The Secrets to Storytelling Success: Unlocking the Mystery of Telling
Part II
6. Take safe risks when telling: There is a world of awareness when you take risks when telling your story. When you are practicing your stories, explore
places that are new and unknown with your story.
Ways to Take a
Risk:
Change the environment of the story.
Add a new character
Have a lesser character become a major character.
Start the story in the middle.
Share the telling with someone else who knows the story.
7. Give yourself permission to play and make mistakes: When you are developing your stories, realize
that you have play with them and experiment in your telling. In this process, as well as on stage or a public venue, you will make mistakes. It is ok, but don’t point them out, let them be part of your story and move on.
Play with the story and realize it does have to be scripted, but new dialogue, characters, settings; conflict may arise because of the play nature of story.
8. The audience has a shared part in your telling: No audience reacts the same way when hearing
a story. Recognize this. Realize that your telling with this audience is a unique experience that can be celebrated when you are sharing your
story. For example, let go of the place in the story where the audience always laughs; the experience is unpredictable,
but also new. Let the newness and the fresh awareness be what helps you direct the story, not the pattern that you
have set from telling the story before.
9. Accept praise and honor it: Often people want to share how a story affected
them, how it moved them in order to make sure to make time for this voice. Honest, sincere, and direct praise can often
move a story in new ways if you allow it to happen.
10. Accept constructive criticism: Sometimes people offer suggestions so it best to be open and never believe that your
story is beyond needing help. Other people’s eyes and ears can help you move the story in new and different ways. Remember, the more someone understands you as
a teller, the more you can listen to specific suggestions. You should weigh them, appreciate them, and choose whether to accept them or not.
***** Lastly, the experience should be fun. It can be demanding, but it should never take
away from the real joy that sharing a story can bring to others and to you. If you no longer enjoy telling a story
because you have told it too much or you have worked it too much, step away from it. Let it live in the times of reflection. When you think you can come back to the story with a new outlook, return to it.
