Certificate in Digital Storytelling: From Personal Narrative to Corporate Branding

Aims

This course aims to foster students’ active English learning by examining, critiquing and crafting various forms of digital stories in English. The main purposes of the course are to enable students to apply digital storytelling as a method to process lived experience, to reflect critically on the multimedia narratives on social media, to create meaningful and impactful contents, and to realise the power of storytelling on personal, corporate, and community levels.

Intended Learning Outcomes 

Upon satisfactory completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:

1. Describe the importance of storytelling in both conventional and digital contexts; 
2. Identify key narrative elements in conventional and digital stories (characterisation, story arc, themes, etc.); 
3. Create personal stories by applying elements of narratives in print and in digital format; 
4. Analyse personal/ corporate branding strategies in the lens of storytelling techniques and first-hand production experience.

Target Students 

- Marketing professionals

- Entrepreneurs and SMEs owners

- NGO communications staff

- Teachers and trainers

- Content creators

- Fresh graduates

 This course is recognized under the Hong Kong Qualifications Framework (HKQF) at Level 5 and is now available on Qualifications Register (QR) (QR Registration No.: 25/001438/L5; Validity period from 21 Aug 2025 to On-going). For details of the HKQF, please visit the QR website: https://www.hkqr.gov.hk.

  This course has been included in the list of reimbursable courses under the Continuing Education Fund (CEF) (CEF Course Code: 40C17087A). This course is recognized under the Qualifications Framework (QF Level 5). For details of the CEF, please visit the CEF website: https://www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/cef.

Course Outline

(a) Fundamentals of Storytelling

• The importance of stories 
• The art of storytelling 
• Narrative structure (story arc) 
• Characters and their development 
• The concept and practice of story circles 

(b) Verbal, Visual and Multimedia Storytelling

• Similarities and differences among different forms of storytelling 
• Features of social media narratives 
• Writing and crafting a coherent story (goal setting, visual hook, emotional connection, motivation of action, etc.) 

(c) Digital Storytelling as a Methodology for Personal Narratives

• The production of first-person narratives 
• First-hand utilisation of multimedia tools 
• All-round literacy skills (written, spoken, visual, and technical) 
• Basic skills of multimedia editing 
• Issues of copyright and plagiarism in digital forms 

  
(d) Digital Storytelling as a Methodology for Corporate/Community Narratives

• Analysis of organisation/ corporate-based narratives 
• Storytelling in branding, data presentation and interviews 
• Effective digital presentation skills 

Applicants should hold an Associate Degree/ Higher Diploma in areas related to English language or communication or equivalent qualification.

Applicants with other relevant qualifications can be considered on a case-by-case basis. Applicants may be required to attend an admission interview and/or admission test.

Certification

Students who have completed all assessments with an overall pass and attended at least 70% of the classes will be presented with a Certificate awarded by PolyU SPEED.

Credit Transfer

Upon successful completion of this course (equivalent to 3 credits), students are eligible to apply for credit transfer to the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Language and Professional Communication (Digital Media) at PolyU SPEED. Each credit transfer application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The final decision on credit transfer rests with the relevant programme offering unit.

Applicants for academic award programmes must also satisfy all the programme requirements before being considered for admission.

Eligible applicants may submit applications for reimbursement of tuition fee up to a maximum sum of HK$7,920 to the Office of Continuing Education Fund (OCEF) within one year upon the successful completion of this course. Under the CEF's co-payment ratios by learners, a minimum sum of HK$1,980 will be borne by eligible applicants. The actual subsidy amount depends on the balance of each individual applicant's CEF account. The final approval of application rests with the OCEF. The notification of application result and payment arrangement will be issued by the OCEF. 

To estimate the subsidy amount, applicants can visit the "Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency" (WFSFAA) website (https://www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/en/ce/cef/eligibility.php) and use the "Subsidy Calculator" under "Useful Tools".

Before enrolling in a course, applicants should check their eligibility for the Continuing Education Fund (CEF). For details, please refer to the WFSFAA website at https://www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/en/ce/cef/eligibility.php.

1. Application form can be downloaded from this website.  Before completing the application form, please read carefully the "Guide for Applicants" on the form.
2. Please submit one application form and settle the course fee by bank draft/ crossed cheque/ On-line Card Payment System for each course applied. For details of payment methods, please refer to Section 4 of the application form or this webpage.
3. Non-permanent residents of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) holding
   (i) work visa/ entry permit; OR
   (ii) visa/ entry permit under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG) (except those from Mainland, Macao and Taiwan); OR
   (iii) dependent visa/ entry permit (except those from Mainland, Macao and Taiwan), issued by the Director of Immigration of HKSAR Government may enroll in short-term courses in SPEED without seeking prior approval from the Director of Immigration.
   
   These applicants are required to attach a copy of their identity document(s) and the valid visa/ entry permit to their application.  On admission, they will be required to provide the original identity document(s) and visa/ entry permit for verification. Throughout the course of study, it is the responsibility of individual students to ensure that their identity documents and visas/ entry permits are valid. Other non-local applicants can neither be registered as students nor commence their studies on the short-term courses in SPEED.
4. Applications should be submitted on or before the application deadline via one of the following means -
   (a) By post:
   Send the completed application form, supporting documents (if applicable) and a copy of your valid visa/ entry permit (if applicable) together with the bank draft/ crossed cheque/ payment confirmation page (for online payment) to CPCE Academic Registry - Continuing Education, Room N301, 3/F, North Tower, PolyU West Kowloon Campus, 9 Hoi Ting Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
   
   (b) By e-mail (only for application with payment settled via online system):
   Submit the completed application form, supporting documents (if applicable) and a copy of your valid visa/ entry permit (if applicable) together with the payment confirmation page by e-mail to ce.car@speed-polyu.edu.hk

Applicants will be notified of their application results via email by the School after the application is closed. Please contact the School if you do not receive any notification 1 week before course commencement.

Please choose either one of the following payment methods for course fee: 

(1)  Bank Draft/ Crossed Cheque

You could submit a bank draft/ crossed cheque (made payable to "The Hong Kong Polytechnic University")  by post or by hand.  Please write your name, the course code and class code at the back of the bank draft/ crossed cheque.  Post-dated cheque will not be accepted.

(2)  On-line Card Payment System (by Visa/ Master/ China UnionPay card or FPS/ AlipayHK/ WeChat Pay HK)
You could settle the course fee via On-line Card Payment System by Visa/ Master/ China UnionPay card, or FPS/ AlipayHK/ WeChat Pay HK. For successful payment, please print the payment confirmation page for record and quote the invoice number (as shown on the payment confirmation page) on Section 4 of the application form. No separate payment receipt will be issued to you.

According to the School's Refund Policy, course fees paid are normally not refundable, except for cases of unsuccessful applications/ course cancellation.  Fees paid and places allocated are not transferrable.

Free Webinar on “How Digital Storytelling Builds Personal and Corporate Brands”

Date: 24 November 2026, Tuesday
Time: 7:30pm – 8:30pm
Platform: Microsoft Teams
Medium: English (supplemented with Cantonese)
Speaker: Dr Phoebe Siu, Lecturer, Division of Languages and Communication
Registration: Click this link to register (Registration deadline: 3:00pm, 24 November 2026)