emotion is an affective experience—and affective learning is often more powerful. For a child, en-
countering a big, barking dog (hopefully secured behind a fence) is more likely to induce fear and
avoidance behavior than a parental warning to keep away from strange dogs. The feeling of achieve-
ment from scoring a goal for your school at a sports event can be a more powerful encouragement to
train than any parental nagging. If we combine both the cognitive andthe affective we maximize the
potential for effectively communicating the story’s message.
- Align Affect with the Story
By aligning affect,I mean that the story needs to tell of the same emotion in its contentas in the story-
teller’s voice, that the expressed emotion is congruent with the emotion of the story. Children, being
emotionally responsive, are quick to read any misalignment of emotions. Take the example of little
Johnny, who has accidentally broken Mom’s most prized possession. She has heard the crash, races
into the room, and sees the shattered pieces of her beloved object. Within a nanosecond, her jaws
have clenched, her face reddened, her teeth clamped together, her hands knotted in fists as if ready
to punch his lights out. She says through gritted teeth, “Don’t be frightened. Come here to Mommy.”
What do you think little Johnny is going to believe and respond to—the emotion in her body lan-
guage, or the content of her words? If he has any sense of self-preservation, he is probably out of the
door and running.
People read body language and affect long before they hear the words. In infancy, prior to the
development of speech or the understanding of words from the parents, children survive by reading
the overt expression of emotions. There are times to be close and times to back off. Times to express
your needs and times to be quiet. Learning to discriminate between them is important to our early
and subsequent well-being. What this means for the storyteller is that we need to ensure we not only
have affective involvement in the story, but that the involvement is appropriate, and the feeling tone
is aligned to the story’s content.
EFFECTIVE STORYTELLINGGuidelines for Effective Storytelling 29
EXERCISE 2.14
■ Bring in emotion and have it aligned with the content of the story. Make use of the
five senses.
■ Include the emotion. Is the day hot or cold? Is the atmosphere tense, sad, or relaxed?
■ Listen to the audiotape of yourself telling the story again, and ask how involved you
are in the emotions of the tale and how congruent your emotions seem to the con-
tent of the story.