Special topics in how to find or create stories! Find folktales, find or create stories that convey a value, or turn a personal experience into a fairy tale.
Storytelling tends to make relationships visible and therefore gives you a chance to offer yourself, to enter into a truly human relationship with your listeners, and thus, incidentally, to contribute to healing a pervasive hurt in our society.
Can you afford to make these storytelling mistakes, which may torpedo a story, resulting in a lost chance to communicate, a lost ally, or even a lost job?
Are stories made of words? To tell stories compellingly, first get clear what stories are really made of. Next, understand the solutions to the three most common storytelling problems. Only then will you will be ready to hold the attention of your listeners - whether in a boardroom, on the phone, or across a kitchen table.
The first article that set out principles for coaching storytellers. (Doug has since revised these principles and described them with detailed examples in his book, The Storytelling Coach.)
Handouts for multi-day workshops given in various locations.
Includes the broad principles of Doug's thinking about marketing, and a list of questions you can fill out as a step toward articulating what you have to offer your audience.
A minidisc recorder can be an economical way to break into digital recording of your practice sessions, performances and workshops. This handy recorder is discontinued, but still has a great combination of price, size, convenience, and the features you need for recording yourself on the fly.
Doug explains why marketing is often hard for storytellers, then goes on to give a concept of marketing that is neither aggressive nor manipulative. Then he sketches out the steps you can take to find allies who eagerly want your work.
Listen to my interview on the podcast: The Art of Storytelling with Children where I spoke with the host Eric Wolf about basing your marketing on your true strengths, emphasizing benefits, avoiding becoming a "commodity storyteller," building relationships with potential allies, the three questions to ask yourself about a program or product, and more.
"This is essential knowledge for anyone interested in storytelling, not just those who work with children."—Tim Ereneta
Once you've completed making a recording, where do you send it for reviews, award entries, and copyright registration? (This list also allows you to add your own suggestions and corrections.)
How do we know that a story is being told? The concept of "framing" clarifies many basics about the expectations inherent in telling and listening to stories.
By "midrash," I mean the practice of adding episodes to a story, in order to clarify or change the story's meaning. This concept illuminates how meaning can be shaped - or radically changed - by simple narrative changes.
Is it possible that "plot" is not one thing, but three? That identifying the three levels of plot is required before we can make a more general theory of story plot?
Storytelling is taking its place among the methods used to make the workplace more supportive and to help people gain true influence. (The forward from Annette's book, "The Story Factor.")
Finding the heart of the story is a process that involves willing listeners, a conceptual focus, and thoughtful use of various tools - including, sometimes, a written transcript.
Is it possible to adapt a folktale so that it conveys your value - or must the value already be prominent in the story? In other words, do you only find traditional tales about values, or can you use them as spurs to create value tales?
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The Basics of Storytelling