Field note · 2019-09-26
Storytelling
Remember the last good story you heard from another person. It could be on television or in real life. Do it now in your head...
Storytelling
Remember the last good story you heard from another person. It could be on television or in real life. Do it now in your head. Why do you think you remember it? the structure? the humor? the performance? For me, I tend to remember a good story told by my friend much longer than a good movie or book. That's because storytelling is different from acting; it's better (shots fired). Actors pretend that there is no audience, whereas a story teller depends on their audience. Storytelling is also different than a speech-giving. Unlike a speech, a story follows a person through an experience. It asks the audience to follow along with them. A story may be contained within a speech, but only for the effect of making the speech's point.
I'd like to share a few things I try to remember when forming or telling a story:
- The three forces
- Visualize, Don't Memorize
- Keep the audience engaged
The Three Forces
A story is the perfect balance of three forces: the teller, the audience, and the story itself!
A story adapts to it's audience: a story which doesn't engage the audience ceases to be told. The classic stories you know today only survived because they adapted to the audiences throughout the years.
A story adapts to it's teller: ask two story tellers to tell the same story for 1 year. At the end of that year, you'll be left with two different stories. Tellers constantly augment and edit their stories to make them personal and to adapt to their changing experiences.
A teller adapts to their audience: a bored audience signals to the teller that they are not delivering with enough energy.
These forces are what keep the story engaging and alive despite many years of re-telling.
Visualize, Don't Memorize
One simple technique for memorization: visualization. Visualization helps with two things:
- memorization: great storytellers don't memorize all the words of a story. Like I mentioned before, the words change and adapt to the audience. They remember the scenes and images of a story. It's easy to tell a story when you're replaying the story in your mind. All you have to do is walk along with the main character of the story and describe what's happening!
- engagement: when you visualize yourself to be there, in the story, you start to behave as if you're actually there. You squint your eyes when something is far away, you turn your head when something happens behind you. This, in turn, helps your audience to visualize the scene. When I'm thinking about a specific story a woman at the top of a hill, my eyes squint and I cover my face as if I'm looking towards the sun.
One way to achieve great visualizations is storyboarding! Draw tiny, 10-second pictures that remind you of the scenes of your story. This will organize the structure of your visualizations. You can even rearrange the pictures to create a more engaging story structure.
Keep the Audience engaged
It's the worst when I'm talking and I can tell we've lost the attention of my audience. My sister starts playing on her phone or my friend starts turning away. That's why I try to keep these techniques in mind to keep the audience's attention: repetition, humor, inside jokes, props, repetition, and participation. Repetition keeps the story memorable. It's an anchor which can be used to pull people back to the core of the story. If an audience remembers only the repetitive part of your story, then your story lives on.
Humor has become my personal tool of choice for keeping attention for the simple reason that people like the feeling of laughing. If there's even a small chance you can provide them that luxury, they will listen. Using inside jokes unites the audience with the teller. It bonds the audience with the story, and it bonds the audience with the teller.
The simplest and most effective tool is using participation! Using a simple repetitive gesture or phrase will help the audience to funnel their energy back into the story. In addition it can sometimes even add humor to the story (nice double whammy).
Conclusion
Think again about the story you remembered from the beginning of this article. Perhaps now you can see some of the techniques the storyteller used for making that story so heart-wrenching, funny, or memorable. Did the teller seem aware of the 3 forces at play? Did the teller give any cues that they were visualizing their story in their mind? Why do you think you paid such attention to their story?
The three ideas above have not only helped me to become a better storyteller, but a better listener as well. Expressing one's ideas in an engaging way is not always easy. Try to use these one of these techniques in the next story you tell. It doesn't even have to be a story! It could just be a casual conversation with someone. I know these have helped me very much in how I express my own thoughts and opinions.