Tools to Help Create Digital Stories

A host of user-friendly software tools are available to help Toastmasters get started creating digital stories. Experts in digital storytelling and Toastmasters who use digital storytelling recommend the following tools, many of which have free as well as paid versions.

Web publishing tools. Shorthand is a design platform for web publishing, typically used to publish digital magazines, internal communications, and other digital stories via web browsers accessed on laptops or mobile phones. Shorthand features user-friendly “drag and drop” tools, and its website has many good examples of digital stories.

Audio tools. The free audio recording and editing app Audacity creates voice-overs and podcasts, edits music, and more. The software also allows digital storytellers to capture and edit the ambient sounds of environments, birds, animals, and more. Audacity runs on all major operating systems.

Video creation and editing. One of the most popular tools for creating and editing video is iMovie, which allows users to create storytelling video including transitions, photos, audio, music, and more. The software includes storyboards, pre-made video templates that guide novices through the movie-making process. There also are special effects like split screen, audio fade, and an ability to slow down or speed up action shots.

Descript is an AI-powered video editor. Users can type text to generate words in their own voice using an AI speech tool, arrange visuals like a slide deck, and easily collaborate on video creation. The software also features AI-based translation to convert content to different languages.

AI-powered image and text creation. Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology is now commonly being used by digital storytellers for creating images and videos as well as text.

One such GenAI tool is Mid Journey, which uses algorithms to convert text into high-quality images. You simply use a text prompt to describe the kind of image you want, be it artwork, graphics, or a logo, and the tool delivers the images right to you.

DallE-3 is another AI-driven image generator that’s relatively easy for novices to learn. Created by Open AI, the maker of ChatGPT, the tool generates a wide range of vivid images from text descriptions.