My Dad is a great storyteller. I’m pretty sure it’s in his Italian DNA to be a good storyteller; with his animation, gestures, eyerolling, and liberal sprinkling of salty words; he has a way of captivating his audience.
One comment or prompt from someone will have him off recounting an adventure or experience that will have the rest of us either enthralled or laughing until our sides hurt.
I’ve watched countless times in many different circumstances as people gravitate towards my dad as he’s recounting yet another anecdote from his Book of Life. He can tell the same story 50 times and we still want to hear it again.
It is one of the many things that I love about him.
Being able to tell a good story is powerful juju…it creates connections, calls to one’s subconscious, it communicates the message of who we are, what we are influenced by and what we stand for.
Storytelling is a natural gift; there is no doubt about it, but we can all become better at sharing our stories in order to leave our own imprint, influence, and impact.
Keep it simple– Stay on point with the purpose of your story. Often we start to digress or go off on a tangent that doesn’t fit with our original point. We bite off more than our audience can possibly chew or digest. Remember: attention spans are short nowadays.
Leverage your experience– We discount our life experiences as not being story worthy. Everything we do is part of our story and expertise.
Know your audience– It is so very important to know who you are talking to. What’s in it for them? Why should they care?
Use your other gifts– My dad is one of the funniest people you will ever meet. Humor is a big part of his storytelling gift. I have a friend who is a great storyteller and uses one of her natural gifts of being a calming influence on others to be an effective storyteller.
Involve the senses– Use rich and desciptive words that evoke visual pictures in the mind’s of your audience.
Practice– I know, I know, but really the more you actively practice it, the better you will get at it.
Be enthusiastic– Your enthusiasm is contagious…if you don’t believe in your story, no one else will either.
There are natural and easy ways to tell stories…your story in particular…
I invite you to join Laurie Foley and me on Friday, June 22nd for what will be a fun (cuz I don’t do anything if there’s not an element of fun somewhere!) class on how to tell your story through the power of archetypes.
As my mom always used to say “What’s your story Morning Glory?
Leave a Reply