storytelling, like driving and many other skills in life, is learned or acquired. If some can do it, it is
possible for others.
There are three prime variables in effective storytelling. The first is the teller, the second is the
listener or listeners, and the third is the process of communication that goes on between the two. In
this chapter we will be examining and seeking to develop the skills of the first (i.e., the storyteller). I
have provided some guidelines and tools that will help you develop or refine your skills of commu-
nication in this area. If you take the time to listen to a masterful storyteller, these are the skills you are
likely to observe him or her using. What that storyteller has done to develop mastery is what any ac-
tor, athlete, or other competent professional has done. He or she has studied role models, worked at
building the appropriate skills, and then practiced, practiced, and practiced. Maybe he or she started
right where you are at this moment. Good practitioners of any art are worth observing, for in them
we can see the things they do to make their art so effective.
Listen to and observe your friends or colleagues as well. Who relates an experience—say, of a
recently seen movie—in a way that has you yawning in the first thirty seconds, and who does it in a
manner that has you rushing out to purchase a ticket to the next session? What are the differences in
their styles? Who do you rate as a good storyteller of either a joke or a day-to-day event? How do
they capture your attention in the first place? What do they do that holds your attention? What use
do they make of their voice and how do they deliver the punch line? From your observations, what
behaviors can you model and what should you avoid? Observing and experimenting with these things
may contribute to your own skills in the art of storytelling.
TEN GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE STORYTELLING- We Are All Storytellers
We are all telling stories all of the time. Not only do we constantly tell stories, but we also constantly
ask for stories... thus inviting others to be storytellers, too. We ask our partners when they arrive
home, “How was your day?” We ask a colleague at work, “What did you do on the weekend?” We
ask a child arriving home from school, “What did you learn today?” In these ways we are seeking sto-
ries and expecting the other person to tell us a tale from their experience. Through such stories we
share our emotions and experiences. We tell of our frustrations and achievements, our joy and our sad-
ness, our pain and our pleasure. The events that have meaning to us, challenge us, or enrich our jour-
ney through life are the things that we want to, and do, share with others. For them, hearing our tales,
and for us, hearing their stories, is a sharing of experiences that enhances everyday living for each of us.
As well as hearing and learning from others’ stories, we also hear our own stories, and the more
we tell them, the more they are likely to become a reality—both desirably and undesirably. Take, for
example, the child who has a morning dental appointment. When he arrives late to school, it is in
the middle of a spelling lesson. Almost as soon as he enters, his teacher asks him to spell a certain word
from a list that he was supposed to have memorized overnight. He is a reasonable scholar and to spell
a word is not normally a problem, but the distractions of an uncomfortable dental visit, the late ar-
rival in class, and the sudden shock of being put on the spot sees him stumbling over a relatively easy
word. “What,” exclaims his teacher, “has the dentist pulled out—your wisdom tooth?” The whole
16 Effective Storytelling for Kids and Teens