How to tell a story in English

1. +
Telling A Story
Step Up American Pragmatics and Culture

2. +
Basic Story Structure
 Introduction
 Beginning
 The Story
 The End
 Moral

3. +
Story Structure: Introduction
 Introduce
the story by telling what kind of story it is.
 Examples:
 “This is a true story”
 “This is a story I heard from a friend.”
Sample Language:
First of all,
To start off with,
Initially,

4. +
Story Structure: Beginning
 Tellhow the story started.
 Provide background information about the setting
& time period when the story took place.
 Mention where, what time of day, what the weather was
like, etc.
 Ex. Golden Girls – Sophia’s Storytelling
Sample Language for Continuing:
Then,
After that,
Next,
As soon as / When + full clause,
... but then
Immediately,

5. +
Story Structure: The Story
 Tellthe main events, in the order that they
happened.
 Ex. I woke up, went to the kitchen, and saw the
huge hole in the window…

6. +
Sample Language
 Interruptions / New Elements to the Story:
 Suddenly,
Unexpectedly,
 Examples: Suddenly, a child burst into the room with a note for
Ms. Smith.
Unexpectedly, the people in the room didn't agree with the mayor.
 Events Occurring at the Same Time
 While / As + full clause
During + noun (noun clause)
 Examples: While we were getting ready for the trip, Jennifer was
making the reservations at the travel agent's.
During the meeting, Jack came over and asked me a few
questions.

7. +
Story Structure: The End
 Tell what has changed or how things are now.
 You could have a happy ending, sad ending, or even a
cliff hanger.
 Ex. “so we managed to get to the concert right on
time”
 Sample Language for Ending:
Finally,
In the end,
Eventually,
Lastly,

8. +
Story Structure: The Moral
 Make final comments or provide moral conclusions
about the story.
 Ex. “In the end, it was better that it happened that way
because if it had happened the way I planned, no one
would have been happy.”

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Other Important Elements Of Story
Telling
 Cause and Effect
 Provide reasons for different actions that occur in the
story
 Link Ideas Logically
 Use proper verb tenses
 Reported Speech

10. +
Think of your own story to tell…
 Thinkof a story that has happened to you or a friend
of yours that is remarkable. What happened?
 Was this a happy or sad story? Why?
 What were the main events of the story? In what
order did they happen?
 Howhave things changed because of this story?
What are things like now?
 What lessons did you learn from the story?

11. +
Now You Try…
 Tell me your story.