I am spending the day teaching a workshop on storytelling. Most people think that storytellers are “born not made” but storytelling is actually a skill that can be learned. Indeed, people who want to change aging should do their best to master it.
As human beings our bodies inhabit a world of atoms, molecules, wind, water, fire and sun. Our minds, however, live in a world that is made from the stories we tell each other. Telling new stories, stories that lead us to new conclusions about ourselves, is the most direct method of changing our culture.
Here are t he key points I’ll be making today.
- Storytelling is a natural art, we were born to tell stories.
- The main impediment to storytelling (and singing) is inhibition. We can learn to relax and let the story flow through us.
- Stories have components that we all understand instinctively but we can tell better stories if we know how those components (character, setting, conflict, etc.) work inside a story.
- A story lives and dies according to it’s ability to create and then release tension in the mind of the listener.
Hey, all this of reminds me of a story….
Love your stories. Tell us more about “A story lives and dies according to it’s ability to create and then release tension in the mind of the listener.” Stories are important and I want to improve my ability to tell them. Thanks. [email protected].
Greetings Bill and fellow emerging storytellers,
One highly effective way to become a powerful storyteller is to have powerful personal experiences to tell stories about. A self-fulfilling prophesy.
Just recently (now a waning quintarian) I have felt more fluid in telling stories because they are part of me: of writing a poem with a dying hospice patient, of utter elation on a misty ridge in the wilderness, of making heart connection with a father and his son (who was taking his first steps on prosthetic legs) as we crossed paths . . . Open up to the world, be of service, let your being be moved – the stories will naturally follow and flow. Ruven Liebhaber, Lexington, MA [email protected]