, images, captions and credits.
- Choose how it lives. Public, anonymous, differently credited, limited or private can all be valid choices.
Questions people ask
Digital storytelling without the jargon.
Do I need special equipment?
No. Many digital stories can begin with a phone, photographs you already own, writing or recorded voice.
Is digital storytelling the same as making social media content?
No. Social media can be one place to publish work, but digital storytelling is about shaping a story deliberately. It can also remain private.
Do I need editing experience?
No. Common Ground assumes participants may be learning the tools as they develop their work.
Can an everyday memory be enough?
Yes. Everyday detail is often exactly where a distinctive story begins.
Common Ground
Try it instead of overthinking it.
The free Story Lab gives you a simple starting point and does not save what you enter.
