BYU School of Communications Professor Miles Romney Teaches the Importance of Storytelling in His Faith + Works Lecture
Before stepping into the classroom, Miles Romney built his career telling stories in the fast-paced world of sports journalism, covering everything from college football sidelines to professional basketball broadcasts.
Romney got his start in journalism after graduating from Brigham Young University in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in sports broadcasting. Now, as an award-winning journalist, he brings his expert industry perspective into his teaching and research.
As a professor in the journalism and sports media program at BYU, Romney helps others understand and shape how stories are told. He encourages students to see storytelling as more than a technical skill — as a lens for understanding the world and their place in it.
“Your story matters,” Romney said. “You are the central character and the hero of your own unique story.”
That belief was the focus of his recent lecture delivered as part of the College of Fine Arts and Communications’ Faith + Works series, where faculty share how their careers and religious beliefs intersect. Romney’s message invited students and faculty to reflect on their own experiences and consider the power of stories.
In his lecture, Romney framed storytelling as something deeply and inherently human.
“Stories are the basic building blocks of the human experience,” Romney said. “Stories, as we can tell, are rooted in the beginning of our existence. They are a divine form of communicating values and ideas.”
Romney connected storytelling to his faith as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sharing his belief in storytelling as an important tool for shaping the future.
“Imagine how different our world would be if Matthew or Luke never included the Savior's parables in their text,” Romney said. “Imagine how different our faith and our world would be if Joseph Smith never put quill to paper and wrote out the First Vision and published it.”
According to Romney, it is important for us to take the initiative to write and share our stories, just as biblical figures and prophets have throughout history.
“I challenge each of us to live our stories and to love our stories,” Romney said. “That can be a difficult thing to do, and sometimes it can require a lot of faith and prayer. Learning to love our story is important.”
Furthering the connection between journalism and faith, Romney shared his testimony of Jesus Christ as the Master Storyteller, urging listeners to become more like Him.
“The entire human experience is story layered upon story,” Romney said. “To be Christlike is to be a storyteller. How can we harness the divine power of story in our personal lives?”
Romney encouraged students to explore that question by stepping into real-world storytelling. During a recent study abroad covering the Winter Olympic Games, he watched sports media students take on that challenge in real time. Reporting from international venues and navigating fast-paced environments, students worked to capture the unique stories of Olympic athletes.
“What struck me was the level and the depth of the stories that many of our students were telling,” Romney said.
Their work went beyond surface-level reporting, focusing instead on the human experience.
“We got a chance to participate in a lot of really cool stories of triumph,” Romney said.
At the core of Romney’s message is the idea that each person’s story is their own — and that comparing it to others can limit growth.
“We need to learn not to compare our story with others,” he said. “Whatever their journey is, that is their journey. It is not ours.”
Instead, he encourages students to recognize the value of their individual paths.
“You have your own. It is different, but it is just as important,” Romney said.
That mindset becomes especially important in moments of difficulty.
“Do not fall into the dangerous and destructive belief that you are the antagonist of your story. There are moments for all of us of self-doubt or self-destruction that lead us to believe we might be too flawed to be our own story's hero," Romney said. "I urge you to reject that thought. You are a purposeful, divine creation of the most powerful being in the cosmos."