How to Tell a Story.
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.
For hundreds of articles and stories, please visit www.storyteller.net.
To order the EWorkbook on storytelling that includes live coaching and audio files, please visit www.storytelling101.com
****
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
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.
Listen in: Episode Four
Find all the podcasts on this page here.
Posted 1 year ago at 5:29 pm. Add a comment
As a working artist and speaking coach, I have found Twitter to be an effective tool for producing a greater quantity of interested contacts and providing thought-provoking conversations. Here are a few basic tips you need to know.
1. Add in your photo, your location, bio and URL.
Those little pieces of information help you to become a “real” person to those who might be interested in following and getting updates from you. If you are using Twitter just to play around, then put whatever you want in those slots. If you are using Twitter to build relationships around your brand or company, then put real answers in there. A photo is necessary if you want your profile to be taken seriously. I do not follow (have the regular updates of others directly posted to my page) those who cannot complete their profile.
Hint: After you have logged in to Twitter, you will find the place to make all these changes when you click the word “settings” in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Frequently check the “@Replies” and “Direct Messages” for your account.
@Replies are messages that are sent to your attention that everyone on Twitter can read. Direct Messages, usually abbreviated as DM, are messages that are sent only to you and can be read only by you. Once you are logged in, you can find the links to both of these sections on the far right-hand side of the page.
3. Use the @ feature to engage in conversations.
Twitter is no longer a one-way posting system. There are conversations taking place. Please participate. You have two ways to respond if someone Tweets (sends) a message that interests you. First, you can use the built-in feature to reply. Next to the Tweet (the short message) to which you want to respond, to the right edge of the message, are two symbols that appear when you mouse over the edge of the Tweet. Click on the round arrow that points to the left. This will automatically put the original poster’s name in the “what are you doing” box at the top of the page as well as provide a link back to the original post. You then just fill in your comments right next to the name of the original sender and then press the “update” button.
The second way to respond to a Tweet or initiate a conversation is to directly address an individual. You do this by using the @ and the user name. For example, if you wanted to send a message to me with the user name of “storyteller,” the first thing you would type in the message box is: @storyteller. Notice there is no space between the @ sign and my user name. A message to me would look like this:
@storyteller Thanks for the Twitter Tips!
Remember that the @ function is public. Always keep your postings professional and civil. Twitter is not the place for schoolyard fights and name-calling. Always let your postings reflect the best of who you are and what you do.
4. Grow your followers naturally instead of playing the “counting” game.
I follow people on Twitter because what they say interests me or somehow applies to my work. In most cases, I will also follow anyone who sends me an @ message as that means they have actually read my postings. I do not follow everyone who follows me nor do I expect that everyone must follow me back. I think it is also disingenuous to say you are following thousands of people. There is simply no way to keep track of thousands of followers. “I have more followers than you” is a game that you do not need to play. Your followers will build slowly and naturally as you Twit (post) your ideas.
5. Tweet about what you know, sharing links and resources rather than trying to sell something.
You will frequently read about “adding value” to the Twitter conversations. Be a Twitter giver. Be an expert in your field rather than trying to get the rest of us to buy something from you. Ask real questions and watch the answers flow back @ you. If you are adding good content in order to build relationships and conversations, you will hear from those who will want to know more about your work and career.
6. Bonus Tip: You are not limited to answering Twitter’s “What Are You Doing?” question.
Spend some time watching how others use Twitter. You will find very few folks who are only talking about their activities. You will find lots of good conversations, interesting links and growing relationships.
You will find that Twitter can is a way to improve your communications and even create new opportunities. There is so much more to the Twitter service than I have touched on here and I hope this article gives you a way to get started.
**
Sean Buvala (www.seantells.net) is a full-time, professional storyteller and presenter coach who will teach you to use the power of story to increase your bottom line and increase employee satisfaction and retention. He also trains other working artists how to create their own effective marketing campaigns via his ‘Outside-In Artists’ Marketing Boot Camp.”
Posted 1 year ago at 10:04 pm. 4 comments
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
###
Posted 1 year ago at 4:32 pm. Add a comment
A good company story is worthless if you do not have the product or service to back it up. Welcome to the world of the dangerous “lure story.”
I have been teaching and training storytelling for several decades. I have come to know that storytelling should be the most-used tool in your metaphorical toolbox when you want to communicate anything to anyone about any subject.
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.
Posted 1 year ago at 4:19 pm. Add a comment
