How to tell a great story!

Storytelling is a form of ancient art.  Anyone can be a great storyteller with great communication skills.  There are suggested skills for a storyteller found at: How To Tell a Great Story: Ten Tips For Story-Telling Success http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-tell-a-great-story-a37508#ixzz1JLDPkBc6  Some of these include:

·         Start with a phrase that will catch your audience’s attention – “Once on a dark night..” or “Did you hear about the cat that had no hair?”

·         Avoid repeating yourself or filling space with ums or other distractive words.  Giving the audience a little break helps them to absorb what you are saying

·         Know your audience – make sure that you develop your story to your audience so it interests them.

·         Plan how you are going to tell your story with a beginning, middle and ending.  You want to make the story exciting to your audience.

·         Keep your audience’s attention by providing details to your story.

·         Keep your story short and not too long.  You do not want to lose your audience’s attention.  The story should be long enough to cover the plot but not too long, where everyone forgets what happened at the beginning.

·         Use appropriate humor – laughing or making your audience laugh is a great way to get your audience involved.  Remember, don’t offend anyone and think about what you are going to say before you say it.  Practice telling your story to someone else for their feedback before performing for others.

·         Tell your story by expressing yourself.  Change the tone of your voice, adding hand gestures or props such as puppets, costumes.  Be dramatic in your storytelling.  If you can, don’t stand in one place.