Storytelling is a hot topic, but how do you get better at telling stories. Here are a 10 tips I'd give to someone asking for my advice. Hopefully you will find them helpful to you. Happy Storytelling!
10 Tips to improve your storytelling
Louis Richardson, IBM Storyteller & Enthusiast
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
We can’t all be great storytellers, but we can all be better storytellers.Look for improvements not perfections
Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980)
2. Look each day for a story worth telling.Stories from personal observation are often most powerful
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
3. Develop a method for capturing ideas, antidotes and stories.A voice message, a notebook, etc. Great stories start with a spark, don’t let it die out.
Ludwig & Wilhelm Grimm (1785-1863 & 1786-1859 respectively)
4. When someone else is telling a story.
See if you can picture what they are recounting. Successful stories are enchanting
Steven Spielberg (1946- )
5. Schedule time to write or record and share.
Without purposeful effort, the great stories you can tell, will go untold.
Walt Disney (1901-1966)
6. Develop and tell provocative stories
Imagine lofty ideas & paint emotional pictures to impact your audience’s dreams.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
7. When someone upsets you, take a moment & think of how, if asked, they would tell the same story.
Perspective is paramount.
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875)
8. When someone comes to you with an idea or a need, ask them to relate it in a story.
Transformation into a story often brings the key point into focus.
Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss (1904-1991)
9. Seek out and spend time listening to and studying great storytellers.TED.com offers some of today’s best storytellers.
Sir Ken Robinson (1950- )
10 Develop and refine YOUR personal story.
We each have stories worth telling. It’s all about the dash (between the dates)
You ( ? - ? )
Note: Although the tips in this presentation are presented with a picture of a great storyteller, they are not quotes from these individuals. These storytellers are some of my favorites and serve only to represent the respective tip.
Mark Twain – The Diaries of Adam and Eve
Alfred Hitchcock – Rear Window
Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol
The Brothers Grimm – The Bremen Town Musicians
Steven Spielberg – Schindler’s List
Walt Disney – Dumbo
Martin Luther King Jr. – I Have a Dream
Hans Christian Andersen – The Emperor’s New Suit
Dr. Seuss – Oh, the Places You’ll Go
Sir Ken Robinson – Why Schools Kill Creativity
You – I’d love to hear it
Louis Richardson
@inter_vivos