how to be a better storyteller
Get Feedback
When you are learning and practicing your storytelling skills, you must get honest feedback about your skills. If you have joined a group or a class for storytelling, you can get feedback from other members. If you have a tutor, he can provide some individual suggestions. But if you do not have any of those, you can still request your friends and family to give you honest feedback on your skills.
Make some changes
Good progress is determined by important changes. When you get feedback from your co-members or friends and family, it is important to receive it in good spirits and make the changes necessary for improvement. Constructive criticism is important to understand what needs to be changed.
Have an outline
When you are attempting to tell a story, you must have a strong outline, to begin with. You can not tell a good story without a structured outline. Therefore, it works in your favor to first chalk out a well thought out outline and then create a story based on that foundation.
1.) Learn the important parts of storytelling
When you tell a story, it is important to focus on these aspects –
Voice of the author
Pitch
Cadence
Flow
Rhythm
Tone
Rhyme
Figures of Speech
Linking
These are the factors that sum up a well written or well-presented story. The more you are aware of how to use them correctly, the better your storytelling skills will be.
2.) Get professional training
Storytelling classes with professional trainers will focus on the aforementioned points as well as hone up your storytelling skills. They will provide you with outlines and assignments to work on. This will give you practice as well as an opportunity to showcase what you have learned so far.
3.) Personal Tutor
What’s better than a storytelling class is a private tutor. Now here is why it is comparatively better –
Personal Attention
Live feedback
Discuss the mistakes
Learn about personal strengths
Work on the individual weaknesses
These factors can not be found in a large group class. A private tutor may be expensive but it provides a lot more than a simple group class.
1. Practice
Nothing works better than some serious practice. Once you have picked up some solid skills, you need to put in some dedicated practice. You can only get better with practice and you need to put those skills to test every day. It works better only if you are doing it regularly.
2. Read books on the subject
Reading books on storytelling serves two purposes. One, it gives you some vital information about the intricate details of storytelling and two, it gives you a direct presentation of a story being told. These two go together very powerfully to give you a strong learning point of view.
3. Pick it up from other stories
Like the aforementioned point, when you are reading other books that may or may not be related to storytelling, in particular, you can pick up on the presentation skills. You can observe the writing style, the voice, the pitch, the tone, the rhythm and the flow of the story, which is discussed further in the next point.
1> Listen to other storytellers
A key part of being a good storyteller is to listen to other storytellers. When you listen to other storytellers, you pick up on their storytelling skills through careful observation and understanding. When you pay attention to how they present themselves during a story, you can practice those skills until you become better at it.
2> Learn from an expert
You can learn to be a better storyteller through an expert coach. You can find someone who is already good at it and learn the skills from them. Once you figure out the small but important details of the storytelling skills, you will become much better at putting those skills to use.
3> Join a Group
You can also learn storytelling by joining a storytelling group. Several groups and clubs gather together to share stories at regular intervals. You can participate in these groups and get some live experience of how to do it the best. You can learn from several members in the group merely by observing them and practicing those skills in the next session.
"The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same." -- Colin R. Davis
Storytelling is such an important aspect of growing one’s career. Being a storyteller means being able to present your ideas in a way that convinces or moves the audience in a certain way. These skills can definitely be used in several fields from marketing to presentations. So if you are looking to learn how to become a better storyteller, these articles will provide you with 12 tips to get started.
1. Listen to other storytellers
2. Learn from an expert
3. Join a Group
4. Practice
5. Read books on the subject
6. Pick it up from other stories
7. Learn the important parts of storytelling
8. Get professional training
9. Personal Tutor
10. Get Feedback
11. Make some changes
12. Have an outline
Remember to focus on the tone, watch a lot of storytellers and write a lot of stories until you feel confident enough to put your work out there. When it comes to storytelling, one must remember, it is a skill just like any other. With good practice and some expert advice, you can be the best storyteller possible.