Sometimes there are surprise moments when some rather public storytelling skills are demonstrated very well.
It is common to see public figures fail at storytelling. However, at the Michael Jackson Memorial service, entrepreneur and former professional basketball player Earvin “Magic” Johnson demonstrated a command of and elegance to his story. Although many speakers spoke at “MJ’s” funeral, Magic’s few moments stand out.
Here are 4 things that anyone who wants to use storytelling can learn from Magic’s story.
1. His story was brief. I am sure that Mr. Johnson may have had more to say, but he cut through the extraneous details and went directly to his point, taking the audience with him as he experienced the wonder he felt as Michael Jackson ate KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) with him one night many years ago. Ironic as it may sound, the purpose of being a storyteller is not to talk words but rather to communicate ideas.
2. It was a story told in the “voice of the people.” I have watched and commented on many public speakers, especially politicians, who try to speak “to the people.” In the Jackson memorial, Magic Johnson used an important storytelling technique: talk so people understand. His words were simple. His illustrations were accessible to all as he talked about family gatherings, dinners, playing games with family, celebrity-meeting nerves and eventually, something as simple as a fast-food icon: a bucket of chicken.
As a pro-basketball star, Magic could have easily made sports references. However, no sports reference would speak to such a wide range of listeners as his family references did. Choosing to speak to your audience so they understand rather than using self-serving references is a sign of a mature and effective speaker.
3. In his story, he laughed at himself. Magic’s story was not to tell people how wonderful he was but rather to share how wonderful he thought Michael Jackson was. A good storyteller can reflect the focus on the story and the subject of the story.
4. His story was actually a story. It contained a beginning, a middle and an end. Magic did not tell an anecdote: “I once sat on Michael Jackson’s carpet and ate KFC with him. Wasn’t that cool?” Rather, he placed his story in the context of a developing relationship with the family and the invitation to dinner. Without being sappy or manipulative, he shared his own feelings about the invite and his surprise to discover his idol ate “real food” like everyone else.
His story supported this expression of hope for the future. At the end of his comments, when he referred to Michael’s children having family support, you knew his point of reference to make such a statement.
Although in the past Magic has been critiqued for his speaking style, his presentation at the MJ funeral was a good example for any speaker striving to improve their storytelling skills for business or personal use.
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Sean Buvala is a public speaking coach who specializes in helping you tell your core story in all situations. For free Email lessons, please see www.storytelling101.com .
I’ve just launched the “Welcome Back, Dragon Handlers” site for my ‘back to school” or teacher professional development days. You can find this site at http://www.dragonhandlers.com/. You can hear a 4 minute clip of me speaking to a teachers’ convocation as well as learn more about this very specialized keynote for educational events. We’ve priced this as very affordable for any school district gathering. Please come take a look.
Posted 9 months, 2 weeks ago at 3:50 pm. Add a comment
One of the most searched-for communication skills on the Internet is “how to tell a story.” I would like to give you a quick step-by-step guide to this process of story telling, drawn from my 23 years of being a professional storyteller. This is the fast and quick method to learn a new story.
1. Decide on a story. Sounds elementary, but at some point, you need to find a story that you love. If you are having problems, search the Internet for some simple Aesop fables or find some good stories at a site like Storyteller.net .
2. Break the story down into an outline of events so that you can remember the episodes of each story.
You have two choices for step three. Do one or both if you would like.
3A. Write out or draw out the parts of the story. Using longhand, that means pencil and paper, write out the episodes of the story in your own words. Do not copy the story. Rewrite it in your own words. Doing this process by hand allows your brain to overcome any resistance you might have to the story. Knowing you can do this process with your story is also a way for your brain to overcome some fear of public speaking that might hinder you from telling this story.
3B. The other way to break down a story is via “storyboarding,” a technique that many storytellers use. Take a letter-sized piece of paper. Fold it in half along the length. You now have an eleven inch piece of pager that looks like a taco. Then, fold the right side up against the left and then fold the same way again. When you unfold the paper you will have a piece of paper divided into 8 segments.
Starting at the top segment, draw out each step of the story. This is only for you to learn so stick figures and bad drawings are just fine. This visual method may help you grasp the story better than writing alone.
4. Begin to tell yourself the story, aloud, using your own words while looking at one of the #3 tools above. Repeat this process several times.
5. Think about the story you are telling. Are there parts of the story that do not really need to be there? Do they drag down the story? Cross them off the list or the storyboard and tell yourself the story one more time with those parts of the story removed. Again, at each of these times, you are speaking your story aloud. Let your face get a feel for the story.
6. Put your notes down and tell yourself the story a few more times. This is a great exercise to do while you are driving your car or cleaning your house. Just keep talking to yourself.
7. Call up a friend or find an associate and tell them your story. Use no notes or storyboard. When you finish telling the story to your associate, ask them if it makes sense to them. Did they think you left out any parts? This is not the time to see if they “get it” or understand the deep meanings. You just want to know if the essential delivery of the story makes sense.
8. As your confidence in the story grows, you will want to start thinking about the emotions represented by different words in the story. You may find that you wish to emphasize one part or character over another. These things come with time. If you feel better about saying “once upon a time” at the beginning or “the end” as one of your story endings, then do so. As you grow to understand storytelling even more, you will learn so many other ways to start or end a story.
9. When it is time for your story’s debut, be confident. Look at your audience. Speak clearly. Slow down and enjoy the story experience. As a professional storyteller, I can tell you that it takes a dozen or more tellings of a story to find the your true rhythm and delivery for each story.
There you have it, how to tell a great story! This is a quick, get-it-now guide to storytelling. There is so much more you can learn about how to tell a story. Remember- get started today telling stories. Like a painter who must paint often to get better at painting, you, too, must speak stories often and to many groups in order to improve.
Some resources:
To get my free ECourse on storytelling, see the front page of my website at www.seantells.net.
To order the EWorkbook on storytelling that includes live coaching and audio files, please visit www.storytelling101.com
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Based in Arizona, Sean Buvala is a full-time professional storyteller and storytelling consultant who works throughout North America teaching storytelling for business. Along with storytelling techniques for corporate communication, Sean is also sought after for teaching storytelling for teachers of middle school and high-school students. For more information about Sean’s work as a storytelling coach, please see his site at www.seantells.net.
Posted 11 months, 3 weeks ago at 12:39 pm. Add a comment
“Sean promised me that when he was finished with the day, our people would have practical skills to begin their own story telling. Sean was right. Not only did he give folks practical strategies for forming stories he captivated and inspired us all with stories of his own.”
Thanks for clicking on my ad. If you are brining a convention, meeting or event to Arizona, I would like to be your speaker. Because I live here in Arizona, you will still get a national-level presentation with no or very small travel costs.
As a full-time, national speaker and trainer based in Arizona, I am ready to provide your group with a powerful keynote or an inspiring and results-producing workshop. Like many other sponsors at big and small events, you will be delighted with my work with your group.
I speak professionally on the uses of storytelling in corporate and non-profit settings. Frankly, there is no audience you could that would not benefit from my work in storytelling techniques, public speaking skills and communication ideas. I am honored to be able to work in my passion as a storytelling consultant.
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For those of you already in Arizona, well, you know what a great place this is.
The next episode of our “Storytelling and Narrative for Business Podcast” is ready for you!
Episode Four: “Storytelling is Not a ‘Soft Skill’: Sure Looked Easy”
Sean brings you some tough-love this week to help you understand that storytelling is a “hard skill” for your business. Fail that understanding and things can go bad. Get real coaching and training to sharpen your skills.
At noon (AZ time) every day, Monday through Friday, I post a a storytelling tip or concept. I have to be very succinct to get it to 120 characters. The other 20 characters are take up in the title. Here’s a sample. Please follow me at http://www.twitter.com/storyteller for each day’s new idea.
Press Release Immediate Release
Use Date 2/20- 2/27 22009
National Professional Storyteller Brings Live, Literacy-Building Performance to Maryvale-Area School on Friday, February 27, 2009.
Avondale Arizona- As part of the literacy program of “Read Across America,” the students at Lela Alston Elementary School in the Maryvale area of the West Valley will be treated to a presentation by national professional storyteller K. Sean Buvala on Friday, February 27, 2009 at 11:00 in the morning. The school is located at 4006 West Osborn Road in Phoenix.
As a presenter for the school’s “Read Across America Program,” Sean Buvala will use oral storytelling to entice the students to explore the many great books in the libraries in their neighborhoods and school.
“As a storyteller, I don’t actually read books to students,” Mr. Buvala said. “Rather, through the use of the oral tradition, my stories excite kids to jump up and go directly to the 398.2 section of the library to find many of the stories I’ve told them. Often, at the end of my programs, I will tell students just the first half of a story. After the final applause, it never fails that students will immediately go to the bookshelves to find the final portion of the story. I have even seen a few teachers peruse the library or the classroom Internet to find the story themselves.”
Research indicates that teaching children to create and communicate with oral storytelling improves reading and writing skills and test scores. Buvala stated, “Oral storytelling not only encourages kids to use their imaginations but helps with other skills such as sequencing and vocabulary development. Principals have told me that adding storytelling and other performing arts increases the overall test scores of the students. Over the last several decades, I have been honored to help bring the power of story to so many schools and certainly am glad to help Alston school achieve their goals as well.”
Sean Buvala, the director of Storyteller.net with more than two decades of national experience, is especially glad to help schools in his home state of Arizona. “I travel frequently to teach in a variety of corporate and school settings. It is always an honor and even fun to do things here in my own hometown. Most recently, I did a tour of the Washington school district here and that was a very unique opportunity to be involved in my own community.”
Mr. Buvala, who also teaches corporate storytelling workshops in Avondale, Arizona, can be reached at his website at www.seantells.com. For more information about the Lela Alston Elementary school, please contact their office at (602) 442-3000.
Contact Information
K. Sean Buvala sean@storyteller.net
www.seantells.net
(623) 298-4548
Avondale, AZ- National storytelling expert and speaking coach, K. Sean Buvala, reviews Bobby Jindal’s “Republican Response” speech and offers four public-speaking tips gleaned from the Governor’s presentation.
Buvala, the director of the national storytelling resource site at Storyteller.net, says, “Regardless of anyone’s political preferences, the Governor’s speech illustrates that stories and storytelling can be used in any type of important speech. As a corporate storyteller, I was happy to see yet another national figure make use of story in their presentation. I also think that any person using stories can learn four things from Mr. Jindal’s speech.”
Use intentional hand gestures. Buvala says, “The Governor uses frequent, choppy hand gestures that are synchronous with the syllables of the words he speaks. It looks as if he is conducting an orchestra or cutting onions to the rhythm of his words. Speakers should plan the gestures that they will use with their stories. These intentional movements can then enhance the stories being told instead of being a distraction.”
Be careful when using “Me too” stories. Mr. Buvala continues, “While I appreciate and respect the Governor’s family story of struggling immigrants, his narrative immediately following his comments regarding the president’s family history both lessens and distracts from the power of the Governor’s background story. In order to seem less like a ’me too’ attempt at connection, the story might have served better at the end of the story. While it is a good thing that the Governor used stories, the placement of those stories must be carefully considered. ”
Use tone and pacing appropriate for your audience. Buvala notes that, “Bobby Jindal’s pacing, tone and inflection during his speech reminded me of a school teacher giving a motivational speech to young children rather than a thoughtful reaction intended for thinking adults. The constant head nodding, the sharp intake of breath between sentences and the higher pitch of his speaking took power away from his stories, perhaps making his narratives sound childish. I’d suggest that the Governor concentrate on slowing his pace, intentionally speak with a lower pitch and allow himself to breath deeply by using longer pauses more often.
Use stories to “frame” your presentation. “Finally,” says Sean Buvala, “although Mr. Jindal’s family history story might have been better placed in the speech, he does refer back to his opening story at the end of his presentation, when speaking again of his father’s words. This process, called ’framing,’ reminds the listeners of the central point of a talk, giving them a virtual ’frame’ in which to see the ideas painted with the speaker’s words.”
Buvala, who teaches monthly public workshops for business storytelling, knows that stories used in national conversations help unify listening audiences. “Governor Jindal’s use of personal stories allows the audience to understand the speaker as a human being rather than just a ’talking head’ for an ideology.”
For more information about group or private coaching in the art of storytelling for corporate or business use, please contact Sean Buvala via his website at www.seantells.net.
Contact Information:
K. Sean Buvala
www.seantells.net
(623) 298-4548
sean@storyteller.net
PO Box 392
Tolleson AZ 85353
“EXPERT CONSULTANT for the Press, Television and Radio”
Storytelling (both traditional and digital), performing artists, public speaking, corporate training, business coaching, non-profit organizations.
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A story is powerful except when you can not back up the story with excellent service or product. Is your company living up to your story?
The following applies to any organization, whether it is a for-profit or non-profit group.
Recently, I worked with a company that has a great story. I was their customer for a big event I was hosting. Customer service was what I needed from this organization.
They had a great story to share, a story that the news media was very excited about. The owners shared their story on television and in print media more than once. With just a little polish, they could have presented a story that would probably lock in more business than they were already getting.
I thought that with their powerful and attractive story, the company would be delivering fantastic service that I would be able to gush about. Afterwards, I would be ready to write one of those raving-fan letters that every company would like to get. How exciting it would be to see a good story connected to a good product.
The company did deliver, but it was not what their story promised.
I ended up with a company that simply did not communicate. The leadership may have been excited to share their story, but their employees were not delivering. Maybe the employees did not even know the story. If they did, they did not care about living up to the story. I doubt that the employees were ever allowed to even participate in the company legend and that they were only there to do the job. The employees I worked with, the few I actually saw, told me several times, “I don’t know anything about that,” when asked even the most rudimentary of questions.
Their company story was great. Their services were poor. I did not write any raving fan letter. I did not even write a letter of dissatisfaction. I simply will not use their services again. I do not want to be part of their story any longer.
In my storytelling workshops, we call this the “Lure Story” of a company. Customers are lured into a sense of the greatness of your company with your fantastic story, only to discover that the lure has a painful hook attached to it. Like a fish that escapes, a customer will bite once but not ever again.
How do you avoid the “lure story,” that causes your customers to vanish?
1. Be sure that your company story and the product or service you offer are growing together concurrently. Good press is not a substitute for shoddy service. Do your employees or peers feel a part of the ongoing story?
2. Actively seek out the stories, both positive and negative, from your staff. Use our “Trigger Words” or “Intentionality” methods to get to the heart of what your employees are feeling and experiencing. Make storytelling a part of every company meeting. This is a risk-taking process, but well worth every moment you spend doing it.
3. Allow your story to change. Like any good story throughout history, a story changes as it encounters new people. What you did five years ago is already outdated. How has your story changed in the last year or even six months?
4. Follow up with customers, inviting them into your story. You might, for example, write to a customer. “At XYZ Organization, we believe that our company story is all about (fill in the blank.) Please tell us how we did living up to that story.”
You may have a company story, but it might not be the real story. Your customers and your staff are speaking your true story every day in every encounter.
What are they telling about you? Back up your great story with great service and you will be unbeatable.
Our next edition of the “Storytelling and Narrative for Business Podcast” is now available. This time around, we respond to a listener’s email asking about the use of jokes, anecdotes and stories. Sean discussion the differences between each of these items as well as tells you the story of “Just Enough.” Sponsored by http://www.executivespeakertraining.com and presented by http://www.seantells.net.
Please send your questions and comments to sean@storyteller.net and be sure to put “podcast comments” in the subject line.
